With fraud constantly on the rise in South Africa, business owners need to take preventative measures to safeguard their company from falling victim to fraud. These preventative measures should include adequate due diligence checks before confirming business deals with new business partners, suppliers, or customers, regardless of size. In this article, we will take a closer look at the importance of due diligence checks and how they can benefit each department within your business.
Know who you are going into business with
Knowing who you are employing or partnering with is a sure-fire way of protecting your business against potential fraud. Therefore, business owners can utilise comprehensive reporting solutions such as MarisIT to run KYC (Know Your Customer) reports, criminal background checks, consumer credit checks, academic verification checks and so much more, to gain insights into the person or entity you want to go into business with.
These reports can help business owners set up more robust vetting practices. It is important for business owners and managers alike to understand that there are different types of vetting reports that may be better suited in a specific department. Let us take a look at how the different departments can benefit from the reports offered by MarisIT.
Departments that could benefit from MarisIT’s reports
Human Resources
With CV fraud running rampant throughout South Africa and across industry sectors, onboarding is no longer as simple as it used to be. In today’s climate, making a poor hiring decisions based on fraudulent information can not only be time-consuming and resource intensive, but can be potentially costly to rectify. For example, you’ve just hired a new structural engineer that falsified their qualifications. Any project that was overseen by this individual could have severe safety concerns and regulation breaches that could jeopardise the lives of many. This mistake alone would devastate a company’s reputation and call to question the integrity of past projects managed by the company.
Therefore, running a background check or academic verification check on a potential candidate can help HR managers uncover potential red flags that would indicate if the candidate is a hiring risk. HR managers can also benefit from other checks such as SAFPS fraud verification, employment confidence index, gross monthly income, and CIPC director search.
Finance
Companies can face internal and external fraud risks when it comes to their finances, whether an employee chooses to double-dip, or a client isn’t as forthcoming with their payment history, or perhaps that partner that issues added invoices for “services rendered”. Being vigilant and having access to reliable data can help business owners and managers avoid costly mistakes and identify instances of financial fraud.
That being said, MarisIT’s easy-to-use Web Services platforms allows customers to run credit checks, property valuation reports, income predictor reports, consumer score, ALM reports (Anti-Money Laundering), PEP reports (FCRD Politically Exposed Persons), lifestyle audits and so much more, all within the confines of the law.
Procurement
Onboarding a supplier without running the appropriate checks can potentially leave the company vulnerable to fraud, especially if the supplier is a front for syndicate activity, and in itself a fraudulent entity. Therefore, businesses are encouraged to run proper vetting and scoring checks that will enable them to make more confident decisions regarding their onboarding processes.
For example, you’ve partnered with a “spare parts” supplier, but you failed to run the necessary checks, a client approaches you, requesting certain parts for their machinery within a set time. You contact your supplier and place your order; however, your supplier demands full payment before the delivery of goods is made. You make the payment, but the goods never arrive. Not only are you now out of pocket, but your client isn’t satisfied with the service due to the lengthy turnaround time.
To mitigate the risks of fraud, businesses need to ensure they only engage with legitimate partners. With the help of MarisIT, companies can perform company background checks, credit checks (whether companies or individuals), account verification and so much more. All from an easy-to-use, robust platform.
Legal
Lawyers and other legal professionals can benefit from the MarisIT Web Services platform, as it allows them to gain accurate and reliable information from reputable providers and credit bureaus. For example, if an attorney is drafting a contract for a potential seller of a property, they might need to verify the deed, or need to run a property valuation to not only determine the correct ownership of the property but also its total value. The reports, offered by MarisIT, also allow lawyers and legal professionals to gain quick access to accurate information on current and potential clients, as well as other parties involved in their cases. This can help them ensure financial compliance, research, and case preparation.
Conclusion
With access to more than 30 different types of reporting available, MarisIT not only helps customers protect their businesses against the threat of fraud, but also improves business processes, increasing efficiencies, and allowing them to make more informed decisions in an ever-evolving business landscape.
If you are looking for a reliable and accurate credit vetting and scoring solutions, contact the MarisIT team today and get started with our Web Services platform!
