TL;DR
Video verification uses a combination of live agents and AI-powered document scanning to remotely confirm identity. It supports three operational modes — assisted, unassisted, and platform-only — and helps businesses meet Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance requirements. Both businesses and customers benefit: companies reduce fraud risk while customers gain a secure, relationship-building onboarding experience without visiting a physical location.
What is video verification?
Video verification is a service springing from wider access to computer cameras, smart security cameras, and smartphones, which allow the use of photographs and videos to prove that a person is who they say they are. This is a quick and convenient method that allows a system to verify your identity.
With high-quality cameras in laptops, tablets, and smartphones, it is possible to verify identity in ways that are both convenient and very accurate. While many companies use their websites to collect proof of identity through scans or photographs of important documents, or even of your face, these can still be faked by savvy criminals. However, when a customer service agent from a verification service calls you using a video service, they can verify you are who you say you are by speaking to you directly, from the comfort of your own home.
How does video verification work?
International and work-from-home options are increasingly important in the modern world, which means you cannot walk into your local bank branch, corporate office, government institution, or another related facility with important documents in hand to talk to a customer service agent and verify that you are you. And, many institutions are required to KYC, meaning they need to go to extra lengths to verify their customers' identities.
Enter video verification, allowing institutions to verify and onboard new customers by examining their vital documents while seeing a face attached to the process.
Through a video verification service, you might:
- Complete the initial forms.
- Provide scanned and photographed copies of documents and proof of address, like a utility bill or bank statement.
- Take the proof documents and signed, scanned, and signed initial forms, and send this entire packet to the processing company.
- Once all these forms are verified, you will schedule your video verification over a verified video service, like Zoom.
- During the call, the member of staff will ask you questions about your account details to verify your identity.
- The staff member will ask you to hold these documents up to the camera to verify them against the copies that have been sent over email.
Once these documents have been compared to the copies sent electronically, you can be considered certified. Then, the company can open your account.
There are three basic modes of verification:
| Mode | Description | Agent Involvement |
|---|---|---|
| Assisted | Video assistance technology is used with agents who interact in a browser application in real time. | Live agent interacts directly with customer in real time. |
| Unassisted | Customers independently create or capture a video of themselves with their documents to prove their validity, including performing required liveness tests. | No agent involvement; customer completes process independently. |
| Platform only | Agents work with customers indirectly through video assistance technology to verify the customer's identity. | Agent works indirectly through video assistance technology. |
No matter what process works best for your company, the combination of humans and technology can help you rest easy. With video verification, you can use artificial intelligence (AI) software to enhance the proofing process, ensuring that human error is corrected with technological enhancement.
AI systems will check the validity of a customer's identification documents, like driver's licenses and birth certificates, while the human customer service agent speaks to a human being rather than processing emails that may not have a real person at the other end.
What are the advantages of video verification?
Why does video verification benefit both businesses and customers?
Video verification replicated the old-school process of meeting a new customer in person, looking at their physical documents, and verifying not only that the documents are real, but that the person who handed you the documents looks like the person in the photos and can answer important questions associated with the documents. However, video verification gives both businesses and customers the simplicity of internet access, so they can go through this process without a commute or other issues.
- Business: For businesses, the combination of human interaction and AI systems gathers the best of both types of verification processes. A live person verifies that they are speaking to another live person who is holding up these documents to the camera. Meanwhile, the latest technology scans these documents, compares them to electronic versions of the documents, and ensures that you can verify the identity of this new customer for sensitive processes like opening new accounts.
- Customers: While businesses directly benefit from the process of multiple verification processes, customers also benefit from knowing that the institution they want to sign up with is deeply concerned with their safety. While verification is often associated with opening accounts, a business may need to later verify a customer's identity. Going through video verification means that the customer has a relationship with the company and knows that they are employing several approaches to guaranteeing safety to prevent identity theft.
What are the key aspects of video verification?
Selfie identification is a basic precursor to video verification, but it is still not as effective as a discussion between a customer service agent and a new customer. The customer gets to know the company and their concern for security, which helps them build a relationship with your brand, much like in-person verification.
How does video verification support KYC and AML compliance?
Video verification also helps companies stick to KYC and AML checks. These checks ensure that the potential customer is who they say they are through visual identification from multiple sources, both AI and human.
How do human agents and AI work together?
Often, the human eye can catch something that an AI system cannot, through tone of voice during the interview or hesitation over certain questions or documents. Similarly, an AI system can also accurately compare video evidence of the potential customer's existence with provided scanned documents to ensure that the caller is the person actually pictured on the passport or license.
Combining these two types of evidence means that online security checks are as accurate as possible.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between assisted and unassisted video verification?
Assisted video verification involves a live agent interacting with a customer in real time through a browser application, while unassisted verification requires the customer to independently record themselves with their documents and complete liveness tests without agent involvement. A third mode, platform-only, has agents working indirectly through video technology rather than in a live session.
Why can't a scanned document or photograph alone verify my identity?
Static scans and photographs can be manipulated or faked by criminals. Video verification adds a live human element — a customer service agent who can speak directly with the customer, observe their behavior, and cross-reference documents in real time — making it significantly harder to spoof.
How does AI improve the video verification process?
Artificial intelligence (AI) systems automatically scan and validate identity documents such as driver's licenses and birth certificates, comparing them against electronically submitted copies. This reduces human error and complements the agent's live assessment, creating a dual-layer verification process.
What regulations does video verification help businesses comply with?
Video verification helps institutions meet Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) requirements, which mandate that businesses confirm the identity of their customers through multiple verification sources before opening accounts or conducting sensitive transactions.
What happens during a video verification call?
During the call, a staff member asks the customer questions about their account details and requests that they hold their physical identity documents up to the camera. These are then compared against the electronic copies previously submitted, and once verified, the customer's account can be opened or action taken.
Do customers benefit from video verification, or is it only useful for businesses?
Both parties benefit. Businesses gain a reliable, multi-layered identity check that reduces fraud risk. Customers benefit by knowing the institution takes their security seriously, and they build a relationship with the company through the process — all without needing to travel to a physical location.
References
Know Your Customer in Banking. Thales Group.
Video Verification. Skipton International.
What Is an Anti-Money Laundering Check? CrowdCube.
