How Credas Helped the Development Bank of Wales Modernise Identity Verification and Strengthen AML Control
Overview
The Development Bank of Wales is a public finance institution owned by the Welsh Government, with a remit to provide loans and equity for Welsh businesses, people and communities. Underpinning this mission is a robust Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Customer Due Diligence (CDD) framework that demands reliable, scalable identity verification at every stage of its investment process.
As knowledge-based authentication methods began to show their limitations, the Development Bank sought a modern, efficient solution that could deliver greater rigour without adding friction for customers or staff. Credas provided that solution bringing NFC-powered document verification, real-time PEPs and Sanctions screening, and a configurable self-serve platform that has fundamentally strengthened how the Development Bank manages its IDV obligations.
About the Development Bank of Wales
Established in 2017, the Development Bank of Wales was created to fill financing gaps in the Welsh market and deliver on the Welsh Government’s wider policy objectives. These include supporting the transition to a low-carbon economy, enabling the development of new homes and commercial property, and investing in the businesses and people that drive Welsh communities forward.
With £2 billion in funds under management and over £1 billion invested in almost 5,000 Welsh businesses and property developers, the Development Bank operates at significant scale. This scale, combined with the public interest nature of its work, means that compliance with financial crime regulations is not just a legal obligation, it is central to the institution’s integrity and accountability that it’s known for.
The Challenge
Legacy processes under pressure
Prior to adopting Credas, the Development Bank of Wales relied on Knowledge-Based Authentication (KBA) and manual checks to verify the identities of its customers. While these approaches fulfilled regulatory requirements, they came with significant drawbacks:
- KBA had begun to fall behind modern expectations of security and reliability, becoming increasingly susceptible to fraud vectors that more sophisticated verification methods are designed to prevent.
- Manual verification processes placed a considerable administrative burden on both customers and employees, creating friction in what should be a straightforward onboarding journey.
- Inconsistency across application channels made it difficult to maintain a standardised IDV process — an important consideration for a regulated public finance institution.
- Limited granularity in verification outcomes highlighted an opportunity to strengthen the level of detail available to make risk-based decisions with confidence.
The Development Bank recognised that as financial crime threats evolved and regulatory expectations around digital identity continued to rise, a more robust and future-proof approach was needed.
The Choice: Why Credas?
When the Development Bank of Wales evaluated solutions to replace its legacy approach, Credas stood out for several compelling reasons. Rather than simply offering an off-the-shelf tool, Credas provided a configurable, compliant, and comprehensive platform that could be shaped to the Development Bank’s specific requirements, delivering a very granular insights and targeted due diligence when required.
Key reasons for selection
- NFC document verification — enabling fast, tamper-resistant identity checks using the chip data embedded in modern passports and ID cards, significantly raising the assurance level compared to KBA.
- Configurable checks — the ability to tailor acceptable document types and address verification thresholds to match the Development Bank’s own internal policies, rather than accepting a one-size-fits-all approach.
- Ongoing PEPs and Sanctions monitoring — continuous screening against the PEPs and Sanctions database, with the added depth of adverse media, law enforcement data, and Special Interest Person (SIP) lists.
- White-labelling capability — the platform and customer-facing communications can be presented under the Development Bank of Wales brand, delivering a coherent and professional customer experience.
- Certified trust — Credas was one of the first certified Identity Service Provider in the UK under the UK Government Digital Identity and Attributes Framework, providing independent assurance of the platform’s integrity and compliance.
The Solution
A streamlined, self-serve verification platform
By deploying Credas’ self-serve platform, the Development Bank of Wales was able to fundamentally transform how identity and address verification is carried out across its business. Regardless of how a customer applies, whether online, in person, or through an intermediary, the Credas platform delivers a consistent, standardised verification experience. This was a big change from their original knowledge-based verification, allowing more flexibility and faster processing.
Customers are guided through the verification process digitally and independently, reducing reliance on manual intervention from Development Bank staff and removing much of the friction that previously accompanied onboarding. The result is a smoother customer experience that nonetheless meets a higher bar for compliance rigour.
Identity, Address and Screening in one platform
The Development Bank uses Credas for three interconnected purposes:
- Identity verification — using NFC-enabled document checks to confirm that customers are who they say they are, with a level of assurance that knowledge-based methods cannot match.
- Address verification — configurable thresholds allow the Development Bank to apply verification standards that align precisely with its own risk appetite and acceptable evidence requirements.
- PEPs and Sanctions screening — ongoing, automated monitoring ensures that the Development Bank is alerted to any changes in a customer’s status, including adverse media coverage and law enforcement data, not just at onboarding but on a continuous basis.
Granular insight for targeted due diligence
One of the most significant operational benefits has been the depth of information that Credas provides on each verification outcome. Where previous processes offered limited visibility into results, Credas delivers granular data that enables the compliance team to make more informed, targeted decisions about where additional due diligence is required. This supports a genuinely risk-based approach — applying greater scrutiny where it is warranted, and reducing unnecessary burden where risk is low.
“We operate under a robust AML and Customer Due Diligence framework, so we regularly engage with the team at Credas to fully understand verification outcomes and ensure they align with our internal controls. The team are consistently responsive and supportive, taking the time to provide clear and often detailed clarifications, which we value highly in supporting confident, risk-based decision making.”
— Development Bank of Wales
The Results
A more consistent customer experience
The introduction of the Credas self-serve platform has brought meaningful improvements to the customer journey. Verification is now more consistent across all application channels, reducing the disparity that existed when different approaches were applied depending on how a customer engaged with the Development Bank.
Stronger IDV controls
From a compliance perspective, the transition to Credas has materially strengthened the Bank’s identity verification controls. NFC-based document verification provides a significantly higher level of assurance than knowledge-based authentication, while continuous PEPs and Sanctions monitoring — including adverse media and law enforcement screening — ensures the Development Bank maintains an up-to-date picture of its customer risk profile on an ongoing basis.
