Know Your Customer (KYC) measures are important to comply with, for businesses. It is pertinent that businesses identify their customers before onboarding them as legitimate users. Also, KYC is an initial step of a more comprehensive AML compliance program. Moreover, the CoronaVirus pandemic has deemed the conventional verification process impractical. Therefore, the urgency of a reliable online video authentication service has become more pronounced.
What is Video Authentication?
Video authentication, otherwise known as E-KYC or Video KYC, is a remote identity verification process employed by businesses to verify the customer’s identity. In this process, all the activities involved in customer onboarding are performed digitally. Moreover, it involves an E-KYC agent who sets up a video call with the end-user. The customer only requires a good internet connection and camera device i.e, a laptop or a cell phone. The submission and verification of the documents in the video authentication process are also done remotely.
How Does the Video Authentication Process work?
The process of video authentication for the verification of the identity of end-users is as follows:
- First and foremost, the customer visits the business’s website for initial registration.
- Then, the E-KYC agent takes them on a video call. The inclusion of a human verification step increases the validity of this intangible verification process.
- The KYC agent checks for the liveness of the user and any suspicious activity or spoof attacks like deep fakes, holograms, or replay attacks.
- Following this, the KYC agent asks the end-user to show their ID document to the system’s camera.
- The picture of the end-user portrayed on the ID document is matched with the person on the video call.
- Moreover, the ID document is checked for any forgery and tampering attempts.
- The entire video call is recorded by the service provider with the consent of the end-user.
Moving on From Old Authentication Processes
It would not be an overstatement to claim that the manual identity verification processes will be discarded in the future, especially due to the social distancing rules of COVID-19. These processes were cumbersome and error-prone, to say the least. During the current scenario, the physical exchange of documents between officials and end-users is a health hazard. Also, waiting in long queues and facing unnecessary hassle decreases the user satisfaction levels. Moreover, with the technologies we are blessed with right now, the reluctance to employ online face detection systems is unjustifiable.
Perks of a Video Authentication Service
It has been established that the traditional identity authentication methods need some serious rethinking. Even if someone is still on the fence, the benefits of video ID checker services will surely convince them. The perks of integrating the services of a digital video security system are as follows:
- The step of physically submitting the documents is eliminated.
- The time required to complete the ID authentication process is significantly reduced.
- The number of personnel required to conduct the user authentication process is reduced.
- The privacy and security of the video recorded along with the digitally submitted documents are ensured by the service providers.
- The convenience of the process improves user experiences and brings your business more customers.
AI Technology: Working for Both Teams
Nowadays, fraudsters are employing new techniques to commit ID fraud. As the digital space is being crowded by users, the intensity of online crime has also increased. While identity theft is not a novel crime, criminals are now taking over the digital space to manipulate scanned ID documents and credentials of people.
One of these techniques is known as deep fakes where pictures and videos of users are tampered with, to fool the digital verification processes. This technology uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to undertake this criminal task. Moreover, the AI-based criminal tactics do not stop there as techniques such as replay attacks and hologram spoofing are also circling the digital verification world. Thus, it makes perfect sense to combat these criminal advances through its counterpart technology. The video authentication services also work on AI and ML models to detect facial spoof attacks and deter identity fraud.