Onboarding a client: FICA and the record of advice
How the Financial services pack onboards a South African client, from FICA document requests and verification to an e-signed record of advice.
By Achekam · · 4 min read · For Financial services businesses in South Africa
Launching soon. The Industry CRM add-on described in this article is launching soon. This article describes it as it will work at launch.
Onboarding a new advice client in South Africa produces a stack of paper before any advice is given: an identity document, proof of address, something that shows where the client's money comes from, and, once you have advised, the record of advice. Chasing those by e-mail, saving attachments into the right folder and remembering who checked what is where onboarding usually stalls.
Achekam's Financial services pack, built for financial advisers and bond originators, turns onboarding into a workflow. It asks the client for the documents, records the verification, and ends with the record of advice signed electronically.
The onboarding workflow at a glance
| Step | What happens | Who acts |
|---|---|---|
| FICA documents | The client is sent a request for identity, address and source-of-funds documents | The client answers |
| Verification | The verification is recorded on the client's file | Your staff check and record |
| Record of advice | The record of advice goes to the client and is signed electronically | The client signs |
Each step is a task, and the client's answers move the tasks on. Nobody has to keep a separate list of which clients are still missing a proof of address.
Identity, address and source-of-funds documents by request
The first step sends the client a request for documents instead of an e-mail. The client responds to the request, and their answer moves the task forward.
Write the request in plain language and say exactly what you will accept: which identity documents, how recent a proof of address may be, and what counts as evidence of source of funds. What is acceptable is for your practice's own FICA procedures to decide; the request is how you tell the client. The Financial Intelligence Centre's compliance and supervision pages explain how accountable institutions register with the FIC, report through goAML and meet their FIC Act customer due diligence and reporting duties.
Source of funds is the item clients find hardest to answer. "A document showing where the money for this investment comes from" means little to most people. "Your latest payslip, or the letter confirming your retirement payout, or the sale agreement for the property you sold" gets a usable answer the first time.
Recording the verification
Verification is a separate recorded step. That is the part a reviewer will ask about: not only that the documents are on file, but that someone looked at them, judged them adequate, and when.
The pack runs no credit-bureau, sanctions or prominent-person check itself. Its checklist records the check your own compliance process made, using whatever service or procedure the practice relies on. Make sure the person completing the verification step knows that the screening is theirs to do and to record, and that nothing has been done in the background on their behalf.
A good verification note says who checked, on what date, which documents were seen, what screening was run and with what result, and where the evidence is filed.
The record of advice, signed electronically
Once the advice has been given, the workflow ends with the record of advice signed electronically. A workflow step sends the document for signature, and the client's signature moves the task on.
The signing works as it does across Achekam: signature and initials fields placed on the document, signers in order or all at once, an expiry, and reminders to the client. When everyone has signed, the signed PDF and a completion certificate are filed back into Documents, on the client's file.
Send the record of advice while the conversation is fresh. A client who signs the same week remembers what was discussed; one who signs a month later may not.
Check the document before it goes. The record of advice should name the client correctly, describe the needs the client told you about, set out what you recommended and why, and note anything you discussed but did not recommend. If a joint client or a spouse must also sign, add them as a signer and decide whether they sign in turn or at the same time. A record of advice that has to be corrected and sent again after one party has signed creates exactly the kind of muddle the signing certificate is meant to prevent.
Starter wording to review before the first client
Every contract and agreement in the industry packs, including the onboarding documents, is marked as starter wording that the business must review before use. Treat that literally. Your record of advice must reflect the products you advise on, the way your practice works and the obligations that apply to it.
Have the person responsible for compliance in your practice settle the wording before the first client receives it, and save that version as the one everybody uses. Review it again whenever your product range or your procedures change.
After onboarding: household reviews and loan applications
Onboarding is the start of the relationship, not the whole of it. The pack also keeps:
- Household reviews, holding the household's members and its assets as the client states them, for the annual review cycle;
- Loan applications, for bond originators, tracked milestone by milestone.
The care taken at onboarding pays off later. A complete, verified file is the base every later review and application builds on.
Before the first client
- Write the request wording for identity, address and source of funds.
- Decide who may record verification, and how screening results are recorded.
- Review the starter record of advice and save the practice's version.
- Agree how long a request may stay unanswered before someone phones the client.
What happens at the yearly review is covered in running the annual household review. For a fuller list of what the pack leaves to the practice, see what the adviser pack leaves to your own checks.
Write the request wording first. It is the part clients actually see, and it decides how many follow-up calls the rest of onboarding will need.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
