Veriff recently attended the Financial Crime 360 event, where industry leaders came together to discuss the future of compliance, trust, and digital identity in a rapidly evolving regulatory landscape. This article captures our key takeaways from those conversations.

In today’s digital economy, the customer journey starts long before the first transaction — it begins at onboarding. Whether you’re verifying a user for a financial service, gaming platform, or marketplace, the ability to build trust instantly defines the entire relationship.

And increasingly, that trust is powered by automation. Automated KYC (Know Your Customer) solutions have become essential to secure, compliant, and seamless onboarding — replacing manual, time-consuming checks with intelligent, real-time verification that balances safety with user experience.

What is automated KYC and how does it transform onboarding?

Customer onboarding traditionally required face-to-face interactions and manual document checks. In the digital era, onboarding happens entirely online — customers verify their identities through apps or websites without visiting a branch.

At the core of this process lies KYC compliance, a regulatory requirement for financial, fintech, and digital service providers to confirm identities and assess risk under KYC and AML (Anti-Money Laundering) legislation.

Automated KYC transforms this process using AI, machine learning, and automation to validate documents, confirm identity, and assess risk in seconds. The result is faster onboarding, fewer errors, and a dramatically improved user experience.

Why automation matters more than ever

In an environment where fraudsters collaborate more efficiently than institutions, speed and intelligence are essential.

Manual KYC — slow, inconsistent, and prone to fatigue — can no longer keep pace with today’s organised and AI-enabled criminal networks.

Automated KYC provides:

• Real-time identity validation
  
• Automated document analysis
  
• Continuous risk assessment and fraud detection
  

This doesn’t just improve efficiency; it strengthens trust, reduces onboarding drop-offs, and ensures regulatory alignment — all while offering the seamless experiences today’s customers expect.

KYC procedures are essential to any business that wants to accurately assess customer risk. KYC processes ensure that you know the identity of your customers and the risks they could pose to your organization. Veriff’s solutions help businesses meet regulatory requirements and beyond.

Oana Barbacaru Senior Product Manager Veriff

Strategies to enhance KYC automation

To maximize the efficacy of automated KYC, businesses must adopt strategies that align with their specific industry regulations, compliance obligations, and risk tolerance. Below are five strategic approaches organizations can implement to enhance their security framework and operational efficiency based on their unique requirements.

• Document Verification and Authentication
  Customers upload IDs digitally; AI models and tools like OCR, NFC, and barcode scanning instantly verify authenticity and detect tampering.
  

• Biometric Identity Verification
  Selfie-to-ID matching and facial recognition confirm identities in seconds — boosting both speed and security.
  

• AI and Machine Learning for Risk Prediction
  Intelligent models learn from behavioural patterns and adapt to detect emerging fraud, reducing reliance on manual checks.
  

• Passive Liveness Detection Ensures that the person is real — not a photo, video, or deepfake — adding an extra layer of protection.
  

• Assisted Image Capture (AIC)
  Real-time feedback helps users capture valid photos the first time, minimising frustration and drop-off.
  
  

Automated vs manual KYC: A shift from reactive to proactive fraud management

Manual KYC was built for a slower, paper-based world. Automated KYC, by contrast, operates at digital speed — powered by AI models that continuously learn, detect anomalies, and adapt to new fraud tactics.

Where manual verification introduces human delay and inconsistency, automated systems offer:

• Scalability and 24/7 availability
  
• Real-time fraud detection
  
• Consistent, auditable compliance
  

According to insights from Financial Crime 360 (Nov 2025), regulators now encourage AI-driven compliance with accountability, — requiring explainable, auditable systems where a human remains “in the loop” for critical decisions. Automation done right enables both agility and oversight.

Building trust through transparent automation

A key insight from the Financial Crime 360 event was that while fraudsters are quick to share data, legitimate businesses are often reluctant.

The next phase of fraud prevention depends on cross-industry data collaboration and explainable AI.

Automated KYC systems designed for transparency help bridge these gaps.

Key principles for modern compliance:

• Transparency-by-design: Every automated decision must have an audit trail.
  
• Human + AI collaboration: AI surfaces risks, humans validate decisions.
  
• Shared intelligence: Data ecosystems that enable cross-institutional fraud prevention.
  

Trust, once seen as a “soft” concept, is now a competitive differentiator. Customers choose providers that demonstrate both security and openness in how their identities are verified and protected.

The road ahead: From compliance to collaboration

As fraud evolves, so must the industry. The future of onboarding lies in intelligent automation and collaborative defense.

Emerging trends shaping 2025 and beyond:

• Shared fraud databases and industry-wide risk scoring
  
• AI models with explainable reasoning and full auditability
  
• Adaptive onboarding journeys powered by behavioural signals
  
• Unified digital identity frameworks spanning industries
  

Automation isn’t replacing human judgment — it’s amplifying it. By connecting technology, transparency, and trust, onboarding becomes not just faster, but foundational to long-term customer relationships.

FAQ

1. Why is KYC automation critical for modern onboarding?

Automated KYC reduces friction by extracting and verifying data automatically, enabling faster, compliant, and user-friendly onboarding.

2. How does automation support regulatory compliance?

While both manual and automated KYC must meet the same legal standards, automation ensures:

• Full audit trails for regulatory trust
  

• Consistent, bias-free verification
  

• Real-time fraud detection
  

• Accurate and up-to-date customer data
  

3. What technologies are used in KYC automation?

Common technologies include:

• Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for document scanning
• Biometric facial recognition
• Machine learning models for risk scoring
• API integrations with government and sanction databases

The post Automated KYC vs manual KYC: The future of trust in digital onboarding appeared first on Veriff.

