How Real-Time Photo ID Verification Works

ID verification allows financial institutions to compare a person’s claimed identity to public and private sources of information that can prove the ID holder’s legitimacy. In recent years, increasing numbers of sophisticated software have been developed to automatically and digitally authenticate identity. In particular, real-time photo ID verification is based on advanced technologies that allow financial institutions to maintain the highest standards of Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations. Here, we will explore the topic of photo ID verification and how it works.

What is ID verification, and why is it such a big issue today?

ID verification is a process of authentication that compares a person’s purported identity to database information that either confirms or denies a match. Documents that are legally usable as KYC measures include social security cards, driver’s licenses, state IDs, and birth certificates. Unfortunately, identity theft is prevalent, making it necessary to take further measures that can confirm whether a person really is who they claim to be. Government databases are frequently used for this purpose. So are secret password questions that are likely only correctly answerable by the identity holder. Technological solutions to the challenge of confirming identity have become more prevalent, like single sign-on (SSO) and similar protocols that are now ubiquitous. Yet bad actors including fraudsters are devising more complex schemes involving more players than ever before. Gone are the days of classic identity theft; today schemes involving things like synthetic fraud and more sophisticated front companies are a struggle to keep up with. Moreover, KYC and AML regulations are more stringent than they used to be. They have been ever since 9/11 when concerns about financing international terrorism became a national priority, resulting in the Patriot Act section that requires banks to a) verify their customers’ identity and b) report any suspicious behavior. The good news is that better technology is starting to make the process of ID verification easier than before. Real-time photo ID verification is a prime example of that.

What is real-time photo ID verification?

Real-time photo ID verification serves to allow banks and other financial institutions to verify a customer’s photo ID with the purest, most unchangeable source of a person’s identity: their face. It allows financial institutions to verify their customers’ photo ID securely and instantly, without requiring them to go to a physical branch or scan and email ID to an agent. Here’s how it works:

1. A bank or call center agent sends a text message with a link to the customer’s smartphone.
2. The customer clicks on the link, which opens up to a secure mobile environment.
3. The customer snaps a photo of their ID card, passport, or driver’s license.
4. The customer takes a live selfie, which is instantly and automatically compared with the photo in their form of ID.
5. The customer ID and selfie and matched and verified

Benefits of real-time photo ID verification

Financial institutions stand to gain a great deal by adopting a photo ID verification solution. Here are some of the main benefits:

• Designed for remote banking: Gone are the days when onboarding or servicing customers require them to go to a physical branch. Customers can easily get their ID verified and move on with their banking task regardless of their location; all they need is their smartphone at hand (which is an ever-present companion, anyway).
• Intuitive: It allows customers to get their ID verified by using a tool they’re already comfortable with: their phone’s selfie function. No cumbersome scanners required.
• Agent-guided: Bank agents can guide customers through the process of photo ID verification via a phone call, ensuring that the process is completed without error (although it’s intuitive for customers even without guidance!).
• More secure: Unlike manual ID verification processes, real-time ID verification uses Knowledge-Based Authentication (KBA) and One-Time Password (OTP) as additional layers of security for the session.
• Highest standard of fraud prevention: Digital ID verification solutions turn the KYC process into an exact science.

The bottom line

Financial institutions now have a new tool to add to their repertoire of KYC and AML measures: real-time photo ID verification. With this technology, compliance and efficiency are no longer mutually exclusive entities. In fact, compliance has never been so efficient, for both customers and agents. To learn more about real-time photo ID verification and related customer transaction capabilities, visit Lightico.com.