As a financial services technology platform, we are required to verify your identity for many reasons such as anti-money laundering, fraud prevention and ensuring that you are who you say you are. Verifying your identity helps us to confirm your identity as required by New Zealand's Anti-Money-Laundering (AML) laws, and to protect you and us.
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Online identity verification tools enable financial technology platforms like Aera to perform non-face-to-face verification. Instead of visiting a local bank branch like in the old days, taking an hour to open a bank account and handing your passport and latest utility bill over to the teller to make photocopies; online identity verification tools make that process possible online in two minutes.
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Although we are not a bank, you can read more at the New Zealand Bankers Association website about Anti-Money Laundering and why identity verification is so important.
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‍See the Financial Markets Authority explanation in regards to its importance.