Utility Bill

A utility bill is a statement that people receive for essential household services such as gas, electricity, or water. Utility bills are typically sent out through email or post using a regular schedule, showing you how much you owe for the utilities you’ve used. Depending on the country and the service provider, these bills can be issued monthly or quarterly. 

Some common utility bill examples include charges for services like:

• Gas
• Water
• Electricity
• Heating oil
• Telephone
• Internet
• Cable services

In the UK, for instance, utility bill examples include the Scottish power bill, Virgin Media Broadband bill, Thames Water bill, and so on.

No. Most services do not accept wifi bills as proper utility bills that can be verified due to security reasons. So, in general, wifi bills are broadband services that are categorized as a communication or subscription service, not a traditional utility expense. As a result, it’s harder to adopt a water service (compared to wifi), and that’s why it’s considered an acceptable method for utility bill verification. 

Proof of Address (PoA) is a document that shows a person’s residential address, confirming that the address exists, is genuine, and that the person actually currently lives there. This is a form of verification measure and risk mitigation option that companies use in order to comply with regulatory rules and check address information from reputable sources, such as utility bills. 

Utility bills are a part of acceptable Proof of Address (PoA) document types in the address verification process. It’s a mandatory requirement for regulated industries, such as financial service providers or cryptocurrency platforms, to verify their customers’ addresses and comply with customer due diligence (CDD) requirements. For example, companies ask to verify addresses to ensure due diligence for individuals from sanctioned countries. 

Typically, a utility bill used for address verification should be dated within the last three months. This ensures that the address information is current and accurate.

A utility bill typically has the person’s name, address, account number, the amount that they owe for the services and the due date, specific information about the services (for example, water consumption during the billing period), and other details like instructions for the payment. 

Yes, most providers accept digital utility bills (e-bills) as proof of address. However, electronic documents are easier to manipulate than physical ones, so automated verification systems typically perform additional checks to confirm authenticity before approving them. This is also required by several compliance requirements. 

Some organizations use utility bill checks as a form of address verification to detect fraudulent transactions. Consequently, utility bill checks are important because they enhance security and confirm that the customer exists and that their address information isn’t abused for illicit activity. 

Verifying customer address data, even when not mandatory, is crucial for companies to detect fraud and ensure robust protection against fraudulent activities. For example, some businesses might not want to accept payments from high-risk areas with higher chances of money laundering. A standard utility bill check can mitigate these risks.

Financial institutions and other regulated entities that use utility bill checks consider such statements as a valid form of proof of address (PoA) documents if the utility bills:

• Aren’t older than 3 months, as this is the standard period for relevance.
• Are provided by individuals over the age of 18 (otherwise, minors must provide a valid proof of address document in their parent’s name).

Additionally, there are other documents that include address verification data that can serve as alternative forms of proof of address. For example, this can be a passport, driver’s license, or an ID card. However, depending on the jurisdiction, not all mentioned documents have address data on them. In some jurisdictions, using the same document for both identity and address verification may not be allowed.

There’s a certain challenge from the customer’s perspective when it comes to residents who have recently moved and might not yet have utilities set up in their names. For example, this is common among college exchange students. However, companies can solve this limitation by accepting other proof of address documents rather than solely relying on utility bills. For example, some older French driver’s licenses have addresses on them. 

The most frequent fraud techniques include editing PDF documents, altering issue dates, swapping names or addresses, as well as reusing bill templates from previous periods. Some fraudsters go a step further by cropping or replacing issuer logos.

Generally, no. Most regulated businesses require the utility bill to match the name of the person being verified. In shared household situations, individuals typically need to provide an alternative proof of address document, such as a bank statement or government letter, issued in their own name; however, there are exceptions, for example, for minors or less strictly regulated environments, like e-commerce marketplaces. 

Businesses can utilize automated solutions to verify utility bills quickly and accurately. For instance, iDenfy offers an AI-powered utility bill verification service that extracts and verifies information from utility bills in under 20 seconds, supporting multiple languages and ensuring compliance with KYC requirements.