
As a business, you sometimes need to verify the identity of an electronic signer to make a process safer or to meet certain legal or compliance requirements. Online ID verification must keep up with technological advancements and stay ahead of online threats as they become more sophisticated.
Why is online identification increasingly prominent?
Users can verify their identity online in various ways. For example, identity verification api, tools for facial recognition, video calling or the provision of personal information are used.
This process appears to be more and more prominent today. And with good reason. Because it is necessary to gain the trust of companies and their customers. After all, there are plenty of stories of people who abuse the anonymity of the internet to pretend to be someone else online.
When it comes to the use of electronic signatures, companies are increasingly aware of the need for identification. That’s why they impose stricter identity checks. Especially for confidential documents or for anything that must comply with international legislation.
While this emphasis may seem excessive, customers are more likely to continue to use a company’s services if they feel that the digital signing process used is secure. If you, as a company, are going to apply a more ‘intrusive’ form of online verification, it may be wise to explain to customers why this is necessary. Do this before asking them to provide personal information.
What does the future of online ID verification look like?
As online identity verification is affected by advances in technology, it makes sense to consider future developments. Unfortunately, we don’t have a crystal ball to predict these. But we do know that there are some interesting developments going on that will be applied to identity verification in the future:
Real-time ID verification
With real-time ID verification, your company can request and process information about a user in seconds. This is especially useful for confirming someone’s identity or for financial transactions, as the company always has up-to-date information.
Biometrics – Fingerprint / Face Recognition
Biometric technology seems like a certainty when we consider the future tools for identity verification. Especially now that iPhones from Apple already use fingerprint and face recognition. Biometric technology has already proven its worth in the field of personal security and ID verification. Therefore, it seems obvious that biometrics will continue to provide a secure way to verify electronic signatures in the near future. It will also provide a way to confirm that whoever signs your business documents is actually who he or she claims to be.
Verify an identity without an ID
There are several ways to verify the authenticity of a signature without relying on proof of identity. If the signer does not have ID, knowledge-based verification can be applied. There is a good chance that a mobile phone will be used more often as a means of verification in the future. For example, an access code or SMS is sent to a mobile number. Or the telephone itself serves as proof of identity.