Identity, Risk and Fraud
A connected suite of identity, KYC, KYB, and fraud products
Why we offer identity, risk and fraud products
CRS is a credit reporting agency, and that is exactly why our identity, KYC, KYB, and fraud products belong on the same platform as our credit data. Every credit decision rests on the same prior question: is this person who they say they are, and is this business what it claims to be. Without confidence in those answers, the credit decision itself is unreliable.
Traditionally, that work has been scattered across separate vendors, with credit pulled from a bureau, identity from one provider, fraud signals from another, and the outputs stitched together inside each lender's own decision engine. CRS consolidates that layer. We built identity, KYC, KYB, and fraud as a connected suite on the same data foundation, one API, and one compliance framework as our credit products. The credit decision and the identity decision are not separate problems. They are two halves of the same one, and they should run on the same layer.
What's included in Identity, Risk and Fraud:
- CRS Fraud Finder
- Consumer and Business InstantID
- KBA, OTP, SNA, Document Verification
- OFAC and Watchlist Screening
- Criminal and Eviction Records
- Liens and Judgements
- Property Search and Verification
- Data Prefill and Append
A full suite of KYC and KYB products for the decisioning lifecycle
A real KYC and KYB capability is a complete picture of the applicant, not a single check. CRS offers identity, business verification, and data products that work together to build that picture, so every decision runs against the same depth of information.
For consumers, CRS KYC verifies identity across multiple sources rather than a single check, which improves match accuracy and keeps approvals high. Data prefill and append populate or enrich applicant data from authoritative sources during the application, reducing friction and giving your decisioning engine cleaner inputs from the start. For businesses, CRS KYB verifies the entity itself (name, address, status, ownership, public records) and surfaces the principals and beneficial owners behind it, because a business is only as legitimate as the people who run it. The same prefill and append capabilities apply to commercial applications.
Around that core, CRS offers the data layers that complete the picture: liens and judgments, OFAC and watchlist screening, criminal and eviction records, property search and verification, and Consumer and Business InstantID. Use them standalone or layered into the same decision flow as identity and credit, depending on what each workflow calls for.
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Identity verification and anti-fraud at the point of onboarding
The most expensive moment in a credit decisioning workflow is the moment a fraudulent applicant slips through. A synthetic identity or fabricated business that reaches underwriting costs you a wasted credit pull, compliance exposure on data that should never have been requested, and potentially an approval issued to someone who does not exist. CRS identity and anti-fraud products are designed to prevent that moment, by detecting risk during live onboarding before it reaches credit decisioning.
CRS Fraud Finder is the lightweight first layer, an emailcentric fraud detection product powered by Experian that scores risk in real time against global behavioral signals. For higher-risk moments, CRS supports Knowledge-Based Authentication (KBA), One-Time Password (OTP), Silent Network Authentication (SNA), and document verification. Each can run standalone or as a step-up when an earlier check raises a question.
These products are powered by some of the most respected anti-fraud and identity providers in the world, integrated into the CRS platform so you do not have to procure and maintain those relationships individually. The fraud check, the identity check, and the credit check stop being three separate steps and become stages of one decision, run on one platform.
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FAQ
What is the difference between KYC and KYB?
KYC verifies an individual's identity, while KYB verifies a business entity and confirms the submitted details match trusted business records. CRS supports both because consumer onboarding and business onboarding have different failure modes and compliance needs, and teams often need consistent decision outputs across products like account opening, lending, merchant onboarding, and vendor onboarding.
When should we use CRS Fraud Finder versus CRS KYC?
Use Fraud Finder when you want early fraud risk signals before a credit pull, especially during sign up, checkout, or credential changes. Use CRS KYC when you need to verify consumer-provided identity information with higher confidence using multi-source comparisons. Many teams use both in a cascade, starting with Fraud Finder to flag risk early and stepping up to KYC only when risk is elevated or policy requires stronger identity verification.
Why does a credit reporting agency offer identity and fraud products?
Because credit decisioning has never been only about credit. Every credit decision rests on the assumption that the person or business in front of you is real and is who they claim to be. CRS offers identity, KYC, KYB, and fraud products so that assumption can be verified on the same platform as the credit pull, instead of through a separate stack of vendors that have to be stitched together.
Can CRS products integrate into our existing onboarding and decisioning workflows?
Yes. CRS solutions plug into your current onboarding, decisioning, and risk systems via API. Teams commonly deploy CRS products as standalone checks or combine them with credit and other risk signals, which makes it easy to add identity and fraud controls without rebuilding the entire decisioning stack. Teams without engineering resources can access the same products through FinStack, our web platform.
