How to verify your client's identity

Verification of Identity (VOI) is an Australian Registrars’ National Electronic Conveyancing Council (ARNECC) requirement for banks to identify their customers prior to registering a mortgage with the state/territory land titles registries.

It also forms part of how banks satisfy their obligations for Anti-Money Laundering/Counter Terrorism Financing (AML/CTF) purposes.

As part of your agreement with Macquarie, you’ll need to:

• Verify your client’s identity digitally using NextGenID in ApplyOnline. If your client is unable to digitally verify their identity, VOI will need to be completed manually and in-person by completing our Home Loan Identification Form.
• Maintain and retrieve any information or documentation relating to an application for seven years from the date the loan is repaid for auditing.
• Provide any information or documentation regarding the introduction, identification, or verification of a client if we request it. Please note, this information must be provided within 72 hours from the time of request.
• Note: When using NextGenID, generally only one photo ID document is required and the manual home loan identification form requires a minimum of two certified ID documents.
  

NextGenID will guide your client through providing identity documents to meet AML and VOI requirements.

Step 1: Provide one photo ID document that matches your client's name used on the application, either a current:

• Australian driver’s licence
• Australian passport (can be expired for up to two years) 

Step 2: Check details that have been captured from the ID document including name, card and document numbers. Any discrepancy of these key details will likely result in the electronic verification not being completed.

• Make up to 3 edits to ensure the details are accurate for the verification step.
• Common misread letters and numbers may include: a '0' instead of an 'O', an 'E' instead of a '8' or '6'.

Step 3: Check if the ID has been verified on the Government records:

• If verified, your client will complete the selfie video and NGID will be sent back to ApplyOnline.
• If verification doesn't match, your client can repeat Step 2 and make additional 3 edits before proceeding to Step 3 again.

Once your client’s application has been approved and you’re preparing for settlement, the panel solicitors may require further VOI checks to be completed. 

Panel solicitors require the name of the applicant to match on the:

• application
• one form of identification
• land title or contract of sale.

When a mismatch is identified the panel solicitor may:

• Complete a change of name request with the land titles office (for refinances) or with the vendor solicitor (for purchases).
• Request a statutory declaration where there are insufficient ID documents to support the change of name.

Statutory declaration requests arise from Macquarie Bank’s regulatory obligation to take reasonable steps to confirm a person’s identity. In particular, this is where differing variations of a name are presented across identity documents or the application, as shown in the Unacceptable name discrepancies table above.

A statutory declaration may be requested:

• by us, due to name discrepancies between the ID documents, the application name and if provided, the land title or contract of sale
• by our panel solicitors, due to name discrepancies between land titles and identification documents.