Financial Intelligence Centre Act, 2001 (Act No. 38 of 2001)NoticesGuidance Note 3Guidance for Banks on Customer Identification and Verification and Related MattersEstablishing and Verifying IdentitiesNatural Persons - South African Citizens and Residents11. Examples of acceptable documentation to verify residential address of natural person |
Regulation 4(3) of the Regulations sets out instances in which the residential address of a natural person needs to be verified. The most secure form of verification of a residential address would be achieved if a staff member and/or agent of the bank were to visit the residential address of such a natural person to confirm that the person resides at the particular residential address.
In most instances, however, it would be sufficient to review the original document and to obtain a copy of a document that offers a reasonable confirmation of the information in question. Since the documentation must be current, a good practice would be to require documentation that is less than three months old.
Below are examples of documents that may, depending on the circumstances, offer confirmation of a residential address. This list is not exhaustive, and other forms of documentation may be used in the verification process. Decisions as to how residential addresses are to be verified should be based on a bank's risk framework, referred to in paragraph 2 above.
Documents that may offer confirmation of residential address include the following:
| • | a utility bill reflecting the name and residential address of the person; |
| • | a bank statement from another bank reflecting the name and residential address of the person if the person previously transacted with a bank registered in terms of the Banks Act and that bank had confirmed the person's particulars; |
| • | a recent lease or rental agreement reflecting the name and residential address of the person; |
| • | municipal rates and taxes invoice reflecting the name and residential address of the person; |
| • | mortgage statement from another institution reflecting the name and residential address of the person; |
| • | telephone or cellular account reflecting the name and residential address of the person; |
| • | valid television licence reflecting the name and residential address of the person; |
| • | recent long-term or short-term insurance policy document issued by an insurance company and reflecting the name and residential address of the person; or |
| • | recent motor vehicle license documentation reflecting the name and residential address of the person. |
When a recent utility bill from a telephone or cellular account, Eskom or a local authority does not identify the physical street address of the property owner (that is, if the bill is sent to a postal address), the utility bill will still be acceptable provided the customer's name and the erf/stand and township details are reflected on the utility bill. The customer's physical address, etf number and township should be recorded, and the township cross-referenced to the suburb in which the customer resides.
If thereafter there is any doubt about the customer or the physical address of the customer, the erf/stand and township details should be verified by reference to the Deeds Office.
If none of the above is available banks may explore other means to verify a client's address such as an affidavit containing the following particulars from a person co-habiting with the client or an employer of the client:
| • | name, residential address, identity number of the client and the deponent of the affidavit; |
| • | relationship between the client and the deponent of the affidavit; and |
| • | confirmation of the client's residential address. |