The often cumbersome and time-consuming face-to-face personal identification prior to contract conclusion, or the sending of photocopies of credit cards and identity cards by post or fax is often very laborious for customers and leads to dropout rates of over 40 percent. In comparison, innovative technologies allow safe, fast and simple authentication to be performed via PC, phone or tablet. This leads to a number of benefits – not only for customers, but also for businesses – such as increasing process-efficiency and a reduction of internal costs. However, it can also help prevent fraud and abuse through the provision of rapid and reliable information on personal identities.
Time is money – this is especially true in our fast-paced, digital world. All the more reason, therefore, to offer ID services which increase the ease of use for consumers and prevent abuse to the detriment of businesses, by minimizing default risk and reducing costs.
Identity check via web-based video conferencing
Digital solutions have facilitated or even replaced many activities and processes both in everyday life and in the corporate world. But in some cases – and especially when it comes to the legally-compliant authentication of individuals – face-to-face interaction is essential. Web-based, live video conferencing offers an efficient and innovative solution in this respect. Anyone can enter personal data – but not everyone is able to show their identity card or show their face as ID. For the customer, this means a very clear advantage: they can buy services and products for which identification is necessary during the purchasing process, independent of time and place.
Digital solutions have facilitated or even replaced many activities and processes both in everyday life and in the corporate world. But in some cases – and especially when it comes to the legally-compliant authentication of individuals – face-to-face interaction is essential. Web-based, live video conferencing offers an efficient and innovative solution in this respect. Anyone can enter personal data – but not everyone is able to show their identity card or show their face as ID. For the customer, this means a very clear advantage: they can buy services and products for which identification is necessary during the purchasing process, independent of time and place.
The authentication process via video conferencing is simple:
- Initiation of a live video conference
- Verification of personal details given on the official photo ID
- Checking of security features of the identity document
- Comparison of the ID photo with the actual holder of the identity document
Video conferencing for personal identification is already used by businesses in some European countries. The technology has thus been recognized by the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) in Germany, and will be approved soon by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) in Switzerland, with the purpose of promoting corporate efficiency. It can be assumed that such authorizations will also be given in other countries for cost reasons, but also due to growing competition and the general trend toward technology-based solutions. In Austria too, the banks are anticipating that the Financial Market Authority (FMA) will recognize this modern method of customer identification in the near future.
CRIF – a pioneer
With its new ID verification tool "liveIDENT", CRIF is already offering a solution that follows this trend. A fully automatic identification is complemented by video-based authentication using ID document data sent online. "liveIDENT" quickly, safely and efficiently identifies individuals based on their documents via video conferencing. The only requirement is an Internet connection and a camera on the end user's device.
With its new ID verification tool "liveIDENT", CRIF is already offering a solution that follows this trend. A fully automatic identification is complemented by video-based authentication using ID document data sent online. "liveIDENT" quickly, safely and efficiently identifies individuals based on their documents via video conferencing. The only requirement is an Internet connection and a camera on the end user's device.
The special feature of CRIF's solution is the combination of identity verification and optional credit checking. After the document data have been automatically read and validated, they are processed, checked and compared on the server with data held by CRIF. Data acquisition and credit checking thus run simultaneously in the background. If all checks are successful, an electronic signature can also be provided if desired. By linking with the CRIF database, 360-degree online identification or verification is possible.
How the CRIF identification process works
