Identity verification for banks

What banks ask of identity checks

A bank has to know who opens an account before the relationship starts, in whichever channel the customer arrives. In a remote channel that is three jobs: collect the identification data, check it against a document and against the person holding it, and record what was decided and why.

• Collect the data the bank's procedure names, such as full name, date of birth, address and identification number.
• Verify the identity document, and match it to the person who is applying.
• Screen the applicant against sanctions, PEP and adverse media lists before the account can be used.
• Send doubtful cases to a person, and keep the session, the result and the decision together.
• Keep the choice of where the check runs: in the cloud, or on the bank's own servers.

The flow

1. Questionnaire. Collect name, birth date, contacts and custom fields before the KYC starts.
2. Document. The applicant photographs the identity document. It is read and checked for fraud. A utility bill, bank statement or lease can be added to the same session as proof of address.
3. Selfie, liveness and face match. The selfie is matched to the document portrait, and active liveness confirms a live person.
4. AML screening. Sanctions of OFAC, EU, UK and UN plus 50+ national lists, PEP with relatives and close associates, and adverse media in 40+ languages.
5. Decision. Thresholds and rules from the scenario editor decide the outcome. Cases routed to staff are decided in the dashboard.
6. Monitoring. Monitored profiles are re-screened every day.
7. Result. Your core system reads the session status or receives a webhook.

Modules used

• Document verification: reads printed and handwritten text and the MRZ with checksum, and runs 20+ checks for fraud.
• Face verification and liveness: selfie to document portrait, with a movement challenge through two ovals.
• AML screening: billed separately from the verification.
• Scenario editor and dashboard: choose the steps, set thresholds and rules, review sessions, export and decide manually.
• REST API and webhooks connect the result to the core system.
• Deployment: in the cloud, or installed on your own servers by our engineers.
• Use case: customer onboarding walks through the same session step by step.

Regulatory frame

What the primary texts say about identifying a customer. The first four statements are from the European Union's AML Regulation, which is forthcoming and applies from 10 July 2027. The last four are from a United States rule for banks.

• Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 is forthcoming. It applies from 10 July 2027, and from that date credit institutions and financial institutions are obliged entities under its Article 3.
• Article 20(1), point (a), lists identifying the customer and verifying the customer's identity as the first customer due diligence measure.
• Under Article 22(6), identity is verified through the submission of an identity document, passport or equivalent together with, where relevant, information from reliable and independent sources, or through electronic identification means that meet Regulation (EU) No 910/2014 at assurance level substantial or high.
• Under Article 21(1), an obliged entity that cannot apply the measures of Article 20(1) refrains from carrying out a transaction or establishing a business relationship, terminates the relationship and considers reporting a suspicious transaction to the financial intelligence unit.
• In general, 31 CFR 1020.220(a)(2)(i)(A) requires the bank to obtain, at a minimum and prior to opening an account, the name, the date of birth for an individual, an address and an identification number, except as permitted by paragraphs (a)(2)(i)(B) and (C).
• Paragraph (a)(2)(i)(B) allows procedures for a customer that has applied for, but has not received, a taxpayer identification number, and paragraph (a)(2)(i)(C) lets a bank acquire the identifying information from a third-party source before extending credit on a credit card account.
• 31 CFR 1020.220(a)(2)(ii) requires procedures that describe when the bank uses documents, non-documentary methods or a combination of both, and the documents may include unexpired government-issued identification bearing a photograph, such as a driver's license or passport.
• The non-documentary procedures must address the case where the customer opens the account without appearing in person at the bank.

This block describes the texts, not our service. For information; not legal advice.

Sources

• Regulation (EU) 2024/1624 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing, Official Journal text, fetched 26 October 2026.
• Title 31 of the US Code of Federal Regulations, section 1020.220, customer identification program requirements for banks, electronic Code of Federal Regulations, fetched 27 October 2026.

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