What are Account Verification Services (AVS)?

Broadly, Account Verification Services verify information about a bank account, such as the identity of its owner and the type of account. 

AVS checks typically work by cross-checking the identity of the account holder against the bank account number provided. This validates firstly that a bank account is legitimate, and secondly, that it is owned by a verified individual and not a fraudster. 

Most commonly, AVS checks are used to verify that an individual is the actual owner of the bank account number that they provide. 

Why are Account Verification Services (AVS) Important? 

AVS checks are important because they ensure transparency and reduce fraud. By verifying the identity of a bank account owner, AVS checks help businesses to ensure important information, such as the account they are paying into actually belongs to the person they think it does, or that the account they are receiving payments from is actually owned by the individual whose identity they are dealing with. 

Conducting AVS checks empowers a business to scan for red flags such as discrepancies relating to account owner information. Should red flags emerge as a result of the AVS check, a business can account for the heightened risk and take the appropriate risk mitigation steps. 

Accordingly, the failure to conduct AVS checks can expose businesses to heightened levels of risk. 

In many countries, AVS checks are a legal requirement that financial institutions are legally obligated to conduct. Regulatory compliance obligations concerning AVS checks are an important part of national AML/CFT legislation designed to combat financial crime. 

Failure to comply with these regulatory obligations can lead to national regulators imposing severe punishments on the offending business – fines and even jail time can be issued as punishments for non-compliance or active breaches in national AML/CFT law. 

AVS as a Know Your Customer (KYC) Check 

Know Your Customer (KYC) is a term that refers to procedures and mechanisms that are used to verify the identity of customers before conducting business with them. 

When conducting KYC checks, a business will typically be verifying:

• That an individual exists 
• Whether that individual is exactly who they claim to be 
• Whether that individual is eligible to receive the product or service in question 
• Whether that individual poses a threat of money laundering or other such crime

AVS checks often form part of the selection of KYC checks that businesses run on their customers – examples include a bank requiring proof of residence before they can approve a client’s loan request. 

AVS checks, therefore, are a crucial part of helping a business verify that an individual is who they claim to be and that all the information associated with them is correct. 

Online AVS Checks 

Today, AVS checks have been completely digitalized and are conducted online. Online AVS checks can be conducted in a matter of seconds, enabling incredibly efficient and effortless workflows that reduce waiting times and improve customer satisfaction. 

More broadly, online tools enable highly efficient, accurate and cost-effective means for identity verification and data validation. Today, online identity verification leverages powerful technologies like biometric information and artificial intelligence to deliver incredibly accurate and reliable identity verification. 

Furthermore, online identity verification allows for the verification of remote individuals – clients and individuals on the other side of the world can easily verify themselves, while businesses have the capacity to efficiently verify new clients, customers and employees in a seamless remote-onboarding process. 

For businesses, institutions and organizations that process smaller batches of AVS checks, ThisIsMe’s Partners Platform provides access to our services on a subscription or pay-as-you-go basis. This ensures that our suite of world-class solutions remains accessible to clients of all sizes and at all price points. 

For businesses, institutions and organizations that need to process large batches of AVS checks, Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) enable the seamless integration and automation of identity verification and data validation services like AVS checks. 

What is the Difference Between a Realtime AVS Service and a Batch AVS Service?

A real-time AVS service is when the information for a single account is submitted and verified instantly. ThisIsMe provides real-time AVS through our manual Partners Platform, as well as our automated API solution. 

A Batch Data AVS service is when a large dataset of account details is submitted at once in order to be verified. This is commonly done when a business must verify the account information for a large portion of its customer base, such as part of an ongoing monitoring procedure to ensure that all account details remain accurate and valid. ThisIsMe provides Batch Data Processing capability for our AVS solution. 

AVS API (Application Programming Interface) 

Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) can be understood as mechanisms that enable two or more software components to communicate with each other using established protocols and definitions. 

In the context of identity verification and data validation – such as AVS checks – an API enables a business to build the necessary software into the relevant customer and employee onboarding processes, thereby ensuring a seamless and efficient verification process. 

Although APIs can greatly increase the efficiency of AVS for all businesses, they are especially useful for large businesses, institutions and organizations that need to process large batches of AVS checks every day – large financial institutions, such as banks, all automate their AVS checks using APIs.

By automating intensive administrative tasks, the automation of KYC checks frees up valuable human resources and enables their energy to be better spent elsewhere in the business. The automation of identity verification tasks, therefore, not only saves time and money by creating efficient digital processes, but also creates value by freeing up invaluable human capital within the organization. 

Bank Account Verification Services (AVS) Checks for Individuals 

AVS checks are often conducted by businesses on individuals. For example, a financial institution will need to verify the legitimacy of an individual’s bank accounts before approving them for a loan and deposing the borrowed money. 

AVS checks can confirm that a bank account is valid, verify the identity of the account owner, and confirm important information such as bank account type.   

AVS checks on individuals are often used during the customer onboarding process as a routine KYC check. AVS checks for individuals are also used for routine customer due diligence monitoring, such as when a customer opens new accounts or exhibits suspicious behaviour. 

Account Verification Services (AVS) Checks for Companies, Trusts, and NGOs

AVS checks are also used by businesses to assess and verify the legitimacy and integrity of other business partners such as companies, trusts and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). 

Although the concept of the AVS remains the same, in this context, the AVS will verify bank accounts that are linked to a corporate entity, not an individual.

In practice, this means that an AVS check will assess and confirm the legitimacy of a company’s bank account using the bank number provided. An AVS check will return a selection of information, which may vary depending on whether the entity in question is a company, trust, or NGO.

List of Participating Banks 

ThisIsMe's AVS Solution provides comprehensive coverage for South African bank accounts that ensures accurate and up-to-date results, every time.

The following banks are supported by both AVS Realtime and AVS Batch: 

• ABSA 
• First National Bank (FNB)
• Rank Merchant Bank (RMB)
• Nedbank 
• Standard Bank 
• Capitec Bank 
• African Bank 
• Investec Bank
• Sasfin Bank 
• Discovery Bank 
• Grindrod Bank 
• Finbond Net 1
• Tyme Bank 
• Unibank

The following banks are supported for only AVS Batch: 

• Mercantile Bank (Capitec Business)
• Bidvest Bank
• Access Bank

Account Verification Services South Africa

As South Africa’s leading provider of world-class due diligence and remote-onboarding solutions, ThisIsMe is proud to be at the forefront of a trust-based and privacy-compliant digital world. By supplying high-quality tools like AVS checks, we empower businesses to verify identities, validate information, secure transactions, and mitigate risk. To experience our full suite of advanced due diligence services, book a demonstration by contacting our team here.