Banking and Financial Services

Despite the massive shift to online banking, the banking and financial services industry continues to be one of the most document intensive industries. Millions of financial transactions take place every day which need to be monitored, documented and analysed on a regular basis.

These documents can range from simple bank account statements to cheques, trade finance, various types of transaction banking documents, payment instructions, supporting documents and so on.

With Qryptal, it is possible to secure and automate several of these documents to improve the credibility and reduce processing time. Qryptal and Secure QR code can act as an alternative to blockchain by embedding a high degree of security, having decentralized validation thereby improving credibility while dramatically reducing processing time and saving millions of dollars in losses. Let’s have a look at some of the representative use-cases in this regard.

Cheques

Reducing Cheque Fraud

Cheques need to be verified and cleared as quickly, efficiently and accurately as possible. With most countries adopting CTS system, cheque verification and clearing process is carried out through cheque images being sent in by the receiving bank or financial institution.

In recent years, Cheque fraud has become a growing issue of concern in some countries. Advancing digital technology has made it easier for counterfeiters and fraudsters to acquire blank cheque stationery and the magnetic ink (MICR) printers and fonts to recreate the cheques that are read by bank scanners.

Watermarking, holographs and other security features may help to deter such fraud, though eventually the fraudsters and counterfeiters would be able to acquire similar technology as well. Thus, we are left with the crucial question - how can cheques be enhanced to make them difficult to be tampered with?

Securing your Cheques

Whether it’s blank cheque stationery or printed cheques (cheques with printed details), the use of Qryptal’s Secure Codes for cheques helps to substantially reduce this type of fraud.

Simply adding Qryptal’s Secure Code on cheques makes the cheques tamperproof as the code can only be generated by the bank or its authorized customers. All the key details of each cheque are securely signed and sealed inside Qryptal’s Secure Code.

Qryptal’s system is flexible in terms of the data that can be encapsulated in the Secure Code. This includes the following:

• - Cheque number and account details, as typically indicated in the footer
• - Beneficiary
• - Amount
• - Name of the Signatories
• - Additional details that could be useful for automated processing e.g Company name etc

Integrating Qryptal for Cheque Printing

Adding Qryptal’s Secure Code to Cheque’s is easy. It is added automatically as part of the printing process, just as image logos are added to cheque stationery:

The Qryptal Generator does all the work to encapsulate the data and return the Secure Code image to be incorporated on the cheques. It’s a simple API call to get started. Find out more on our Technology page

Secure Cheque Validation with Qryptal

Cheques that have been secured with Qryptal can easily be validated with Qryptal’s Validation Server as part of the Automated Inward Clearing process.

Qryptal’s Validation Server does the following:

• - Locates the Secure Code on the cheque images that are presented
• - Validates the Secure Code and confirms that it has not been tampered with
• - Extracts the information in the Code and returns it in a structured manner for further processing
• - It can also validate the extracted information with the information printed on the cheque via OCR to check for information tampering.

Find out more at our Technology page

Bank Account Statements

Validating statements and eliminating tampering

Bank statements may sometimes need to be verified by third parties for loan approvals, proof of net worth and so on. Usually, the onus is on the customer to get the physical statement attested or chopped by the issuing bank for this purpose. However, this is time-consuming and can be annoying for both the customer as well as the issuing bank. This problem can be solved by having the statement stamped with a Qryptal QR code securing the details inside it. The code is added as an image using the Qryptal generator and the same can be validated using the dedicated QR validator app.

A sample bank statement with the Qryptal QR is given below-

Using a Qryptal QR code for a bank account or financial statement has several benefits, such as:

• - Works for both printed and electronic documents
• - There is no need to maintain a separate database
• - There is no URL, hence no phishing attacks
• - Easy to integrate with existing document generation systems
• - Makes the document tamperproof and easily verifiable using a dedicated app
• - Very good for security and privacy. The information is shared on a need to know basis and with the implied consent of the document holder (customer)
• - Only the issuing organisation can generate the QR code with the digital signature

Trade Finance documents

Reducing documents tampering and improving automation

Global trade involves a range of documents which pass from one stakeholder in the chain to another and need to be validated at each stage so that the circuit is complete. The documents pass through more hands than the goods themselves as banks and government agencies get involved in various stages of financing and record keeping. There is a not only a need to standardise the documents but also to make sure that they can be trusted and the information can be accessed with confidence for onward processing. Qryptal’s solution can help in this by securing the documents at the time of generation which can be subsequently validated, thereby also leading to the automation of the information processing.

Typical trade flow with associated documentation

The main documents such as the Letter of Credit (L/C), the bill of lading, the contract etc can all be secured with the Qryptal QR code to prevent any unauthorized changes subsequently as well as to easily confirm the information contained in them for smooth processing.

Here is a sample of a warehouse receipt which is powered by the Qryptal QR code, with the relevant details being made available on scanning

There are several advantages once this technology is deployed for trade related documentation

• - Works for both printed and electronic documents
• - There is no need to maintain a separate database
• - It is easy to integrate with existing document production systems used by any or all of the stakeholders in the ecosystem
• - Each document is signed by the private key of the issuing entity and this makes it tamper-proof and easily verifiable with just a dedicated app.
• - This is very good for security and privacy

HR & Payroll

Reducing documents tampering and improving automation

We come across a lot of documents in the human resources function in companies which are critical and used for different purposes. Educational certificates are also a part but this specific use case has already been explained in another section. Some regular examples are joining or employment offer letter, discharge or exit letter, experience certificate (which could also include information about the last position held, the number of years worked and in some cases last salary drawn), regular payslips and so on. Some of these are needed as proof when applying for a new job, for a loan, for visa purposes, opening of a bank or brokerage account or such other similar requirement.

Since these are used as proof and input for important transaction processing, there is an incentive to manipulate the information to suit the requirements or burnish the credentials. There are multiple instances of fake or tampered experience letters and payslips being submitted to improve prospects of better outcomes. It may require time and effort to verify the authenticity of the documents and may not always be possible. As a result there is always a risk that there maybe a incorrect or wrong decision based on these documents which can have serious long term implications for the organisation. There is a need to be able to verify the information in a simple manner and trust the documents being presented.

Once again a way to tackle this problem is by making sure that all such documents are system generated centrally and the information on them is captured in the form of a Qryptal secure QR code before it gets printed either physically or electronically. In addition the QR code will also have the digital signature of the issuing organisation so that unauthorized modifications can be identified and stopped. This can be then validated by different stakeholders to whom it is presented (other employers, banks, embassies and visa processing service providers etc) and the verified contents can be used for the purpose required with full confidence.

A sample of a service certificate with a QR code encapsulating the details is shown here. On scanning the code all the details contained inside it is visible for verification.

Using such a system offers significant benefits

• - It works for both printed and electronic documents
• - It can only be generated by the issuing organisation and cannot be faked or tampered by anyone else
• - It allows self service verification of document by third parties
• - Strengthen personal data protection as information is accessed through the QR code and by the use of an authorised app only. Also since the information is stored inside the QR code, there may not be any requirement to get into tripartite information sharing issues
• - Data domicile issues may be minimal as no online infrastructure is required