Enno-Burghard Weitzel, SVP of Strategy, Digitization and Business Development at Surecomp, explains how using the LEI for digital identity verification in trade finance transactions is improving operational efficiencies for customers while driving inclusive trade growth.
Back in early 2022, GLEIF partnered with Surecomp to embed the Global LEI Index into its collaborative trade finance platform RIVO™. Forward-wind to early this year, and we caught up with Enno to explore how using the LEI for digital identity verification is fostering trusted, efficient and inclusive trade networks.
Why are verifiable identities so vital in the trade finance process?
The LEI is incredibly important for all trade participants, particularly since the prevalence of fraudulent transactions has been on the rise since the start of the pandemic. Providing our customers real-time access to unique identification data of legal entities is critical for efficient, trust-based trade finance relationships.
The LEI Index makes the verification process more efficient and saves valuable time by eliminating the need to manually input each entity’s data since entering an LEI means that the rest of the data fields will fill automatically. This makes for easy implementation of Know Your Customer (KYC), anti-fraud and Anti Money Laundering (AML) solutions. It also prevents human error, both from mistakes caused by mistyping information and from accidentally mixing up types of identities.
How does Surecomp use the LEI data, and what is the long-term goal of the partnership?
LEI data is integrated into our RIVO™ platform, which is a centralized management solution for trade finance transactions. Incorporating LEI data allows our customers to verify the identity of trade participants quickly and will facilitate greater trust and transparency within trade transactions.
What were the main motivators behind Surecomp’s decision to utilize the Global LEI Index?
Integrating LEI data into the RIVO™ platform provides a way to streamline identity verification processes and standardizes entity identification for better KYC, fraud and AML compliance.
What new benefits does this partnership deliver to Surecomp customers?
Offering our customers easier access to LEI data increases transparency, trust and efficiency in the entire trade finance process. Since LEI data facilitates (KYC) compliance and provides customers with immediate certainty and authentication that the credentials of their trade counterparts are verified and trustworthy, our customers benefit from enhanced risk mitigation, increased transparency, and more efficient and faster identity verification for their transactions.
How does Surecomp’s business operations benefit from this integration with the Global LEI Index?
RIVO™ is a collaborative trade finance platform enabling the entire ecosystem of trade participants and multiple complementary solutions to communicate in the most efficient way to complete a seamless, fiction-less transaction process. Our clients are able to input an LEI once and then have access to many different solutions in the trade finance world, such as ESG, compliance, AML and fraud prevention, at the same time.
What impact could ID initiatives, such as the LEI, have on future global trade networks?
Global trade networks can benefit significantly from ID verification and management initiatives. They allow financiers and corporates to reduce the time they spend on KYC checks as part of the transaction lifecycle, further improving operational efficiencies and driving trade growth. These initiatives also help close the trade finance gap by making it easier for banks to verify SME customers.
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