What is Identity Verification?

identity verification

Identity Verification is when a person’s identity matches the person he claims to be. Many documents can prove this fact, such as birth certificates, social security cards, driver’s licenses. This verification is essential for financial companies. A financial institution can allow them to engage in corruption and illegal activities if they are unaware of their clients’ information.

ID Verification is part of companies’ Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) rules. Financial institutions must make sure their customers are to prevent money laundering.

Electronic ID Verification

As businesses increase their online presence, it becomes more important to keep their online customers satisfied. Electronic ID Verification is the digital verification of an individual’s alleged identity.

With the development of technology, it has become relatively easy to perform ID Verification in an electronic environment. Financial institutions can use various software to perform Electronic ID Verification. Via the software, clients have to identity read into the system, and then verification is completed within minutes without going to the branch.

Online ID Verification consists of two stages. The first of these is document verification; the second is the verification of customer data.

Document Verification: Document verification is the checking of government-issued documents. These documents; It is like identity, passport, driver’s license. Apart from documents, information such as birth and date is also checked. The photo of the customer and the photo on the ID are compared with Electronic ID Verification software. Thus, it is checked over the internet whether the person is the person he claims to be.

Verification of Customer Data: It is the comparison of the information provided by the customers to the company with information from institutions such as credit bureaus, watchlists, and government agencies. With Electronic ID Verification software, this process takes a few minutes. The software compares the information provided by the customer with the information in its own system.

What is Traditional ID Verification?

In Traditional ID Verification, identity and other documents are processed manually. This method has some disadvantages. These are increasing the error rate and processing time. In traditional identity verification, companies ask their customers to come to meet with their documents. In the interview, they compare the photo on the identity card to see if they are the same. The whole process runs manually.

Which Sectors Need Identity Verification

Identity verification is a mandatory activity for companies under AML and KYC obligations. Identity verification is a legal requirement in most countries around the world. It’s also a good practice because it helps prevent fraudulent transactions and ensures that your customers are who they say they are.

However, the need for identity verification goes beyond the compliance requirements. Identity verification is also required by businesses in many sectors like e-commerce and gaming, where it’s necessary to verify the identity of customers to prevent fraud and money laundering.

In this article, we will explore some of the most important sectors that require identity verification.

There are many other industries where identity verification is useful, including:

  • Banking and finance
  • Insurance
  • Healthcare
  • Government agencies

Identity Verification for Banking & Financial Services

Banks are required to verify customer identities when opening an account or accepting deposits from clients. Banks also need to verify the identities of their employees and other staff members to ensure they do not pose a risk to their internal controls system or operations.

The reasons why banks need to perform KYC checks include:

  • To comply with AML regulations (Anti Money Laundering)
  • To prevent fraud and money laundering activities within their organization
  • To comply with regulations such as FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) which requires banks to report on foreign accounts held by U.S citizens or U.S tax residents

Identity Verification Solutions

Identity verification software is the name given to solutions that enable businesses to verify their customers, employees or business partners more quickly and securely. Identity verification solutions are typically used for compliance purposes within regulated industries such as financial services, healthcare and government. However, they are also being used by organisations across all sectors of business who want to ensure they are dealing with legitimate individuals.

The aim of identity verification software is to improve the customer experience by reducing fraud and increasing trust in your business. Your customers should be able to transact with confidence, knowing that the person they are dealing with is who they claim to be.

Identity verification software can help you:

  • Reduce fraud risk – Reduce the risk of fraud by ensuring only legitimate users access your services or make purchases online.
  • Increase security – Increase security in your workplace by providing an extra layer of authentication before granting access to resources like laptops or physical locations.
  • Improve compliance – Ensure compliance with regulations such as GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).

The most common use cases for identity verification software include:

  • Employee onboarding: Ensuring new hires have the right skills and experience for the job, as well as verifying their identity.
  • Customer onboarding: Enabling businesses to comply with KYC laws as well as perform risk assessments on new customers.
  • Partner onboarding: Verifying that partners are who they say they are and ensuring they’re not part of any sanctions lists.

Top 5 Identity Verification Software

  1. ID.me
  2. iDenfy
  3. veriff
  4. Trulioo
  5. Getid