How do these products fit into a credit underwriting workflow?
Typically as the gates at the front of the funnel. Identity verification and fraud detection confirm that an applicant is real and legitimate before any FCRA-regulated credit pull is requested, which protects you from wasted hard inquiries, compliance exposure on data that should never have been pulled, and approvals issued to applicants who do not exist. KYC and KYB run alongside or just after, validating the consumer or business behind the application. Credit decisioning then runs against a verified applicant, not a hopeful one.
Can we configure the order and depth of checks based on our risk policy?
Yes. CRS Cascades let you chain identity, fraud, KYC, KYB, and credit products into one automated workflow, where each step's result determines what runs next. A lightweight fraud signal at sign up might be enough for a low-risk applicant, while a higher-risk signal triggers step-up KYC, additional public record screening, or document verification before credit decisioning runs. The result is a decision flow that matches your policy, not a one-size-fits-all check on every applicant.
How does CRS help with synthetic identity and application fraud?
CRS helps surface mismatches and high risk patterns by using cross source consistency checks that combine identity, credit, and public record signals. Fraud patterns like synthetic identities often rely on manipulated or partially valid data, and multi source verification helps reveal inconsistencies that single source checks can miss.
What data sources does CRS use for identity and fraud decisions?
CRS leverages a broad mix of background checks, public records, identity verification data, and fraud reporting sources, including both traditional and alternative datasets. This multi-source approach is designed to maximize coverage and reduce blind spots that show up when teams rely on self-reported information or a single data provider.Yes. CRS KYB supports business account opening, business lending, merchant onboarding, supplier onboarding, and high risk vendor verification. It provides a report that shows how closely submitted business details match business entity records on file, helping you standardize risk controls and improve approval speed without sacrificing confidence.
What data and identity vendors does CRS work with?
CRS partners with a broad set of best-in-class data and identity providers so teams can build scalable, compliant identity, risk, fraud, and credit decisioning workflows without managing a separate integration for each vendor. Our ecosystem includes the three major credit bureaus, TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax, for bureau-grade credit and identity signals, plus specialized partners like LexisNexis for layered identity verification and screening, Socure for digital identity and fraud-focused verification, CIC for additional credit reporting coverage, and PitchPoint for verification and risk enrichment signals. CRS works with multiple vendors that may appear to overlap intentionally: different providers offer different levels of coverage, depth, latency, and cost, and CRS orchestrates them into a coherent cascade so teams can start with lighter-weight checks, step up when risk or policy requires it, and keep underwriting and onboarding outcomes consistent across channels.
How does CRS help reduce false positives and keep good customers moving?
CRS improves decision quality by combining identity signals, fraud signals, and corroborating public record data to create a more complete profile. This helps teams distinguish true risk from thin-file or incomplete-data situations, enabling more consistent and explainable outcomes that reduce unnecessary step-ups and prevent avoidable declines.
Can CRS support step-up verification for account changes and high-risk actions?
Yes. CRS KYC is commonly used for step-up verification when risk increases, such as when a user changes credentials, updates key profile details, or attempts a high-impact action. Many teams use Fraud Finder to monitor credential changes and then escalate to KYC when the risk score or behavior indicates that stronger identity confirmation is needed.
Does CRS support business onboarding and merchant risk workflows?
Yes. CRS KYB supports business account opening, business lending, merchant onboarding, supplier onboarding, and high-risk vendor verification. It provides a report that shows how closely submitted business details match business entity records on file, helping you standardize risk controls and improve approval speed without sacrificing confidence.
Can CRS support instant screening and high-velocity user experiences?
Yes. CRS is built for high-velocity workflows with fast responses and configurable data cascades. Teams can start with lower-cost signals and only escalate to deeper checks when earlier results indicate elevated risk or require validation, which helps maintain conversion while controlling verification costs.
What add-ons are available to expand identity and screening coverage?
CRS offers identity and fraud add-ons available upon request, including InstantID, Business InstantID, OFAC and Watchlists, Criminal Reports, Liens and Judgments, and Property Search. These add-ons help teams tailor verification depth to the workflow, adding targeted coverage where it improves confidence or supports policy requirements.
How do CRS identity and fraud checks affect FCRA exposure on the credit side?
Identity and fraud checks generally do not trigger FCRA prescreen or hard inquiry obligations, because they are not consumer report transactions in the credit sense. They are typically used to confirm that the applicant is real and that the workflow has a legitimate basis to proceed, which is the prerequisite for any subsequent FCRA-governed credit pull. Running these checks first reduces FCRA exposure overall, because you avoid pulling regulated credit data on applicants who should never have entered the funnel.