Casino whoring is the practice of chasing bonuses offered by online gambling websites. A bonus whore – as these individuals are termed – will never put down any money on a website. Instead, they’ll use the free bonus money gambling sites offer to turn that cash into a larger sum. 

Online bonuses tend to come in two types. The most common type is the free money bonus. This bonus is given to a player when they first sign up for an account and doesn’t require a deposit. The second type is a matching bonus. To obtain this bonus, the player must make an initial deposit into their account which the casino will match. 

Strictly speaking, casino whoring isn’t illegal. It’s better to view it as a digital advantage play that goes against the spirit of the game that the punter is playing. Card counting in blackjack in a traditional brick-and-mortar casino is a good example of this tactic. 

2.   How does KYC contribute to enhancing security in the wealth management client onboarding process?

All casino bonuses come with a play requirement. To make significant sums out of the practice, players must play a certain amount before they can cash out. This is known as “playthrough” in the industry. Some casinos are wise to the practice and set their play requirements high – it is not unusual for a play requirement to be as high as $1,000 for a $50 no-deposit bonus. That means a player must bet at least $1,000 before meeting the play requirement. 

Because it can be challenging to meet the play requirement, punters don’t tend to play slot machines when they carry out casino whoring. The stakes are completely stacked against the player with this form of gambling. Instead, bonus whores gravitate towards games like blackjack and poker, where they can use strategy to beat the house. 

Examples of casino whoring

Using blackjack as an example, we can illustrate how casino whoring works in practice. Let’s say a player gets a $50 no-deposit bonus and decides to play blackjack at $1 a hand until they have made $100. At that point, they may decide to increase their bet to $2 a hand until they have reached $200 and $3 until they have reached $300. By slowly and stealthily following this strategy, a player can turn $50 into $1,000 or more by gradually upping their bets. 

There are several strategies players can use to carry out casino whoring. Players can search for bonuses with the highest percentage return or low wagering requirements. They can investigate the terms and conditions associated with the bonus to see if they can take advantage of the wagering requirements, the minimum bet allowed, and other restrictions. Or, as previously mentioned, they can focus on games with a low house edge. 

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3. Why is casino whoring a problem for casino operators?

Casinos are in business to make money, and advantage players are a threat to that model. Bonus whorers want to turn the odds in their favor and line their pockets at the casino’s expense. 

And in some cases, the sums involved are far from trivial. In 2006, Chris Ferguson, a professional poker player, was able to build a poker bankroll of $10,000 starting with $0 on Full Tilt Poker, an online betting site. 

4. How can businesses protect themselves from bonus whoring?

In the past, bricks and mortar casinos relied on human intelligence to identify bonus whores. That’s much harder in a virtual world. However, gambling operators can use technology to deter unwanted actors from sabotaging their games. 

One way is to identify the risks posed by a customer using Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures. Veriff’s identity verification technology, for example, verifies the identity of new customers, screens them against sanctions watchlists, and checks for negative news. By analyzing hundreds of data points, Veriff can stop bad actors from accessing gambling sites. 

Of course, some bonus whores might still attempt to gain access using a fake ID. This is where Veriff’s AI-powered ID verification software can also make a difference. With the ability to identify 12,000+ types of ID across 230 countries and territories, Veriff’s technology can detect fake IDs and stop identity fraud at the gates.

Left unaddressed, casino whoring can put a serious dent in your finances. Talk to us today to find out how you can stamp out this practice. 

5.  How can businesses protect themselves from bonus whoring?

The gaming industry has high hurdles to clear — such as costly and complex regulatory requirements and delivering a bespoke user experience that differentiates your brand and minimizes friction. Veriff is helping gaming companies across the board. Veriff makes things as quick, simple, and user-friendly as possible while supporting compliance requirements.

Verify players the first time

Improve your conversion rates with an easy and straightforward verification flow, which helps real players get verified on the first try. Confirm players´ ages with one simple integration.

Make onboarding simple

Know that people who are using your platform are who they say they are and keep your online community safe. Get people playing with no hassle — Veriff provides an intuitive and inclusive process that allows users to use the device or platform of their choice whether that be iOS, Android, or the web.

Reduce errors

Leverage industry-leading AI and data extraction to prefill forms with data from a government-issued identity document, while mitigating manual input error.

A layered approach

We can combine face, document, device, and network diagnostics with video-based behavior analysis to mitigate sophisticated advanced and recurring fraud such as chip dumping, bonus abuse, and multi-accounting. 

6. How is Veriff helping gaming operators?

The gaming industry has high hurdles to clear — such as costly and complex regulatory requirements and delivering a bespoke user experience that differentiates your brand and minimizes friction. Veriff is helping gaming companies across the board. Veriff makes things as quick, simple, and user-friendly as possible while supporting compliance requirements.

Verify players the first time

Improve your conversion rates with an easy and straightforward verification flow which helps real players get verified on the first try. Confirm players´ ages with one simple integration.

Make onboarding simple

Know that people who are using your platform are who they say they are and keep your online community safe. Get people playing with no hassle — Veriff provides an intuitive and inclusive process that allows users to use the device or platform of their choice whether that be iOS, Android, or the web.

Reduce errors

Leverage industry-leading AI and data extraction to prefill forms with data from a government-issued identity document, while mitigating manual input error.

