Fintech unicorn Checkout.com has entered the identity verification market, with the launch of an AI solution for customer and worker onboarding.
The product marks the first new service launched by the firm outside of its core suite of payment solutions.
Digital identity verification, which is used to tackle identity fraud and comply with safety regulations, is a crowded market and one that is set to become more important amid a rise in scams and concerns over AI-generated deepfakes.
The UK government in particular has stressed the importance of ID verification as it looks to pass the Online Safety Bill, which would enforce stricter verification requirements on age-restricted content on the internet.
While the sector in the UK has largely been dominated by standalone ID verification firms like Onfido and Yoti, the move into the market from the fintech giant could represent a major shake-up of the industry.
“We deeply believe in the intersection between digital payments and online identity verification,” said Meron Colbeci, chief product officer at Checkout.com.
“Legacy systems requiring an appointment with a human being or limited to certain days a week are not conducive to the long-term growth of the digital economy.”
Colbeci said the AI solution has been “trained on billions of data points alongside a video stream that simply requires an internet connection”. He added that the service allows clients to “comply with KYC requirements quickly and accurately”.
Like other digital ID verification firms, Checkout uses AI to analyse video selfie submissions and compares them with identification documents. Checkout and others favour video as it can resolve the issue of single-frame photo verification, which it said often fails due to poor image quality.
The company said its AI system can verify authentic identities across more than 3,000 document types.
Checkout’s ID verification service has already been adopted by Uber Eats, which is using the product to streamline the onboarding of delivery drivers.
“We’re delighted to be working with the Checkout.com identity verification teams to take full advantage of their expertise so that we can guarantee the authenticity of every document provided and the best delivery experience for all independent delivery drivers using the Uber Eats app,” said Uber Eats senior operations manager Baptiste Foulon.
Other digital identity verification companies include Estonia’s Veriff and Germany’s IDnow.