Law Active simplifies Fica

By Alex Kayle, Senior portals journalist

Johannesburg, 10 Jun 2009

To combat money laundering and simplify the Fica process, Law Compliance, a subsidiary of Law Active, in conjunction with Foneworx, has rolled out a digital smart card which allows users to access personal Fica-compliant documents via the Internet.

Simon Slater, Law Active executive director, says the company is closely involved with major banks. “We are officially live with the Fica Rica system, having taken two years to develop the solution. It's a secure and very user-friendly solution.”

According to Slater, one of the biggest challenges for banks is that Fica records are often not clear. He says institutions can face a fine of up to R100 million for non-compliance. Many Fica documents that are not legible are still authorised. He says the Fica Rica solution guarantees the quality of all Fica documents which are scanned in high resolution.

The Financial Intelligence Centre Act (Fica) requires proof of identity and authorised utility bills, bank statements, municipal rates or a Telkom phone account, of not older than three months, reflecting a client's name and residential address.

According to Law Compliance, a person can enrol for the service by uploading their Fica documents and photograph into electronic form via an accredited and trained commissioner of oaths who certifies and authenticates the documentation. These are then scanned and uploaded onto a secure online central repository and a PIN-protected Fica Card is posted to the consumer.

Simplifying Fica

A card holder can present the Fica card to subscribing institutions requiring Fica verification who can access the documents electronically. Users can also have their documents e-mailed or faxed to anyone by sending an SMS request from their mobile phone. They can also securely store other important documents in an online safe vault, which only they can access.

The card holder has full control of who can retrieve the documents at any time. Any party that uploads or accesses Fica documents, such as a bank, is required to have a digital certificate (like an electronic passport). According to Law Compliance, all databases are encrypted and fully secure.

The company says the advantage to institutions is that the process becomes paperless and administrative overheads are reduced, so the process becomes cheaper. There is also full transparency with the online reporting of transactions. Organisations are able to monitor their Fica compliancy and the system will help reduce fraud. All transactions are recorded with a secure audit trail with access to Fica historic records.

According to Law Compliance, the consumer benefits because the hassle of having to present the same documents to multiple institutions is removed. Consumers are charged a once-off fee of R125 for their Fica Card.

Law Holdings is a provider of technology security solutions to SA's legal, banking, property, credit and government sectors. The company has a staff complement of almost 200 employees and has offices based in Johannesburg, Centurion, Cape Town, Durban, Windhoek and London.