A layered approach

We can combine face, document, device, and network diagnostics with video-based behavior analysis to mitigate sophisticated advanced and recurring fraud such as chip dumping, bonus abuse, and multi-accounting.

The post Casino whoring: What is it & how it works appeared first on Veriff.

Digital onboarding process involves acquiring a new customer to a new company or subscribing a new user to a new service. It can also mean to build new business partners. 

As the name implies, it is a fully digital experience. This means that it takes place on websites or in an app – but not in a branch or on a premise. For this reason, it is also known as online or remote onboarding. 

The main purpose of the new account onboarding process is to verify a user’s identity to make sure that the individual in question is really who they say they are. 

Because of this, a certain level of due diligence is required. If, for example, the company in question is regulated – like a financial institution would be – they may have to comply with Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations. This means that advanced identity verification process needs to be carried out. 

Since staff members and/or business partners don’t interact in person with individuals during the user journey, strict security procedures that help verify new customers’ data remotely and automatically have to be put in place. This is done by providing certain details and/or documentation as required. 

Identity verification helps to verify onboarding customers by scanning an ID and Veriff compares this identity information against an authoritative database or registry The user is then asked to take a simple selfie of themselves. Veriff’s Assisted Image Capture will let them know immediately if there is something wrong with the image. We quickly detect liveness and realness without asking users to move unnaturally or follow complex instructions. Facial biometrics, digital footprint analysis, and liveness detection technology can also be used, combined with identity document processing.

Because of this automation, digital onboarding simplifies the process of security checks, therefore improving compliance procedures. 

Here’s an example of what a digital onboarding solution could look like: 

1. A customer submits all relevant data

Veriff’s Identity Verification solution enables new customers to submit a picture of their identity document. The system captures a face image of them for comparison with the photo in the ID.

2. The system verifies the data of the customer using the submission

The data is then sent to Veriff and our AI-powered identity verification solution. The system then compares the captured document images with the selfie to confirm they match. This includes liveness detection and other fraud prevention features. A decision is then made within a few seconds based on the identity checks your business requires.

3. Further checks are carried out 

With Veriff, you can also receive continuous notifications whenever a user’s name matches an updated version on the database in real-time. The system then performs further validity checks to meet compliance regulations. For added protection against fraud and money laundering, companies can add AML screening to the mix. After identity verification, but before formal onboarding, users can be screened against global PEP and sanctions watchlists. For an added layer of security, we can also screen for negative news and information so you can identify customers that have a heightened level of risk associated with them.

2. How does the digital onboarding process benefit your business?

There are a number of business benefits of digital onboarding. 

First and foremost, it saves companies time and money. This is because these methods are much more efficient than manual ones and involve less admin and paperwork, decreasing the time employees spend on the processes. 

With digital onboarding, everything is stored in a central database. This means that documents can be signed and returned in an instant. This also frees up teams to work on more complex business issues. 

Moreover, because they are done remotely, digital processes allow online companies to reach and onboard customers no matter where in the world they are. 

Speed is another benefit, too. Digital onboarding can take minutes – making it much faster than conventional methods, which could often take days – if not weeks. The chances of human errors occurring are also lowered – especially when it comes to inputting documents and/or information. 

It’s also important to consider the advantages from a customer’s point of view. Veriff aims to provide a seamless and user-friendly experience for individuals undergoing identity verification. The process is designed to be quick and easy, minimizing friction for legitimate users while maintaining security. For example, compared to the approaches applied by many traditional banks, interactions between the users and the company are enhanced with Veriff, and the methods are straightforward and user-friendly.  The customers can complete the onboarding process virtually anytime and anywhere. This, in turn, means they will be happy with the customer onboarding process, increasing their chances of remaining loyal. Digital onboarding also means that every new customer is taken through the exact same user journey, meaning that you build a consistent brand and experience. And by making the process an engaging one, companies boost new customers’ confidence in them from day one.

Finally, digital onboarding is secure. The processes involved are also updated in line with industry regulations, meaning that high standards are guaranteed.

Overall, digital onboarding allows businesses to provide a customer-centered approach, reduce operational costs, and strengthen compliance.

Veriff is the preferred identity verification partner for the world’s biggest and best digital companies, including pioneers in fintech, crypto, gaming, and the mobility sectors.

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Talk to one of Veriff’s compliance experts to see how IDV can help your business.

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3. What are the implications of poor digital customer onboarding for businesses? 

Onboarding is a vital phase in the customer journey and experience – and one wrong move can cause a prospect to jump ship to someone who has got it right. It’s thought, for example, that up to 6 out of 10 customers abandon the digital customer onboarding process partway through. This is because many potential users simply assume that a poor onboarding experience will indicate a poor overall user experience. 

Speed, simplicity, and security are the key components here. It’s thought that one in five abandonments are caused by lengthy and complicated onboarding processes. Similarly, a company that asks for too much information or is confused about its data needs risks alienating customers. 

Online customer onboarding comes with risks and challenges, some of which are unique to the digital environment. 

