CIP stands for Customer Identification Program, which is a requirement in the United States for financial institutions to verify the identity of individuals wishing to conduct financial transactions with them. The CIP must be incorporated into the banks Bank Secrecy Act/Anti-money laundering compliance program, which is subject to approval by the financial institutions board of directors. The CIP must include new account opening procedures that specify the identifying information that will be obtained from each customer, and reasonable and practical risk-based procedures for verifying the identity of each customer. The CIP sets the minimum requirements for onboarding new clients, but depending on the size and location of an organization, each program will vary. The CIP process is a model to guide the decision-making process, consisting of identifying critical infrastructures, determining the threat, analyzing the vulnerabilities, assessing risk, and applying countermeasures.