ACAMS Today Magazine (March-May 2011) Vol. 10 No. 2 | Page 33

AML CHALLENGES established for other Money Services Business categories. The $1,000 threshold has also been shown to yield the greatest utility of information for law enforcement and their financial crime investigations. Furthermore, $1,000 appears to be a reasonable and sufficient amount to cover consumer’s needs while also helping to maintain low product risks.3 (Ibid) It is important to note these limitations cannot be applied to everyone; therefore, some exceptions are necessary. When dealing with government agencies or other verifiable employers that issue direct deposits exceeding $1,000, financial institutions will want to decide if additional parameters to suit those specific customers should be established. Establishing a Customer Identification Program (CIP) A vital step in establishing a sound and secure prepaid card program is implementing a Customer Identification Program (CIP) that captures the required information and reasonably verifies the applicants, prior to the card being issued. By gathering sufficient identification details about a customer and implementing a rigorous system to verify those customer details, financial institutions can lessen the anonymity factor related to prepaid cards. The CIP must include obtaining the required pieces of information such as the customer’s name, date of birth, physical address and government-issued identification number, while also making sure the steps taken