Here are the main risks associated with online customer onboarding:

• 1. Identity Verification and Fraud:
  Risk: Online platforms are susceptible to identity theft and fraudulent activities. It can be challenging to verify customers’ identity during onboarding accurately.
  Mitigation: Implement robust identity verification measures such as advanced AI-algorithms tailored to remote onboarding, sophiticated biometric analysis with liveness and realness checks and use additional data points such as device and network data to detect fraud.
• 2. Cybersecurity Threats:
  Risk: Online platforms are vulnerable to cyberattacks, including hacking, phishing, and malware, which can compromise customer data and sensitive information.
  Mitigation: Employ strong cybersecurity measures, regularly update security protocols, and educate customers on online security practices.
• 3. User Privacy Concerns:
  Risk: Customers may be hesitant to share personal information online due to concerns about data privacy and security.
  Mitigation: Communicate your privacy policies, comply with data protection regulations, and invest in secure, encrypted communication channels

Furthermore, the customer onboarding process can expose companies to additional risks. Many businesses are required by law to prevent financial crimes such as money laundering and tax evasion. Failure to comply can result in significant financial penalties and, in the worst case, loss of license. So, companies are also obliged to use the user onboarding process as a means of verifying the identity of individuals and establishing their identities. 

Even after the onboarding process, some business must continue to monitor the customer’s activities on an ongoing basis. The user’s risk profile may be of little concern initially, but it could change significantly as time progresses. It is vital that your company monitors any developments and responds accordingly.

4. What benefits come with effective digital onboarding?

Just as poor digital customer onboarding can lead to prospects shying away from a company, an effective process can give them a positive first experience. This, in turn, could make them more likely to remain loyal to the business in question and leave positive reviews. It could also lead users to recommend the company to friends, family members, colleagues, and peers.

In fact, many people argue that user experience (commonly referred to as UX) might be the single most important feature of any website or software. This is because if it’s not easy to navigate and understand, and if it doesn’t look organized, inviting, and friendly, users just won’t return. 

Some of the biggest benefits of a great user experience are:

• Increased ROI (Return on Investment) 
• Positive brand reputation
• Customer loyalty
• User engagement
• Conversion and sales
• An edge over competition

Great onboarding UX experience, in particular, is key to encouraging new sign-ups and helping users learn how products and services work – meaning that they can use them effectively once they’re set up. A good user onboarding experience is interactive, intuitive, action-oriented, and educational. Checklists, progress bars, help centers, tooltips, and welcome screens are onboarding UX patterns that help create engaging user onboarding experiences. 

Good onboarding offers a unique combination of reassurance and education – ensuring that customers are confident when entering personal details and understand how the app will work once the process is completed. 

The key is providing the information needed to help the user without overwhelming them with so much detail that it will deter them. If steps are too complex or forms difficult to complete, they may not make it through the signup process. If the experience is great when they make it on board, they’ll not just keep using the product – but they may suggest others do the same. 

However, ensuring a secure and compliant online customer onboarding process is paramount for any business. By implementing Know Your Customer procedures, the company can precisely identify individuals seeking to onboard. It is crucial to verify the authenticity of customers to mitigate the risk of fraudulent activities. Incorporating age verification mechanisms further enhances the onboarding process by ensuring compliance with legal requirements, especially in industries where age restrictions apply. By prioritizing KYC, verifying customer authenticity, and meeting regulatory standards, the business establishes a foundation for a trustworthy and legally compliant onboarding experience, safeguarding the company and its customers.

Want to learn more?

Talk to one of Veriff’s compliance experts to see how IDV can help your business.

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5. What are the top strategies for fraud prevention through digital onboarding and ensuring business security?

Today’s consumers and businesses demand secure yet seamless digital onboarding solutions. Anti-fraud mechanisms, such as AI-powered anomaly detection, biometric analysis, liveness detection, velocity abuse checks, and device and network analysis, should be part and parcel of onboarding systems. 

It is also vital to know who is entering your platform to comply with KYC and AML regulations. This will not only keep fraudsters and other criminals at bay – ensuring you remain on the right side of the law – it will also protect your organization financially and your brand value. 

However, customers must also be kept in mind. A lengthy, onerous process, perhaps involving a manual ID check, could drive potential customers into the arms of your competitors. If you get it right, on the other hand, new customers will start off on the right track, viewing your platform in a positive light, with all that means for brand value in the years to come. 

Tools and processes to consider:  

• Document verification and authentication

As part of the customer KYC procedure, during this phase of digital onboarding, a user is required to submit identification documents electronically, such as government-issued IDs or utility bills. 

Specialized technologies ranging from optical character recognition (OCR) to artificial intelligence are then used to verify that these documents are genuine, untampered, and belong to the person claiming to be the holder. 

• Customer identity verification and KYC

Veriff’s identity verification solutions help businesses meet KYC regulatory requirements and beyond. KYC procedures are essential to any business that wants to accurately assess customer risk and onboard them safely. KYC processes ensure that you know the identity of your customers and the risks they could pose to your organization.

• Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML)

By automating customer identity verification and fraud detection, AI and ML eliminate time-consuming manual analysis and reduce the risk of human error.

They use algorithms and predictive models to process, learn, and make decisions from stored data, such as customer information, user behaviors, and more. 

Veriff’s AI-backed systems, for example, mean that customers can upload an ID, take a selfie, and obtain an answer in only six seconds.

• Biometric verification 

Easy identity verification during onboarding saves time and money. Veriff makes acquiring new customers worth the investment, converting more people into customers while stopping bad actors from exploiting your service.

Revolutionize your digital onboarding experience with cutting-edge biometric verification which taps into the distinctive biological traits of users, like facial patterns ensuring a seamless blend of user convenience and heightened system security.  

• Passive liveness detection

With an advancement in biometric technology, passive liveness detection has become a crucial instrument in digital onboarding to combat fraud. This technology ensures that biometric data, such as facial features captured during the digital identity verification process, comes from a live person rather than a photo or video reproduction.

