Know Your Customer, popularly referred to as "KYC" has always been an integral component in the success stories of online businesses, especially now when insecurities are on the rise and customers are not really who they say they are.
Each feature release, depending on its scope, requires some level of KYC, and businesses who wish to extend more flexibility and control to their customers cannot afford to skip this important stage, for it determines how long they shall continue to be in business.
Over the past couple of months, we have studied the general behaviours of customers as to how they respond to certain KYC procedures used by online businesses, especially when these customers are allowed to engage in financial transactions on their platform.
The study shows that 7 out of 10 potential customers exit or abandon the "sign-up" or "complete your profile" process when asked to provide their BVN due to its highly sensitive nature. Anyone giving out this information, must to a large extent (1) trust your brand, (2) need your services, and (3) cannot get similar offers anywhere else. However, if some of your potential customers feel the opposite even in the slightest way possible, there can't be a better way to say this, you're leaving money on the table!
Conventionally, a successful BVN verification tells you the full name, date of birth, and sometimes the phone number of your customers. The only problem here is that the phone number used during a BVN enrollment is oftentimes no longer in use by the customer. It is invalid.
Even worse, the phone number may have been re-assigned to a different individual who doesn't know jack about why perhaps, you keep calling or sending him or her text messages. Of course, you wouldn't know and no one expects you to. Therefore, relying on this data and verification method as a whole is not recommended.
Here is a better way to verify your customers
We provide a far less sensitive way to conduct KYC on customers through their phone number, as you can compare your customers' full name and date of birth on their bank account profile with what you have on file. However, this verification method more than just verifies a phone number! It ensures that the phone number is linked to a Nigerian bank account, which is key! Why? Because you get to have their hotline in your possession since this is where they receive bank alerts.
Hmm… interesting, you say. But then, you might ask "what if they lose their phone number?" For the reasons that they always want to be notified by their bank when they send and receive money, as well as receive calls and messages from family, friends, colleagues, and business partners, they wouldn't have much of a choice than to retrieve their line from their mobile network operator.
Another reason why you really should consider our Phone Number Verification service is because unlike BVN verifications, where you're charged even when verification fails, we'll refund your money when a phone number cannot be linked to a Nigerian bank account, thereby saving you money in the process. In other words, you only pay when you successfully verify your customers' phone numbers.
Now, let's do the math
Supposing that 30% out of 1,000 BVN verifications you carried out in a week failed, perhaps due to typos from your customers, with each charged at N10: you would have lost N3,000. Now, multiply that figure by four weeks to project your loss in a month. Huge right? The situation worsens when some customers repeat the process multiple times, perhaps due to honest typos. Yes, we know that one way to get around this is by limiting the number of attempts a customer can make in a day. But don't you think that might also limit your revenue from customers who make honest mistakes?
Here are a few things you need to know about Redbiller
(1) Getting a Redbiller account is free and always will be.
(2) Going live only takes a few minutes.
(3) And Integration, oh good Lord, is seamless.
We provide developers with a test environment where they can carry out unlimited phone number verification tests without using real money so that you can keep your money for when it matters.
Learn more by visiting www.Redbiller.io.
