7 Frequently Asked Questions About ID Document Verification

Looking for a better way to authenticate your digital customers’ identities, but not sure where to start? You’re not alone: Gartner predicts that by 2022, 80% of organizations will be using document-centric identity proofing as part of their onboarding workflows, up almost 30% from current adoption. The problem of ensuring accurate physical identity verification in a virtual world isn’t going anywhere soon. Luckily, the solution is simple: digital identity document verification.

We talked to Socure experts about the seven most-asked questions they get from online businesses first dipping their toes into digital ID verification. Here are the answers to what you’re wondering about.

1. What Exactly is Digital Identity Document Verification?

Identity document verification used to be an in-person interaction: for example, a bank teller might check a customer’s driver’s license when they opened an account to make sure the photo (or, “identity”) matched. It’s a simple, stalwart form of identity authentication.

With digital identity document verification, that in-person process has moved online. Physical identity documents—such as a driver’s license or passport—are authenticated through purpose-built software that can match the person submitting the document to the identity on the submitted document. This typically happens through an upload of a selfie and a government-issued identity document. The software checks the validity of personal data, including name, age, and address, as well as document features, such as stamps, watermarks, fonts, colors, and carrier materials. Today’s most advanced document solutions can even verify in near real-time.

2. What types of documents can be used for identity verification?

Officially issued documents, such as a driver’s license, passport, or other state or federally-issued ID are the most accepted forms of verifiable documents.

3. Won’t this annoy my customers?

Customer experience is a vital concern for all identity verification solution providers, who know that any added steps to onboarding can directly impact your business’ bottom line. At Socure, our customers experience better  than 92% conversion after the document verification process, including taking a selfie—which tells us that protecting our customers from fraud doesn’t at all hurt their customers’ experience nor increase drop-offs. This is because automated document verification can confirm an identity in mere seconds, minimizing friction while still maximizing risk detection.

4. Where does all the information needed to verify identities come from?

Different systems will use different strategies, but in general, identities are verified through an approach to matching a specific person’s “personally identifiable information” or “PII” with authoritative data sources, including utility records, credit header data, education data, and more.

One of the reasons Socure can provide such accuracy in verifying identities is that we have the most robust data sources in the industry. This includes alternative data records for phone numbers, physical addresses, email addresses, IP addresses, and other important elements that can be correlated back to an identity.

5. How long does verification take?

It depends on the system. Socure’s predictive document verification can confirm an identity in seconds (and we’re one of the fastest solutions out there).

6. How accurate is it?

Very! In Socure’s case, we deliver 98% auto-decisioning rates (meaning, we can decision on  98% of identities without the need for manual reviews) and 99.5% accuracy in detecting spoofing attacks (a spoofing attack is when someone tries to impersonate another individual).

Automation is key to accurately confirming physical identities in a digital world. Here’s how it typically works: the automated system leads the customer through a step-by-step approach to take a photo of a document and of themself, while simultaneously conducting the verification process in the background, where the physical attributes are matched with myriad known good and known bad identities.

This automation is vastly more accurate than manual processes or review. Automation checks factors that manual reviews can’t confirm with the same level of accuracy (if at all), such as cross-document data consistency, signs of manipulation or forgery, overall quality of the document (including ultra-fine-details, such as optically verifiable ink, text overlays, subtle hue changes, and watermarks).

7. How do I know I’m getting the best anti-fraud solution for my customers and my business?

Digital identity document verification is a fairly straight-forward process, but there are big differences  in capabilities, performance, and results across different vendors. A good place to start is looking for a solution that includes machine learning, advanced computer vision models, and multi-dimensional analytics, all of which are indicators of both accuracy and usability.

Want to learn more?

Socure’s Predictive DocV solution provides industry-leading identity authentication. Register for our upcoming DocV Demo and Insights: The 5 Core Components of Predictive Document Verification webinar to ask questions directly to our team of experts, see the demo in action, and learn more about how Socure’s Predictive DocV can accelerate your revenue growth and reduce identity fraud.