What is Passport Verification, and how does it work?

When you think about passports, your mind probably jumps straight to international adventures. Passports are important for daily activities, such as proving who you are. How, then, are passports verified, and who is responsible for this process?

Passport verification is like other identity checks but has unique advantages and disadvantages. Any organization or company can verify the identity of people involved in their activities. The first step usually involves checking if the ID or passport is real and belongs to the person showing it.

Today, people can verify documents such as passports or driving licenses either in person or electronically. Both verification methods need to prevent fraud, forgery, and identity theft, and they must ensure that individuals handle and store data properly.

Physical vs. Online Passport Verification

All companies in the financial sector, as well as those in travel, mobility, financial services, and marketplaces, have likely faced the question: "How can I verify a passport online to confirm the identity of my customer?"

Verifying a passport or ID document is a crucial step in protecting customer data and preventing fraud. All companies in regulated sectors must verify their identity. This is necessary to help prevent fraud and money laundering. These requirements are outlined in Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations.

When someone conducts this process in person, who verifies ID documents? A company employee or representative checks identity documents in person. They verify the passport to ensure it is real. They also confirm that the person's information and photo are correct.

This procedure usually takes place at a business office or a subsidiary of the firm. They also check to ensure that the passport has not been tampered with or forged.

During in-person verification and registration, staff usually take a copy of your passport or ID. This can be done by making a photocopy or scanning the document digitally. Both methods require stringent security measures to ensure data protection, in accordance with the European Parliament's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

The in-person process takes a lot of time and is not enjoyable for users. Users have to go to a physical location. This manual work needs trained employees. This manual work requires trained employees.

Often, a lose-lose situation exists for both the company and consumer. The user takes a photo of their Passport in an online process. They also do a quick selfie for identity verification.

This takes seconds and the user doesn’t even have to do anything. If the lighting is bad or something doesn't look right, the face matching feature can assist the user. It can help them find better lighting or get closer to the camera for a better match.

The Steps to Passport Verification

Online passport verification is a lot like checking other government IDs:

1. Users Capture Passport Images: Begin by taking a clear photo of the passport’s data page. Depending on the passport type, we may also need images of the front and back of a passport card. Ensure the image is authentic and unaltered.
2. Optional Selfie Verification: Although not always required, a selfie with liveness detection can help prevent fraud. Users may need to submit a picture or short video, and the system will compare it to the passport’s photo.
3. Extract Passport Information: Use OCR or pattern recognition technology to extract key details from the passport, such as name, birthdate, gender, and passport number. This information is typically found in the passport's machine-readable zone (MRZ).
4. Cross-Check Data: Compare the extracted data with the information provided in the application or other documents. Any discrepancies could indicate potential fraud, errors, or issues.
5. Verify Passport Authenticity: Perform checks on security features like fonts and holograms to confirm that the passport is legitimate and that the image has not been tampered with.
6. Data Verification: Further validate the information by comparing it against governmental and commercial databases to confirm details such as address, full name, date of birth, phone number, and, where available, email address.

With automated ID verification, we can breeze through these steps—extraction, comparison, and validation—in seconds. But if anything seems off, we might need to give things a closer look. This manual verification is usually performed by the company requesting the passport verification. It’s up to that company to define a threshold for acceptance, the minimum match rate, and when to do a manual review.

Which Data do You Check?

The first step in passport verification involves capturing all relevant information from the passport. You can achieve this by taking an image with a webcam or a mobile device camera. People typically use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology to extract essential details from the Machine-Readable Zone (MRZ), ensuring accurate and reliable data extraction.

Passport Security Features

Passports come loaded with security features to stop forgery and prove they're the real deal. These features vary by country but can include:

1. Printing: Tricky printing methods that are hard to copy.
2. UV and Invisible Inks: Inks that only show up under specific conditions, like UV light.
3. Holograms: 3D images that change as you move them.
4. Optical Variable Elements (OVD): Features that shift appearance from different angles.
5. Security Threads: Threads you can see when you hold the passport up to light.
6. Microprinting: Tiny text that's tough to replicate without special gear.
7. Special Paper and Materials: Unique stuff that's tricky to duplicate.
8. Electronic Chips: Embedded chips, like NFC ones, that store biometric data.
9. Watermarks: Designs you see when you hold the document up to light.
10. Machine-Readable Zones (MRZ): Passport sections that can be scanned for quick data access.

New passports have advanced security features like UV printing, holographic foils, and NFC chips. These features provide extra protection by storing biometric data. E-passports also have similar security measures.

Biometric Verification of Passport Owners

Sometimes, passport verification includes biometric checks. Facial recognition compares a passport photo with a live selfie taken using a webcam or phone. This extra step adds more security, making sure the person with the passport is the real deal. But to offer the best user experience, we recommend you send the selfie identity verification process to the mobile.

Making the Most of Passport Verification

ZignSec helps businesses to implement online ID checks with tailored and automated processes. You can use our TrustPath workflow solution for start-ups or small companies.

Alternatively, you can connect services to your system using our API. The solution is user-friendly and does not require extensive coding. It's easy to use and doesn't require much coding.

By adding identity verification to your sign-up process, you can increase security without inconveniencing your genuine customers. Talk to our identity verification expert to review your onboarding process and see how we can assist you.

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