Most lawyers have been there: waiting for that pack of certified true copy documents to arrive from the client, knowing that the job cannot be done without it. Client due diligence (CDD) is a serious business, with significant consequences if it is not done correctly.

However, the other side of the fence will also be familiar to lawyers. As clients in their private lives, they may be asked by banks, brokers, lawyers or estate agents to provide certified true copies in order to satisfy CDD requirements, with the typical process including:

The best way to conduct due diligence on an individual is to meet them face-to-face, have a conversation and check their identification and anti-money laundering (AML) documents. Most of the AML regulations worldwide agree on this point.

However, most organisations also need to deal with engagements where they cannot, or do not, meet the client face-to-face. In fact, they might never meet a client in person throughout the whole life of the relationship. This is particularly true for offshore law firms and online service providers.

AML regulations explicitly highlight the increased risk of identity fraud in these situations and demand that enhanced due diligence measures are used to mitigate it. This is the reason for certified true copies: they are an additional check to help combat the elevated risk of identity fraud in relationships that are not face-to-face.

Certified true copies are not the only option. AML regulations typically suggest a number of equally acceptable alternatives. These usually include obtaining information and supporting verification evidence on the client beyond what would be required face-to-face, or taking a payment from the client through an account in their name held with a regulated financial institution.

Online databases and directories, both free and subscription-based, provide a useful way of obtaining additional information, cross-checking identity elements and obtaining verification evidence. These resources are cheap and effective if a firm's client base is located within one jurisdiction.

However, if a firm's client base is spread more widely across the globe, the overheads associated with a ballooning portfolio of databases rise inexorably, and the quality of the available data falls. Even if a firm has clients in more than just one or two jurisdictions, it will still be necessary to ask many of those clients to endure the trouble and stress of providing certified true copies.

So what is the answer? In a modern world awash with cloud computing, satellite networks and mobile technology, there must be a quicker, cheaper, better way.

Elian Due Diligence Services, a professional corporate services administration provider, has recently launched an app called ID Check, which is designed as a paperless solution to process CDD more efficiently.

Firms signing up for the ID Check service will receive a mobile app that is fully tailored to their brand. Individual clients can then download the app to their phone for free, allowing them to submit all of their identity information and supporting verification evidence from anywhere, at any time. The app process takes just a few minutes and requires the user to take photos of their identity documents, tap in some basic identity data, and pay £1 (or currency equivalent) using their credit or debit card.

Having used the ID Check app to upload their information, the client's data is encrypted and transmitted to Elian's servers. Here, it is assembled into a single page verification report and subjected to a series of checks by Elian's team of specialised CDD staff. These checks are designed to address the two key alternative enhanced due diligence measures suggested by AML regulations and include: facial recognition comparison; data cross-checks; geo-location data comparison; and payment confirmation.

Finally, the completed verification report is deposited in a secure online portal for the firm to use as a truly paperless alternative to certified true copies for individual CDD purposes. The whole process should take less than an hour in total.

The legal and financial services sector has relied on paper certified true copies for CDD purposes for so long now that it has become a firm industry standard. Many believe that certified true copies are prescribed by the AML regulations, and are genuinely surprised when they take a closer look and see the flexibility that is there in black and white.

Ultimately though, the client is king. To date, a wide range of clients are already using ID Check, from fund managers in Manhattan to an 86 year-old lady in the Amazon jungle. As technology continues to transform our everyday lives, pressure inexorably builds for regulated firms to find ways to make things quicker, easier and cheaper for their clients. The firms that respond will take clients from those that do not.