How to improve your customer verification process with better software

In the fast-paced digital world we live in, ensuring the safety and security of customer identity is of the utmost importance, especially when it comes to digital banking and financial services. Industry regulations demand that businesses properly authenticate their customers or face hefty financial penalties. 

Businesses can effectively combat identity fraud by adopting a document-centric approach to identity proofing. This is because fraudulent documents are responsible for a staggering 90% of all identity fraud cases. That’s why businesses must prioritize document verification in their ID verification process.

Here’s how better customer identity verification software can enhance your process.

What is customer identity verification software? 

Customer identity verification is the process of confirming a person’s identity to ensure they are who they say they are. Its primary objectives are to prevent fraud, protect sensitive information, and comply with legal and regulatory requirements.

Identity verification is particularly important within key customer processes like signing up for a bank account, registering for a sports betting account, or trying to order prescription drugs online. In these situations, verifying that the person requesting access is indeed the person they claim to be is essential.

Many companies are turning to identity verification tools to meet this challenge. This software is designed to automate the verification process, making it faster, more accurate, and more secure. 

Modern verification software’s key features and capabilities include biometric identification (such as facial recognition or fingerprint scanning), document verification, and real-time risk assessment.

Compared to traditional verification methods, an identity verification solution offers several advantages. For one, it is much faster and more efficient, allowing companies to verify customer identities in real time. It’s also more accurate, reducing the risk of false positives or negatives. Finally, it’s more secure, with built-in fraud detection and prevention features that can help companies identify and prevent fraudulent activity before it occurs.

Overall, identity verification programs are a powerful tool that can help companies protect their customers, comply with regulations, and prevent fraud—all without compromising speed, accuracy, or security.

Breaking down the importance of consumer identity verification software 

Weak identity verification solutions can be the end of a brand. Just a single weak point can enable cybercrime, breaching your customers’ trust and opening your company up to millions of dollars in damage-control measures and legal fees. 

For example, an identity document verification process along with a user selfie and biometric verification to the photo on the ID is useless if the verification software doesn’t detect manipulated face photos on the document. 

Below are a few key areas of importance to consider as you weigh the benefits and current risks associated with updating your customer identification process. 

Fraud prevention 

With over 2.4 million consumer fraud concerns reported to the United States Federal Trade Commission in 2022 alone, it’s clear that fraud is a significant issue in the virtual community. This is further compounded by the fact that there were over 5.7 million reports of identity theft per year.

Taking a holistic approach that covers fraud prevention and detection is key to protecting your customers’ identities online—and to best execute your process, you’ll need to have something to check against. 

That’s where your foundational ID verification process comes into play. With the proper software and protective steps, your clients and consumers can verify their identity online in seconds, giving all parties peace of mind over the course of the consumer’s lifespan. 

Enhancing customer experience 

The confidence that comes from a solid customer identification process and ID verification pathway keeps consumers loyal to a brand. People want to buy into businesses that have their backs and walk the walk when it comes down to it. 

With hundreds of other brands experiencing data breaches, consumers have shifted a discerning eye to a business’s cybersecurity practices and prior fail-safes. Taking the step to upgrade your systems will help you better serve and secure the customers you have now, possibly helping to attract new ones. 

Regulatory compliance 

As stated above, proper fraud prevention and detection measures can save you millions on compliance breach fees and legal disputes. While customer identification process steps are key to solidifying first, having detection measures in place after the fact can add to the robustness of your company’s cybersecurity strategy—catching anything that could possibly slip through and limiting your liability. 

How customer identity verification software works 

No two customer identity verification software options are created equally. Understanding the robust elements and limitations of yours is critical to the integrity of your entire security structure. 

Often, a program will use a mix of digital footprint analysis strategies, manual verification techniques, and multi-factor customer authentication. This three-tiered structure is holistic in nature and can be especially helpful for more complex interactions.

Identity document verification 

This type of verification can be incredibly complex (and isn’t usually user-friendly). Embracing a simple, user-experience-driven structure can be the key to giving your brand a competitive advantage. 

You’ll want to ensure that identity document verification takes place across multiple documents. This can offer the benefit of real-time data enrichment (especially if there are ongoing “refreshment” points for your customer’s data) and can help your brand to verify users with a higher degree of accuracy. 

While strong customer authentication practices generally rely on multiple documents and checkpoints, brands can search for a “unicorn software” that easily integrates with current UX-friendly systems. These tools may rely on machine learning techniques, API integration, and more to give you the benefits of a robust, secure platform and a simple-to-use experience for your consumers.

