Today, manual identity verification has become a dilemma for organizations. These organizations range from social media websites and digital businesses to financial institutions. So, the need for customer due diligence cannot be more emphasized. But, the manual verification process is a health risk owing to COVID-19 and relies heavily on human verification which can lead to occasional errors. Thus, it is high time document authentication be conducted online. It is quick, accurate, secure, and above all, a contactless verification process for customer onboarding.
Why Financial Institutions Need to Verify Customers Remotely
Criminals devise a wide variety of tactics to find loopholes in the system and commit identity fraud. In return, government regulatory authorities enforce stringent KYC and AML regulations to minimize identity crime. These regulations are for businesses to adhere to, so they employ the services of identity verification providers.
Moreover, authorities like FATF, FINMA, FinCEN, FINTRAC, etc keep financial institutions and businesses on their toes. If criminals find a way into the system as legitimate customers, organizations become liable to potential fines and sanctions.
Thus, verifying the identities of customers remotely enables these institutions to comply with KYC/AML procedures. Moreover, remote verification takes off the burden of hiring too many employees for customer onboarding. Furthermore, customers are satisfied to know that the struggle of the manual verification process is behind them. As a result, the number of customers onboarded increases with a lot less effort.
Training AI Models in Document Authentication Process
In conventional document authentication, the user is required to visit the verification site in person, carrying the highly sensitive ID documents and waiting in the queue all day to get themselves verified as a legitimate customer. In this process, the verification agent personally verifies whether the person is the same as portrayed on the documents provided by them.
In online document authentication, trained Artificial Intelligence (AI) models take the place of verification agents. Complex and specific data is provided to the system to train the AI model on different document types. The fields are identified and specified according to the requirements of the business. After the model is trained on a particular document type, all the activities of the document authentication process are conducted remotely. If any bad actor tries to feed the system falsified documents, they won’t be able to pass through the verification process.
Verification Checks in AI-Based Document Authentication
A government-issued ID document has many parts that differentiate it from fake and false documents. The checks performed in the verification process are stated below:
- AI and ML models check the provided government-issued identity document for authenticity.
- The system also checks whether the Machine-Readable Zone (MRZ) code inscribed on the document is genuine. If this part of the document is tampered with, it will be rejected by the system. If it is valid then the MRZ code and the information incorporated on the document are matched.
- The AI-based verification system identifies the document’s format and the language.
- Understandably, the condition of physical documents deteriorates over time. However, the AI-based document authentication services are equipped to identify whether the document has any wear and tear on it which might make it unclear.
- As far as the holograms and rainbow prints are concerned, even the authentic documents contain them. Online document verification services can separate between authentic and false ones.
- In government-issued identity documents use a special type of paper and ink which the verification solution can easily differentiate from a fake one.
- Modern-day forgery crimes are so sophisticated that it is almost impossible to detect them through the naked eye. Thus, document verification services can detect these seemingly imperceptible forged documents.
- The AI-based solution is capable of detecting the authentic micro prints inscribed on the government-issued identity documents.
In Conclusion
Online document authentication is by far a more accurate, fast, and hassle-free solution for customer onboarding. In the current pandemic environment, it has become even more relevant. Apart from adhering to AML/KYC laws, businesses experience a boost in their profits by verifying their customers online. Also, enhanced customer satisfaction ultimately results in customer retention.
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The online document authentication process, utilizing machine learning and artificial intelligence technology, seamlessly verifies the identities of customers.
