6 Best Practices for ID Verification

Customers often ask us for the best practices when putting together their BlockScore verification integration. We have seen many custom integrations, some good, some bad. In this article we have compiled a list of tips to maximize pass rates and minimize customer frustration.

1. Reduce required input fields

For most businesses, your users don’t use your service because of ID verification; they use it in spite of it. Reducing friction is paramount for improving your user experience and this can be achieved by only asking the bare minimum of what is required for your purposes. One convenient optimization is to pre-fill a user’s city and state based on their postal code. Though this isn’t possible for every country in the world, it is possible for most.

2. Let them know to use a credit-related address and their legal name

One of the most common reasons for a false failure is the use of an incorrect address or nickname. If your customer enters their work address or the address of a home to which they only recently moved, their verification will likely not pass. Let them know that they should use an address that they have associated with their bank of credit card for the best chance of success. In addition, the “name” fields should be labelled “legal name” so as to prompt people not to use nicknames when filling out the form.

3. Show the correct forms of ID based on country

If you are verifying an international audience, it is best to customize the forms of identity based on the country they live. For instance, if your customer is in the United States, you would use the language SSN and Driver’s License as means of verification. However, if your customer is in Mexico, they can use their Matricula Consular or Passport. This is much clearer and easier to understand than something like document number or ID number.

4. Properly format the address field based on country

Every country has its own peculiarities when it comes to addresses. For instance, not every country has postal codes and the subdivision that is referred to as “state” in the United States has a variety of equivalents in other countries such as the Swiss “canton” or the Canadian “province”. If your customers come from across the world, localizing the fields based on language they understand will greatly improve accurate data entry.

5. Explain why you need the information

Depending on your audience, people may not understand why your business is asking for their sensitive information. Even mammoth companies like Target are subject to being hacked, so it is no wonder people are sometimes a bit weary of handing over their data. A few sentences before the ID verification form as to why you need to collect this info can go a long way towards improving your customer’s trust.

6. Give them a way to correct a failure

Sometimes good people do not pass the ID verification process. This can happen for a variety of reasons beyond the person’s control, so it is important to provide some form of recourse. Whether that means allowing the customer to upload a scanned physical document or to provide a way to contact support, making sure that people have an alternative means turning away fewer good customers.

After making these simple changes, your BlockScore integration will convert more people and be much more enjoyable to use. If you have any more questions, we’d love to hear from you at support@blockscore.com.