• User guidance 

Identity verification can be a sensitive matter, with confusion easily turning to distrust. The right systems, however, can make things simple, providing real-time feedback to customers to help them pass first time.

• Document database

As your platform grows, you will likely work with customers from all over the world, leading to complex demand in areas like government IDs. Your system needs to be capable of handling the demands of different cultures and nations. An extensive document database that supports documents from countries across the globe, ensuring maximum coverage as you expand. 

6. How can Veriff’s solutions help to ensure a seamless digital onboarding process for your business?

Modern consumers expect a fast, secure, and seamless online experience. For a business to retain customers digitally, they must provide this sought-after experience. Otherwise, customers will leave. Businesses are constantly challenged to get the customer to the next step in the buying process – and if they don’t, it massively affects the business’s bottom line, making better onboarding more critical than ever.

Veriff’s Identity Verification establishes better trust online between a business and its consumers. This process starts with a built-in customer KYC feature, which helps meet stringent regulatory requirements online.

Veriff can provide this best-in-class customer IDV  solutions by leveraging video-first technology by:

• Providing a guided AI-powered user experience 
• Supporting the most identity verification documents in the industry 
• Giving real-time feedback to the user if there are issues
• Handling scenarios where users might make mistakes in order to easily troubleshoot
• Operating on multiple channels (web, mobile, native SDKs)
• Innovating ways to help users further with NFC (Near-field communication) and QR code options
• Providing built-in dynamic fraud prevention tools
• Integrating KYC & AML checks. 

Veriff also: 

• Verifies the validity of the customer’s document, ensuring the data, the ownership of the document, and the face similarity of the person presenting the document are correct. 
• References an extensive Politically Exposed Persons governmental database, sanctions database, and adverse media database, all updated in real-time.
• Ensures that your business is onboarding genuine customers in record time. 
• Uses a real-time capturing method to ensure the realness of documents and people and understand context beyond images with real-time image/video capturing.
• Goes beyond the simple document checks to device, network, and browser analytics and identifies the user and their previous activities.

What’s more, Veriff’s device, network, user, and document analytics uses 1000 data points to identify and mitigate fraud, preventing fraudsters from plaguing your platform.

 FAQ

1. How do Veriff digital onboarding solutions enhance your business?

Veriff’s Identity Verification system is fast, accurate, and ensures customer satisfaction. It helps keep regulators happy and reduces the cost of customer acquisition by onboarding more users successfully through a reliable process with minimum friction. 

As we’ve seen, when online companies begin to onboard new customers, there are a host of problems they can encounter. Veriff can help keep these issues at bay and retain new customers quickly and effectively. 

Veriff can help you: 

• Know that customers are genuine, ensure proper checks are carried out, and stay compliant.
• Reduce basic errors and cut down on resubmissions so people get verified the first time.
• Convert 30% more users with automatic document recognition and user guidance. 
• Improve customer experience – keeping both customers and support teams happy. 
• Minimize the cost of compliance – because you only pay for actual verification sessions, not retry attempts.

Veriff supports over 12,000 identity documents from over 230 countries and territories in 48 languages, making it the most comprehensive digital identity verification company across the globe.

Veriff also uses an advanced, guided user experience that gives users real-time feedback to help more of them pass on the first try. Verification, meanwhile, happens in 6 seconds on average. This keeps users moving through the process and gets them interacting with businesses faster.

2. How does the Veriff onboarding process work in your business?

With Veriff’s Identity and Document Verification (IDV) solution, you can onboard more genuine customers. It is proven to deliver speed, convenience, and low friction for your users – resulting in high conversion rates, fraud mitigation, and operational efficiency for your business.
Veriff’s Identity and Document Verification solution combines AI-powered automation with reinforced learning from human feedback and, if required, manual validation. With support for more than 12,000 document specimens from more than 230 countries and territories, we offer speed, convenience, and reduced friction to convert more users, mitigate fraud, and comply with regulations.

The post Digital customer onboarding explained: How it works & solutions appeared first on Veriff.

User onboarding ought to be familiar to anyone who has opened a bank account. But when people are asked to define the term, they often give an inaccurate description. Certainly, the goal of user onboarding is the process of familiarizing a customer with a brand’s products or services. But it is much more than that. 

So, what then is it? As defined by the User Onboarding Academy, successful user onboarding is a process whereby you help new and existing customers find value in your products and services. It is a vital process that shapes how a customer views your business and has a direct correlation with how likely they are to continue engaging your business. The user journey map visually represents a customer’s experience with a company during onboarding. 

A good user onboarding experience starts with a great customer journey – a person encounters your business, continues through the sign-up process, gathers pace when the customer makes a purchase, and is ideally maintained thereafter.  Knowing your “aha!” moment is the secret to having successful user onboarding and better user retention. It provides the framework for the goals you set for your product team and is a systematic methodology to drive product adoption. It can and should be applied not just for new users, but for each stage in your user lifecycle and for all your product and feature adoption goals.

2. Why is the user onboarding flow important for success?

The purpose of implementing user onboarding process is to guide your users understand the value of your products and services. Users who engage with what you are offering are much more likely to stay. This, in turn, improves the conversion rate and significantly reduces churn.

For many businesses, there is room for improvement in onboarding and retaining users. Get the process right, and you can maximize your profits – your customers will return to buy from you again and again. 

However, numerous businesses fumble the first step in onboarding – signing customers up. It is not unusual for only 30% of users to complete the initial sign-up process. Often the user onboarding process is overly complicated and bureaucratic and involves too many checks and balances. 

