The tactics of online identity theft are advancing with every passing moment. Every day, we hear news of an online hack, ID theft, or other fraudulent activity. Thus, the onus is on the financial institutions and online businesses, to provide their customers a seamless onboarding process that is secure and simple. Some organizations get concerned about the costs when they hear about automation in ID verification. But, video verification is a cost-effective, swift, and secure process for customer onboarding which these organizations can’t afford to ignore anymore.

What is Video Verification?

Shufti Pro video verification process is used by financial institutions and online businesses to securely onboard customers. Identity verification for these organizations is a must and during the coronavirus pandemic, its relevance is increasing. It is termed as video-KYC by some automated identity verification service providers. It combines AI-based technology with human verification to provide maximum accuracy of results.

Walkthrough of a Video Verification Process?

All the steps in a video verification process are performed remotely. This process involves a KYC expert which adds a human verification step. The KYC expert checks the liveness of the user behind the screen by asking the customer for simple facial movements. When the agent verifies it is a real person and not a picture or a hologram of someone, they ask the user to show a government-issued identity document to the camera. 

Then, the AI-based data recognition technology scans the document. Moreover, the authenticity and originality of the document are also verified in the process. Following this, the face of the user displayed on that document is matched with the video. After the verification process completes, the results are given to the user and updated in the back office API. The whole video process is recorded for the reference of the video verification system, with the consent of the user.

The Perks of Video Verification 

The perks of the video ID verification process are as follows:

  • It is a cost-effective method of customer onboarding. Businesses and financial institutions can save a lot by employing video verification services.
  • Most people do not trust the technology that is operating by itself. Thus, video-based authentication processes involve human verification after the AI-based technology has done its magic.
  • This process eliminates the tiring and worrisome practice of submitting documents at the place of verification. Video verification involves the digital submission of documents, making the whole process hassle-free.
  • Financial institutions and businesses can onboard customers quickly thus increasing the number of sign-ups. 
  • Since this process is quick and simple, it increases user experience and satisfaction.
  • This process provides a contactless verification thus it is suited to the current Coronavirus inflicted landscape.

Suspicion and Mistrust Regarding Video Verification

Privacy Concerns

As the whole video verification process is recorded by the identity verification system, the skepticism remains due to privacy and security issues. In this process, customers are providing sensitive information, thus they remain fearful of privacy of data and a bunch of security issues. Moreover, they get concerned about their information being used or sold for different purposes without their knowledge.

Security Concerns

Even if the organization performing the verification of users is a trusted one, the customers get worried about data breaches in their system. Understandably, people don’t know the ins and out of the security infrastructure implemented by the organization so their concern is justified. They only wonder if the most secure law enforcement agencies like the CIA can become victims of hacking, then what are the chances of their data being hacked.

Is Video Verification the Answer?

The concerns about data privacy and security have a certain degree of genuineness to them. But, it should be noted that when it comes to the security of data in the digital space, no one can assure you 100% security of data. Moreover, without identity verification, all the parties including financial institutions, online businesses, and the general people risk becoming victims of identity-related fraud. However, the intent of video recording and data storage should be clearly described by the organization performing the verification so that the customers are ensured of 100% transparency of the process. Lastly, these organizations should implement as impenetrable a security system for video recordings as possible.