Cognito Broadcast
Selecting an ID verification provider
on March 11, 2015
There are many factors to selecting an ID verification provider. This post goes through the important points to consider.
Timeline
The amount of time required to engage, negotiate, implement, and verify varies dramatically between providers. Here are the questions to ask.
- What is the complete process before I can submit my first verification?
- How quickly can I get access to a test environment?
- How long will it take to get implementation guides and developer documentation?
- Do I need to sign an NDA before any engagement?
- Do I need to get an office inspection? If so, how quickly can I get one scheduled?
The time between finding BlockScore and going live can be as short as one day. Legacy providers have rigid business processes that can take up to six months.
Cost
The cost of implementing, deploying, and operating an ID verification solution varies dramatically between solutions. The hidden costs of the solution can add up to be significantly more than anticipated. Here are some questions to ask.
- Are there any setup fees?
- Are there monthly fees?
- Does the per verification price include essentials such as watchlist and PEP screening? If not, how much extra are these essential services?
- Is there an extra charge for high risk address checks?
- Do I need to amend the contract when I add new services?
- What is the cost to cancel the contract?
BlockScore offers simple, transparent, inclusive pricing with no setup or monthly fees. See the BlockScore pricing page for more information.
Implementation
The complexity and time to implement a solution varies dramatically between identity verification providers. Here are some questions to ask.
- Do have have to use your API or can I use a dashboard for manual verifications?
- Are developer and implementation guides available freely?
- Are SOAP-aware developers required?
- Are client libraries available to speed integration?
- What is required to go live with the solution? Must time be scheduled to go live?
- Is a test environment available? It is the same version as the production environment?
BlockScore provides freely available client libraries, documentation, and a production-equivalent test environment. When you are ready for live access, submit a request and usually get approved within one day. If you only need occasional verifications, our dashboard has a simple graphical interface to perform verifications with zero programming required.
Remaining in compliance
Verifying someone’s identity is the first step, but how do you ensure that customers do not show up on any watchlists now and in the future? Here are the questions to ask.
- How many watchlists do you check?
- Do you check more than OFAC lists?
- How much does it cost to check watchlists? Do I have to pay per list?
- Do I have to manually recheck my customers against watchlists or can you do that for me?
- Do you also check for politically exposed persons (PEP)?
- Do I need to use third-party software to parse through your responses?
BlockScore provides a comprehensive watchlist scanning service for US and international watchlists. The service performs initial scans and perpetual rescans at designated intervals to ensure that your business remains in compliance.
Coverage
As your business expands internationally, you need an ID verification provider that covers the countries in which you expand. Here are the questions to ask.
- Which countries do you cover?
- If you add additional countries, do I need to change my implementation?
- If I submit an international verification and no data is available, am I charged?
- Is your data limited to credit bureaus or do you have other sources?
BlockScore covers many countries throughout the world and never charges for international verifications where no data is available.