The "Know Your Customer" check: what is it and why do we do it?
It's likely that you have recently received a request from LeasePlan asking you to provide specific ID information and related documents. If you haven't yet received an email requesting this, it may arrive soon. This is all related to the Know Your Customer check, which falls within the scope of the EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive. To minimize the risk of fraud and other forms of financial crime, we are obligated to ensure the correct identity of all our customers and to verify them. These customer reviews need to be carried out for new working relationships, and existing records also have to be updated periodically. This is why – from time to time during our partnership – we will send you an email requesting certain identification-related information.
A purely legal obligation We understand that the Know Your Customer principle will lead to questions on your side, not least due to the administrative effort this requires of you. We also realise that this seems as though we are questioning the integrity of your business. It should go without saying that LeasePlan does not automatically judge anyone to be a fraudster. We firmly believe that all of our customers strive to ensure that their business operations are fair and just. As much as we support efforts to prevent fraud, we wish to state that the Know Your Customer check is purely a legal obligation.
Why is LeasePlan required to do this? Why does this obligation apply to LeasePlan and not to many other leasing companies? The fact is that the Know Your Customer check applies first and foremost to financial institutions, such as banks, insurance companies, solicitors, accountants and estate agents. It is more important in this sector than in others to carefully monitor the risks associated with money laundering practices or fraud. As LeasePlan has a bank licence to be able to lease and sell vehicles, this means we are officially subject to these regulations.
A guarantee of confidentiality As previously mentioned, the Know Your Customer guideline goes beyond an initial check at the beginning of a working partnership. We require updates from time to time, e.g. if a certain law changes, specific customer information is no longer up to date, or there is information missing. In some cases, we will be required to contact you in order to meet our own legal obligations. Of course, we will handle all information that you send us with the utmost care and confidentiality. We will only use your identification-related information as part of our general anti-money-laundering strategy. None of the information we receive is used for commercial or other purposes.
If you still have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us via kyc@leaseplan.be. We fully understand the impact of this measure. Our service teams do everything they can to ensure the check is as smooth as possible and to keep administrative effort to a minimum.
