Optimizing Identity Search Inputs

Learn about how to choose data inputs when creating a search to maximize match rate and minimize cost.

Cognito’s identity search APIs are highly flexible to allow for a variety of implementations. By working closely with our customers and analyzing their results, we have seen common patterns with respect to which search terms to use when verifying an identity in order to both maximize match rates and minimize costs.

Choosing Search Inputs

In our experience, the best combinations with which to search that both maximize match rate while also reducing false positives are the following:

• Phone, Name
• Phone, Name, Last 4 SSN
• Phone, Name, Full 9 SSN
• Phone, Name, Date of Birth

This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t search by other fields, but as a general recommendation, these are the inputs that perform the best.

When evaluating which inputs to use, we recommend starting with one of the above for the best results. That being said, your use case may differ and we encourage you to experiment with your inputs to best fit your needs.

If you first submitted one of the above search terms and it did not yield any results but you have additional information on your user such as their address, you can re-submit your search including that information to see if Cognito is able to subsequently return results. As a reminder, we do not charge for searches that do not return any results.

Choosing Assessment Inputs

You should always submit as much information as you can to the assessment endpoint in order to determine the best match. Assessment results are not filtered in any way by submitting more information.