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3. What are the implications of poor user identity verification for businesses?

Consumers today expect a seamless experience when they engage with online services, and this applies as much to the identity verification process as anything else. When done correctly, identity verification should be fast and effective. The trouble is that this is often the exception rather than the rule. According to the CMO Council, six out of ten consumers abandon online transactions because of problems involving identity verification. 

This matters because consumers – particularly millennials and Gen-Zers – get frustrated when they are presented with confusing steps and imprecise instructions during the identity verification process. Rather than figure things out, all too often, they quit and take their business elsewhere. That’s why it’s so important that the identity verification is handled in as smooth a way as possible as part of the onboarding process.

4. What benefits come with effective user onboarding process?

There are multiple benefits to getting user onboarding right. Here are just a few:

• Higher conversion rate – Consumers who are onboarded properly during a trial period are much more likely to sign up for your service. They appreciate the effort you have put into making them feel like a valued customer. 
• Reduced churn rates – When a customer has been taken through the onboarding process seamlessly, they are much less likely to abandon your product and service.
• Faster time to value – When customers are moved swiftly through the onboarding process, they start using your product’s features more quickly. 
• Increased revenue – well-treated customers are much more likely to be receptive to cross-selling and upselling products. During the onboarding process, brands can also identify features that customers might benefit from. All this translates into increased revenue. 
• Positive brand recognition – Having a well-designed onboarding process reflects well on your business. Customers will consider you to be professional, caring, and committed to their welfare. 
• Greater advocacy – customers who have been through your onboarding process successfully are much more likely to become brand advocates and recommend your company to friends and family. 

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5. How do user onboarding solutions contribute to improved customer retention and fraud prevention?

A good user onboarding process is a catalyst for customer retention. A well-designed onboarding process for users creates a positive first impression, provides virtual product tours, and in this way, encourages users to understand a product’s features and functionalities in more depth. User onboarding best practices equip customers with the knowledge and skills to use a product effectively. A great way to increase adoption and retention is to learn from your users by using highly relevant and contextual in-app messages. These in-app messages are informative guides or non-intrusive directions for a user, that are relevant to the user’s context and that appear inside the app. They can be displayed as tooltips, spotlights, coachmarks, in-app videos, stories, animations, etc, and can be used for providing information or requesting user action while the user is actively using the app. Also, progress bars are great visual indicators that keep the users engaged and motivated to complete the onboarding process. And the onboarding process gives companies an opportunity to glean valuable information about users’ pain points and concerns. All these factors can help companies increase their retention rates. 

User onboarding also plays a vital role in preventing fraud and financial crime. The best place to stop this crime is at the starting point of any customer relationship. With a quick and effective user identity verification solution, you can spot anomalies and detect out-of-date or mismatched information. When combined with biometric data, you should be able to keep most bad actors out and protect your business. 

6. How can Veriff’s solutions help to ensure a seamless user onboarding process for your business?

Veriff has a suite of products that can help you onboard customers seamlessly. Fast, accurate, and reliable, it can reduce the cost of customer acquisition and keep regulators happy. 

Our solution supports over 12,000 identity documents from over 230 countries and territories, in over 48 languages, making it the most comprehensive identity verification solution across the globe. And verification happens in 6 seconds, which keeps users moving through the onboarding process and gets them interacting with your business faster.

For added assurance, our Proof of Address (POA) system helps you stay compliant whilst getting a comprehensive view of a user’s identity. Users can easily capture an image or upload a copy of a POA document. The document type and issue date are then checked to ensure they are suitable and valid. 

Working in parallel with this solution, our Database Verification Checks can be used to verify tax or social insurance  numbers against authoritative databases such as government registries. These checks add an impactful way of confirming identity. They can also be deployed together with our age verification solution, which confirms whether users are above a pre-defined minimum age threshold. 

 FAQs

1. How do Veriff user onboarding solutions enhance your business?

Our onboarding solution enables you to onboard genuine customers faster – typically, users get validated in six seconds.  Veriff makes acquiring new customers worth the investment and protects your customers from fraud. Fraud Protect is our core package of fraud mitigation features, designed to protect your organization during the IDV process while minimizing friction for your genuine users. It combines advanced machine learning models and fraud-detection expertise to detect patterns and deliver industry-leading protection.

At the same time, it can protect your reputation and help you to show regulators that you take financial crime seriously. We reference an extensive Politically Exposed Persons (PEP) database, sanctions database, and adverse media database, which are all updated in real time. Plus, we constantly monitor higher risk individuals – you can receive continuous notifications whenever a user’s name matches an updated version on the database in real time.

Here at Veriff, we’ve developed an AML screening solution that can reduce risk for your business at every turn. Our anti-money laundering screening tool helps you maintain regulatory compliance while also actively increasing your conversion rate. It works by deploying our identity verification service alongside politically exposed person and sanctions checks, as well as adverse media screening, and ongoing customer monitoring.

2.  How does the Veriff’s user onboarding process work in your business?

Veriff’s onboarding solutions work in several stages. First, users are asked to provide a photo of their government-issued identity document, which may be a passport, identity card or a driving license. The user is then asked to take a simple selfie of themselves. Veriff’s Assisted Image Capture will let them know immediately if there is something wrong with the image. We quickly detect liveness and realness without asking users to move unnaturally or follow complex instructions. 

The data is then sent to Veriff and our AI-powered identity verification solution. A decision is then taken within a few seconds based on the identity checks your business requires. 

