Onfido is an online verification tool that helps companies identify customers’ true origins. Onfido is an identity checker, it’s used to screen people identify. This process is done online and you don’t necessarily have to meet the customer or new intake in person.
The world is advancing so fast and almost all we do passes through digital process.
We’ve moved beyond just human verification with mere documents. The use of smartphones or laptops are now used to verify someone’s real identity.
Onfido, a software company, is a platform that can reveal the real identity of someone.
Onfido, is the work of three students from Oxford University. They discovered Onfido in the year, 2012.
The aim of their work is to help businesses or companies uncover the real identities of people they haven’t met.
Today, Tesco Bank and Revolut, now use Onfido to screen people during registration process.
Why Is The Use of Onfido Important?
Onfido is vital for several reasons:
- Stopping Fraud: The world is really advanced due to modern AI technology. This makes it very easy to duplicate someone’s identity with almost little or no difference. But with Onfido’s tech, the smartest forged documents can easily be spotted.
- Meeting Legal Rules: Most online platforms, gambling sites, including banks now platforms like Onfido to identify customers true identity. This is commonly known as Know Your Customer (KYC).
- Helping More People: Onfido makes it easier to spot people with credit history and how they’ve handled money in the past. Not having a credit history makes it difficult for migrants in a new country, to access banking services. But with the help of Onfido, migrants’ true identity can be proven through other documents. This means, credit history is not the only way to identify how one manages finances or bills in the past.
Furthermore, Onfido was bought in 2024 by Entrust, a big security company. This means, Onfido is now part of Entrust company. With Entrust’s past experience in security and data protection, coupled with AI tech, Onfido is working together to keep the digital world secure.
Moreover, this platform is available only to those in Onfido supported countries.
How Onfido Works
When you sign up on a platform that uses Onfido, the following process is what happens next.
Identity Document Check
- Upload your ID (passport, driver’s license or national ID) to Onfido.
- Atlas, known as Onfido’s AI, will instantly check if the document is real or not. It searches for watermarks or any sign of forgery to trace authenticity.
- Onfido can verify almost 2,500 types of documents from countries listed in Onfido Supported Countries.
Biometric (Face) Check
- To support your ID check, you’ll have to take a picture or a short video of your face. It’ll be compared with the photo on your ID, to spot possible match.
- Sometimes, a liveness check is done. You might be asked to turn your head or move slightly in a certain direction for further verification.
Background and Data Checks
- Onfido also use the global databases to check if a customer has a crime history. Or on a wanted criminal lists.
Why Businesses Use Onfido
- Speed: It processes IDs in less than 60 seconds. This makes it easier to document many people in a day.
- Security: Onfido can even spot deep-fake AI generated IDs.
- Easy to Use:Onfido gives clear and direct instructions when verifying IDs. This makes it easy to understand and use.
List of Onfido Supported Countries:
- United Kingdom
- France
- Germany
- Italy
- Spain
- Netherlands
- United States,
- Canada
- Mexico.
- Australia,
- New Zealand,
- Hong Kong,
- Singapore,
- Japan,
- India,
- Philippines,
- Indonesia,
- Vietnam,
- United Arab Emirates,
- Saudi Arabia,
- Qatar,
- Israel
- Turkey.
- South Africa
- Nigeria
- Kenya
- Ghana
- Brazil
- Argentina
- Chile
- Colombia
- Peru
- Uruguay
List of Onfido Supported States in the USA
Onfido is used in all the states in the U.S.
Some companies in the United States use Onfido to check customers IDs. It is also used in verifying new intake identities.
Onfido also verifies users address on the document, to be sure it tallies with the users present resident address.
What Documents Does Onfido Support in the USA?
Onfido verifies the following IDs in all the states
- Driver’s Licenses
- State IDs
- U.S. Passports
- U.S. Passport Cards
- Residence Permits
It’s important to note that some states like Washington, Texas and Illinois have rules regarding Biometrics (Face Data). Customers must consent to the use of face scan, before it can be done. The users must click on ‘I Agree’ before taking the selfie. This is to make sure the users privacy isn’t violated. It’s also the state’s privacy laws.
Onfido Alternatives:
- Veriff
- Jumio
- Sumsub
- Trulioo
- Persona
- iDenfy
Conclusion
Onfido is a platform that verifies peoples identity online. Onfido is part of Entrust company, it uses advanced AI and Entrust technology to verify identities securely.
When Onfido screen documents, it searches for unique prints or watermarks that makes it unique to a particular ID. Onfido can easily identify fake AI-generated IDs, videos or images at a first glance.
In addition, this platform only works in Onfido’s available countries. Onfido verification process helps businesses trust customers they haven’t met.
Onfido works by matching customers ID to a selfie. This process has helped to reduce the number of fraudulent activities companies and business face when dealing with customers or new recruits.
Business owners in Onfido’s supported countries can use this improved technology to screen, detect and prevent criminals from penetrating their business.
Lastly, Onfido remains one the best AI identity verification firms that can help stop fraudsters from gaining entry into your business.