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Direct answers to the questions we're asked most about identity verification, KYC, FICA, AML screening and biometrics in South Africa — and how Contactable's Integrated Identity Platform, trusted by 1,500+ companies across 15 African countries, fits in.
Contactable is Africa's Integrated Identity Platform — identity for enterprise. One platform connects identity verification, biometrics, KYC, AML screening and fraud intelligence into configurable customer journeys, with a single integration and a single audit trail across the customer lifecycle.
A point solution does one job — document validation, liveness, sanctions screening. A platform orchestrates all of them into one controlled journey. Contactable orchestrates an average of 10 point solutions per KYC journey through 80+ integrations, so you integrate once instead of managing a vendor patchwork.
Yes. The platform is built to be interoperable — it connects to your existing systems, data sources and identity providers rather than forcing a rip-and-replace. What to keep, connect or retire is mapped during solution design, based on your architecture and risk requirements.
Contactable is ISO 27001 certified, and every identity decision carries a full audit trail. Personal information is processed in line with POPIA, with responsible-party and operator roles, retention and data-handling arrangements confirmed during solution design — so your compliance team knows exactly who holds what, and why.
Pricing is based on the capabilities you use and your volumes — there's no one-size-fits-all licence. The commercial model is confirmed during solution design, once we've mapped which journeys, data sources and integrations your risk requirements actually need.
A customer submits an identity document and a selfie; the platform validates the document, runs facial biometrics with liveness detection, and checks the identity against authoritative sources. Contactable completes the average end-to-end journey in under 90 seconds, configured to your risk requirements.
South African smart ID cards, green barcoded ID books, passports, and asylum and refugee documents — plus selected documents across other African markets. Where required, supporting data such as proof of address, driving licence details and bank account information can also be validated.
Liveness detection confirms a real, physically present person is behind the camera — not a photo, replay, mask or deepfake. Contactable combines liveness with deepfake and injection-attack detection, and screens faces against the SAFPS fraud database with 1:N matching to catch faces already linked to fraud.
Identity verification confirms someone is who they claim to be. KYC is the broader obligation: understanding the customer, screening them, assessing risk and maintaining that picture over time. Verification is one control inside a complete KYC journey — necessary, but not the whole job.
eKYC is KYC done digitally — documents, biometrics and screening completed remotely in minutes rather than in-branch with paper. Your FICA obligations don't change; only the method does. Done properly, eKYC is faster for customers and easier to evidence when a regulator asks.
No — and any provider claiming otherwise should worry you. Compliance remains the accountable institution's responsibility: your risk management programme, your due diligence decisions. What a platform does is execute, connect and evidence those controls, so every decision you make is defensible.
A politically exposed person holds, or has held, a prominent public function. PEP status is not evidence of wrongdoing — it's a risk signal. Under FICA, foreign prominent public officials attract enhanced measures, while domestic prominent persons are assessed on a risk-based approach.
An ultimate beneficial owner is the natural person who ultimately owns or controls a legal entity — including through layers of companies or trusts. FICA requires accountable institutions to establish beneficial ownership, because the person exercising control isn't always visible in the recorded shareholding.
Yes. Digital RICA captures and verifies the required identity and address information remotely — document checks, biometrics and liveness on the customer's own device — while maintaining the records RICA requires. Contactable's RICA4U platform is network-agnostic, supporting MNOs and MVNOs alike.
AML screening checks customers against politically exposed person lists, sanctions lists, enforcement data and adverse media. The results tell an accountable institution where financial-crime risk sits and whether further due diligence is needed — with screening rules configured to your risk management programme.
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