If POA is required as part of this process, users will be asked to capture an image or upload a copy of their POA documents. A suitable document might be a bank statement or utility bill, depending on the jurisdiction. The document type and issue data are then checked to ensure that they are suitable and valid. Once this check is completed, the name and address data are extracted, and the user can be safely onboarded.

For added protection against fraud and money laundering, companies can add anti-money laundering (AML) screening to the mix. After identity verification, but before formal onboarding, users can be screened against global PEP and sanctions watchlists. For an added layer of security, we can also screen for negative news and information so you can identify customers that have a heightened level of risk associated with them.

The post Understanding user onboarding: a deep dive into the process and Veriff’s role appeared first on Veriff.

Marketplaces have always faced a delicate balancing act between securing their platforms and ensuring friction-free customer experiences. New research, however, reveals the size of the challenge, with customers routinely dropping out of the sales funnel when confronted by frustrating processes.

The analysis, published by BusinessWire, reveals a toxic mix of overly complex and lengthy procedures, with identity verification named by more than a quarter of businesses as the single biggest trigger of customer churn.

Faced with such a pressing CX challenge, more and more ecommerce firms are turning to smart automation to maximize both platform security and customer conversion/retention rates.

The benefits of smart automation

Market-leading automated solutions verify customer identity in a swift, seamless, and secure way. This accelerates the customer journey, reduces customer frustration and churn, while also maximizing trust levels and the number of legitimate customers a marketplace can onboard. 

Finding the perfect identity verification solution can be tough, however. Not only must it ensure customer interactions are fast and pain free, it must also achieve high accuracy rates, integrate with the marketplace’s existing tech stack in a non-disruptive way, maintain a secure environment and mitigate any impact to the company’s existing apps. 

Introducing Identity Verification (IDV)

A solution known as identity verification (IDV) is now at the forefront of efforts to verify legitimate customers. This approach involves the customer taking photos of government-issued identity documents (such as a driver’s license and passport) and then taking a selfie of themselves in real time. Market-leading IDV solutions, such as Veriff’s, can complete this verification process in just six seconds, while recognizing identity documents from across the globe.

IDV involves no laborious form-filling by the customer, no manual processing by the marketplace and no long wait times for either party. Customers are also spared the fuss and frustration of being locked out of their accounts because they’ve forgotten their mother’s maiden name or their favorite food.

Market-leading IDV solutions, such as Veriff, are already achieving game-changing improvements for firms in a wide range of sectors, from finance to ecommerce. Forrester recently analyzed the performance of Veriff’s IDV solution, and found that a company partnering with Veriff:

• Reduced revenue lost to fraud by 20%, saving the company $7.4m over three years. 
• Enjoyed customer experience benefits valued at $18.4m by Forrester over three years, and a total return on investment of 195%.
• Could save $11m over three years, thanks to efficiencies linked to automation. 

Veriff’s solution is a particularly good fit for the marketplace sector, offering a winning formula of speed, processes, reliability, uptime, expert guidance, support, security, data protection (encryption of data at rest and in transit), cloud security, data privacy & support of GDPR requirements, which sets it apart.

Our IDV platform puts market-leading identity verification within your reach. Plus, you can also tailor your verification processes to suit your marketplace and brand.

If you’d like to learn more about how we can create an identity verification process for your business, get started with us today and book a personalized demo.

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Our IDV platform puts market-leading identity verification and high trust well within your reach. Plus, you can also tailor your verification processes to suit your industry and brand. If you’d like to learn more about how we can create an identity verification process for your business, get in touch with us today and book a personalized demo.

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The post Managing marketplace customer churn | how big is the problem and how can you fix it? appeared first on Veriff.

Of course, precise customer demands will depend on the sector in question, as well as a range of national and cultural factors. However, there are some common user expectations that companies should keep in mind as they work to expand their online enterprises. 

Safety and security: Customers demand the highest levels of security in the identity verification (IDV) process, particularly when government-issued ID or other documentation is involved. Veriff’s IDV solution uses AI and biometrics technology to quickly complete the process, using industry standard AES-256 and TLSv1.2+ encryption to encrypt data at rest and during transmission. 

Data Privacy: It is vital that data is protected to meet regulatory demands like the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and to ensure your customers feel safe. Veriff always keeps data safe with no unauthorised access, and never keeps data indefinitely. 

Swift service: If your customers are forced to wait to complete the IDV process, they could become dissatisfied and switch to one of your rivals. Veriff’s automated approach utilizes AI and biometric authentication to quickly deliver a positive response to honest users, with a decision made in an average of six seconds. 

Usability: IDV needs to be swift, but it also must be easy to use. Our software guides users through the process, providing them with real-time feedback. Tools like Assisted Image Capture (AIC) ensure onboarding is completed at the first time of asking. 

Flexibility: Users interact with your product – and IDV software – through a variety of operating systems and other means, whether web, mobile web, native SDK or API, iOS or Android. Veriff works across all these systems and more, ensuring maximum flexibility for your users and your developers. 

At Veriff, we believe security and usability complement one another. With our system, users simply snap a photo of their ID, take a selfie, and receive a decision, all with real-time support. 

With the best onboarding software, there is no choice between security and customer satisfaction – you can do both, all while building brand value.

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The onboarding phase is key to the customer journey, with users expecting a blend of security, usability, and flexibility. Discover more about our AI-based IDV technology and how it’s helping with customer onboarding.

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The post Key user expectations in customer onboarding – and beyond appeared first on Veriff.

