Boost Customer Conversion: Largest Identity Database

As businesses become increasingly global, there are plenty of issues to consider in terms of customer conversion. With this perspective, Veriff’s Senior Product Manager, Taras Boyko, and Senior Account Manager, Andrei Kandarakov, offer their thoughts on the importance of non-Latin script documents, the development of digital IDs, and more…

Why a global document database is imperative

Take a scenario where there’s a user who wants to be verified, and a company that needs to get a user verified. For this transaction to be successful for both sides, there needs to be a point of reference.

If a user shows a blue document, but we know that it should be yellow, then we can assume that something doesn’t add up. It means that this user is presenting a counterfeit or a tamper document, or that something else is off.

This is where a database would come in. Take for example a UK driver’s license – we’d know what it should look like, what colours it should be, what data it should contain and what elements we need to watch out for to be able to process the user who presents this document.

This is important because, nowadays, with technology – especially AI – you can generate a document that can trick even a machine learning model. So particular attention is needed for all these small elements. You need to know precisely how it should look in order to distinguish whether it’s legit or not. This is the primary goal of a specimen database – to serve as one source of truth.

Preparing for the widespread adoption of digital IDs

Today, most people have their whole lives on a device. So, what will naturally follow is that we’ll move to digital versions of identity within app-based wallets. This will mean that the need for physical documentation will become less and less.

In the UK, you should be able to have your driving license in an app from the end of 2025. Many other countries already offer this and have been doing so for years.

However, there’s still an overarching lack of trust in information from devices, as well as an ongoing preference for physical documentation among many people. Take border control for example – how do we convince a French border control officer to accept app-based UK ID?

It’s an extremely interesting time right now – and solutions are needed to effectively combine the physical and digital ID world.

Rapid verification vs. accuracy

Speed is very important, and it’s essential for a smooth customer experience. But it can’t come at the cost of accuracy, especially when it comes to verifying documents from across the world – some of which will be alien to some.

With AI and machine learning, we’re now in a position where accuracy will come as a matter of course, without it impacting customer experience at all.

There used to be a trade-off between accuracy and speed, but that’s not the case anymore. You can very much have both.

There used to be a trade-off between accuracy and speed, but that’s not the case anymore. You can very much have both. – Veriff’s Senior Product Manager, Taras Boyko

Taras Boyko Veriff´s Senior Product Manager

Global aspirations and non-Latin scripts

We live in an enormous world, and any company with international goals and aspirations needs to be extremely conscious of the nuances that exist around the globe.

Whenever a company is expanding into a new region, market or territory, there’s no shortage of challenges that they’ll face. And diverse document types are one of these challenges.

Here, when it comes to verification, companies often encounter non-standard passports, national IDs or driving licenses – ones that aren’t written in English or Latin script. Some might be in Cyrillic – an alphabet used in more than 50 languages – and some might even be handwritten.

Customer acquisition and conversion

In today’s digital economy, customer acquisition is expensive. And standing out in terms of customer service is imperative – it’s no longer enough to simply differentiate yourself from the product portfolio point of view.

All of this means that fast, smooth onboarding experiences make all the difference.

Imagine this scenario – a user is hooked and wants to sign up, but then you lose them somewhere in the middle of the journey and can’t convert them at the last point. Here, understanding the peculiarities and patterns of the market can have a huge advantage.