Microblink

If you’re in the market for identity verification solutions, we invite you to explore Microblink—a tool that enables frictionless customer experiences with automated document verification, capture, and data extraction.

Our solution comprises distinct modules: Capture, Extract, and Verify, each serving a specific purpose in the identity verification process. This modular design ensures that you can tailor the solution precisely to your requirements. Whether you opt for the Capture module alone, combine Capture with Extract, or leverage the full suite of Capture, Extract, and Verify, the modularity remains central to our approach. In the subsequent section, we deconstruct each module, emphasizing how their modular nature not only enhances the solution’s efficacy but also offers a customizable experience.

We do this using seamless machine learning strategies, which enable us to offer high-quality API integration and an easy-to-use tool for your end user. 

Here’s a little more about our approach to strong customer authentication processes: 

Capture:

This step is key to the success of the rest of your process. High-quality document images must be captured for further analysis and real-time data enrichment. Fraud can be easily missed if you have poor capture practices in your process. Our system is specifically designed to catch and note risk of forgeries. We also offer a 0-input capture process that won’t rely on end-user input (such as choosing a document type), reducing inefficiencies and lowering the risk of errors.

Users will be given real-time feedback that enables them to take the clearest picture of their documents using our proprietary system, leveraging the power of document verification software and other security steps.

Extraction:

This step focuses on image data extraction, contributing to industry-leading verification and security. This part of our process was also built to keep up with updating document styles for maximum flexibility, leaving you with nothing but a simple back-end update to fully comply with current document preferences.

We suggest pairing capture with the extraction process for a better overall experience and higher extraction efficiency. Microblink offers these services on an independent basis, but you can use them together for a single, seamless process.

Verification:

Lastly, after both the capture and extraction steps, verification can be confidently completed using AI-driven visual analysis to confirm authenticity of documentation in seconds. This outperforms human processing steps in both accuracy and speed — all the while limiting the risk of organizational liabilities. In this process, bad actors are natively “kept out” without compromising UX, as the system seamlessly detects photo forgeries, falsified document properties and photocopies of otherwise sensitive documents.

Key features of customer identity verification software 

There are plenty of identity verification software companies out there. Additionally, there are several critical features of customer identity verification software you should look for before making your final decision. 

AI/Machine learning 

Data acquisition and enhancement through AI and machine learning allow customers to receive higher-quality tool performance over time. These concepts and models fit seamlessly into high-quality software types, as software is inherently flexible. Be sure to evaluate your tool for this important element, as it lays the groundwork for constant betterment later on. 

UX-first construction 

Clients and team members are more likely to adopt and maintain user-friendly processes. Every tool you consider should be evaluated for accessibility and ease of use. A poor customer experience can turn them away from a brand or process, so the importance of this step can’t be overstated. 

Risk scoring and decisioning 

As you explore different verification options, consider how each software completes risk-scoring and decision-making steps. This might be done through an aggregate fraud possibility score and ongoing risk assessment through machine learning processes. 

Examples of customer identity verification software in different industries 

There are many different applications of customer identity verification software for fraud prevention, especially in financial institutions or other controlled and regulated industries. 

FinTech and banking 

When people sign up for a new account or send money through a remittance service, it’s important for them to use regulated and trustworthy platforms in the FinTech and banking industries. These industries have implemented measures to ensure personal and financial information is safe and secure. 

Additionally, if someone wants to purchase age-restricted goods or services online, such as alcohol, prescription drugs, or sports betting, they need to verify their age. This is necessary to protect themselves and ensure they’re not breaking any laws or regulations. 

Better verification software and fraud prevention techniques result in faster availability of funds, lower incidences of fraud, and better customer experiences overall, promoting brand loyalty and retention. 

Future trends in customer identity verification software 

As emerging technologies continue to revolutionize how we conduct business, companies must keep up with the latest advancements in customer verification processes. With the rise of biometric authentication and AI, the future of customer verification software looks promising.

However, it’s not just about keeping up with the latest trends. Robust customer identity verification is essential for maintaining the security of both businesses and their customers. From preventing fraud to protecting sensitive information, investing in better software is a must-have for any company that values security and user experience.

To stay ahead of the game, businesses must be willing to invest in advanced customer identity verification software. Doing so can ensure their customers’ identities are protected and their business remains secure. 

There’s no better time to upgrade your customer identity verification software. For more information and to get started today, connect with the experts at Microblink: Committed to building a better user onboarding and payment verification workflow with AI-powered document scanning and verification.