Seamless customer onboarding process is a key priority for businesses across multiple sectors, from finance to gambling to crypto. By delivering a safe but speedy process, companies can boost their customer experience, increase conversions – and build their brand. 

Digital channels are remote, therefore businesses need a way to accurately verify the identity of the individual to ensure they are a legitimate person and not a bot, bad actor, or someone who shouldn't have access to their service. People wanting to interact online have to verify their identities, and the only really secure way to do that is to connect the person to a government-issued ID document. Once businesses can confidently say it is both a real person, and the right person with the supplied identity document, they can allow them access. 

However, in some industries businesses will also need to do further checks such as source of funds, credit, sanctions and PEP checks etc. These checks cause friction which results in people dropping out of the process, but without checks bad actors will gain access. 

This has never been more important. In the digital age, customers can access the service from virtually anywhere. At a time of fierce competition across many industries, seamless onboarding isn’t a ‘nice to have’. It is essential. 

Seamless onboarding isn’t a ‘nice to have’. It is essential.f

Chris Hooper Director of Brand Veriff

But there are other factors at play. Identity verification (IDV) should provide the highest form of security without adding too much unnecessary friction to the onboarding process. Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations have grown more stringent in jurisdictions across the world, while government agencies have stepped up anti-money laundering (AML) efforts to fight criminality. There are also growing concerns over the prevention of fraud, while data protection is a key concern in the age of the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and similar laws around the world. 

Quite simply, they must ensure their onboarding process has the right levels of security to make customers feel safe and to stay on the right side of regulators, government authorities, law enforcement agencies and more. 

So how does onboarding work in practice? For organizations that use Veriff AI, the process works through several stages, most of which are invisible to customers and delivered using our automated processes. 

• Send the user to the verification flow, to take picture(s) of their identity document and their face
• Veriff's AI ensures the document validity and realness, extracts the data, and ensures that the person doing the session (through their face images) matches the portrait image on the document.
• Receive the results in real-time with webhooks, (avg. speed 6 seconds)
• Use the data to auto-fill your user’s profile, reducing the clicks they need to do, and driving and improving conversions
• Enable AML screening to protect against PEP, sanctions, adverse media
• Enable ongoing monitoring to continuously against real-time updated lists, and receive notifications (webhooks) in real-time

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Discover more about how IDV is helping businesses to convert more customers, achieve compliance, and prevent the risk of bad actors.

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The post Effortless customer onboarding: the key to digital success appeared first on Veriff.

The sector may not suffer anywhere near the highest rates of fraud within the fintech industry, but its predicted growth has nevertheless attracted a significant uptick in criminal activity. Here are five of the biggest emerging risks confronting P2P payment services today.

The sector may not suffer anywhere near the highest rates of fraud within the financial services industry, but its predicted growth has nevertheless attracted a significant uptick in criminal activity.

Chris Hooper

Fake apps

Fraudsters can now create fake versions of popular payment apps and upload them to app stores or directly distribute them to potential victims. The goal is to gain access to personal information, payment details, or bank accounts so criminals can transfer funds without being detected. These fake apps often have the same interface as the legitimate version, but with malicious code embedded within them. They may also contain additional features that make it easier for criminals to steal data.

Fake billing sites

Fraudsters also create fake versions of legitimate billing websites and use them to trick their victims into providing their payment details. These sites usually have a professional design and feature the same logos, layouts, and other elements as the real sites. Fraudsters also send phishing emails with malicious links that take users to these fake billing sites. Once on the site, users are prompted to enter personal information, payment details, or both. The fraudsters then use this information to transfer funds to their accounts.

Botnet attacks

The criminal use of malware, such as bots, increased by 86% during 2022, according to analyst research. Criminals use botnets to deploy malicious code and gain control of thousands of devices at once. Botnet attacks allow fraudsters to set up multiple P2P payment accounts on different platforms and then transfer funds between them without being detected. This threat vector is so common that bots now generate most internet traffic.

New phishing variants

Phishing is a long-time fraudster favorite, and criminals continue to evolve the way they perpetrate this scam. Pharming, for example, involves criminals using viruses to hijack a victim’s device without their knowledge, so they can be directed to a fake PSP website. Vishing, on the other hand, is a telephone-based phishing scam where criminals use VoIP technology to call victims pretending to be trusted employees from their PSP. Education should always be the first line of defense, but AI-powered identity verification is just important when it comes to spotting fake users and hijacked accounts.

Card cracking

Card cracking is a type of fraud in which criminals use stolen payment card information to transfer funds into a wallet without the cardholder’s knowledge. Card cracking is often part of a larger scam, such as buying a cheap product and “accidentally” sending more money through P2P payments. Criminals then demand a refund for the difference, only for the seller to be liable for the total amount when it’s discovered the card was stolen.

Identity verification should be the cornerstone of every P2P payment provider’s fraud prevention strategy. Historically, rigorous verification risked adding unacceptable friction, undermining customer experience, increasing drop-off rates during onboarding and ultimately costing companies money.

AI-powered identity verification (IDV) platforms such as Veriff’s, however, automate this process, verifying customer identity in an average of just six seconds at an accuracy rate of 99.99%. This enables PSPs to effectively close down many of the emerging attack vectors exploited by cyber criminals.

Our IDV platform makes identity verification simple. Plus, you can also tailor your process to suit your industry and brand.

If you’d like to learn more about how we can create an identity verification process for your business, get started with us today and book a personalized demo.

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Discover more about how IDV is powering growth and customer acquisition for payments companies.

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The post The five biggest emerging scams P2P payment platforms face today appeared first on Veriff.