Identity Document Scanning

ID Card OCR Technology

With BlinkID, data extraction from ID cards is faster and easier than ever. Scan IDs featuring multiple languages, layouts, and levels of quality, with accuracy rates north of 95%. All while delivering best-in-class UX.

What is Optical Character Recognition?

Optical character recognition (OCR) software is crucial for any organization dealing in large-scale identity document scanning and processing.  But what is OCR?

Whether referred to as a scanner or reader, OCR is an automated process that converts alphanumeric text from physical documents — captured by a digital image — into machine-readable text. 

It may sound simple enough, but OCR is a diverse technology that can vary across industries and use cases. Commonly, it’s been used to convert dense text (e.g., legal or financial documents) into PDFs, which while voluminous, is a rather simple conversion process due to the uniform character recognition and structured formats traditionally involved with those files.  And while modern OCR solutions are mostly software-based, there are still several examples of machine-based OCR (i.e., inline OCR) used in high-volume processing environments like mailrooms and product assembly lines. 

Finding the Right OCR Solution for Identity Documents

All OCR solutions, however, are not created equal. For identity documents especially, a text recognition tool must be nimble due to the high degree of variance involved. IDs, whether passports, driver’s licenses, or national identity cards, are complex documents. Loaded with ever-evolving security features, watermarks, and signatures (not to mention varying design formats and language scripts), IDs are challenging enough to read — let alone accurately extract and reconstruct as machine-readable text.

Fortunately, the manual processes of ID data extraction and form filling, which tend to be riddled with errors and omitted information, have mostly gone away. While scanning has simplified the process for the end user, a poorly equipped OCR solution can cause friction by failing to read IDs from certain countries, or further struggling with out-dated formats and damaged documents. Not to mention, a lesser OCR scanner is more susceptible to the various forms of identity fraud.

For an OCR solution to truly stand out from the pack, it needs to thrive in any ID environment. Doing so not only allows an organization to save time and resources through reduced overhead, optimized data collection, and lower error rates, it also nets out a first-class, friction-free user experience across channels and devices.

Icon Regardless of document orientation, lighting, or camera angle, Microblink delivers unmatched processing speed (5x faster than normal) and near-perfect accuracy with every user ID scan attempt. Our OCR-plus technology utilizes auto-classification to extract and match relevant data fields from both sides of a submitted identity document, ensuring consistent, structured output and formats.
Icon BlinkID is backed by a secure infrastructure, which handles all processing on-device to ensure no user information is sent to third-party servers. Further, our field anonymizer easily configures ID scanning to mask certain parts of an identity document (redacted text or cropped images), while our age verification feature provides warning notifications for IDs beyond a certain date of birth.
Icon Integration for BlinkID is easy. Whether you operate a mobile SDK, in-browser SDK, Cloud API, or self-hosted API, deploying our AI-first OCR solution provides superior flexibility in going to market across a variety of industries: banking/fintech, insurance, travel, the sharing economy, age-verified delivery services, and much more.

From ID scan to data extraction
in less than 1 second

5x faster,
2 fewer steps

BlinkID’s scanning time is 5x faster and requires 2 fewer steps to complete compared to competitors’ document scanning solutions, driving higher completions.

+ 95% data
accuracy

BlinkID delivers over 95% data extraction accuracy across diverse identity documents, including passports, driver licenses, residence permits, and more – regardless of document orientation or camera angle.

2,500+ identity
documents

Onboard users effortlessly with our AI-first solution that handles more than 2,500 different IDs from 140 countries.
See supported doc

Get Started with BlinkID
Optimize your customer experience with automated ID scanning

OCR Meets Artificial Intelligence

Microblink utilizes proprietary AI to transform standard OCR to intelligent image capture, making life simpler for hundreds of millions of users around the world. Microblink’s database of over 2,500 ID types (across 140 countries) illustrates the power and scale of AI-based document scanning — trained on constantly evolving machine learning models.

Our machine learning models are only as good as the data behind them. Microblink’s Data Annotation Platform (DAP) features configurable workflows for producing high-quality training datasets, enabling: easy management of projects/priorities, built-in quality monitoring tools, and support for large volumes of data.

What’s more, Microblink’s deep neural architectures come to life via our Machine Learning Platform (MLP), which lets our engineering team design, train, and evaluate the best models to be used in production.

Optimize ID Scanning with BlinkID

Whether you need to onboard users to your platform or authenticate them at sign in, BlinkID is the world’s most trusted and flexible AI-enabled scanning solution. Our proprietary technology never stops growing and learning, supporting more than 2,500 ID types in 140 countries. Processing is done entirely on-device (with regional compliance regulations in mind), so information never has to leave your platform.

By delivering speed and accuracy at scale, BlinkID further delivers on the promise of unmatched user experience — guiding your most valuable stakeholders to a successful scan every time.

Take BlinkID for a spin in our demo app

Available for Android and IOS.

Solving ID Scanning Challenges With AI-Powered OCR

Solving ID Scanning Challenges With AI-Powered OCR

Microblink helps some of the world’s top organizations maintain user trust and drive conversions online — through an AI-powered and UX-focused approach. Our products serve as the foundation for complex identity document-based experiences in onboarding, authenticating, and a variety of other use cases.

Capture & Extract →

Scan and convert data from IDs, quickly and securely.

Global Coverage →

Support 2,500 ID types across 140 countries

Enable & Empower →

Increase conversion rates and revenue with frictionless, fluid UX
Get started with Microblink

Provide the best in-app experience to your users with speed and security at every step.