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Address Proofing: Utility Bills, Bank Statements and Geo Checks

Address verification is where fraud gets sloppy. The same five utility bill templates show up over and over.

6 min read

Proof of address sits awkwardly in the KYC stack. It is not glamorous, regulators rarely write specific guidance on it, and yet it is one of the most common places fraud actually appears.

What documents count

  • Utility bills dated within 90 days
  • Bank or credit-card statements
  • Government-issued correspondence
  • Lease agreements with corroborating documents
  • Mortgage statements for property owners

What to actually check

Issuer template authenticity, font and kerning consistency, PDF metadata, embedded fonts and color profiles, and address normalisation against postal databases. Edits that look invisible to the eye usually leave traces in the file structure.

When to send a physical visit

High-risk jurisdictions, suspected nominee addresses, and any case where the documentary proof cannot be reconciled with the customer's stated address. A physical visit is cheap compared to the cost of letting a fraudulent address through.

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