The Future of Verification is Here: Global Database Verification and Why Your Business Needs it

Document-based verification comes with a number of challenges, which is why more businesses are turning to document-free verification methods like Global Database Verification (GDV) and Non-Doc Verification.

What is Global Database Verification?

Global Database Verification is a document-free data verification method of authentication users through government databases. It is designed for both regulated and unregulated industries seeking a reliable, quick, and cost-effective solution for user verification on a global scale.

Sumsub’s Global Database Verification (GDV) solution enables businesses to verify the data of 5.5 billion users worldwide in a matter of seconds.

GDV provides:

• +37% of pass rate growth
• Global coverage with recognized sources from over 45 countries
• Improved verification accuracy through reliable, up-to-date user records
• User verification in under 5 seconds
• Prevention of identity fraud and financial losses

All in all, Sumsub’s GDV is a reliable way to switch from a document-based to a document-free data verification method.

Suggested read: The Future of Verification is Here: Doc-Free Methods and Their Benefits

GDV can help companies from a wide range of industries overcome user costly and lengthy identity, address, and document processing.

The product provides the following essential features:

• Address Verification: Ensures the legitimacy of current customer residence information by cross-referencing trusted global sources.
• Identity Verification: Verifies user ID document and personal data authenticity by matching them against recognized and secure sources
• Age Verification: Verifies date of birth and other personal information, ensuring users meet specific requirements regarding age-restricted content and services

GDV can work both as a standalone personal data verification method or in combination with other Sumsub products to enable a complete user onboarding journey.

The flexibility of this product means it can be applied to multiple stages of KYC — for instance:

• As a user pre-screening step to prevent fraud at early stages and reduce potential verification costs on fraudulent onboarding attempts
• As a user post-screening step to enhance the security at later stages of the onboarding journey
• As a standalone solution to verify or re-verify personal data when dealing with low-risk users
• As a fallback solution in order to eliminate gaps in the onboarding process and improve conversion rates.

What is Sumsub’s Non-Doc Verification?

Non-Doc Verification is another document-free verification product by Sumsub that offers a reliable and effective alternative to ID-based user verification and onboarding. It works by extracting and verifying complete customer data from government sources.

Non-Doc Verification is a completely standalone and secure procedure that works in two ways, depending on the country:

1. By extracting personal and biometric data from a government source based on an ID document number and photo cross-match.
2. By extracting the required data attributes from banking records via account login and device authentication

For example, in the UK, users only need to complete three simple steps for Non-Doc Verification:

• Step 1: The user selects their bank and is instantly redirected to their banking platform to log in
• Step 2: The user logs into their bank account and consents to share the required data
• Step 3: Sumsub automatically retrieves the verified data, confirms the customer’s identity, and completes onboarding.

More on Non-Doc in the UK: The New Era of KYC in the UK. How Non-Doc Verification Works and Why It’s Essential for Your Business

By using Non-Doc Verification, businesses can expect:

• >95% genuine user conversion in 10+ countries
• An average onboarding time of 4.5 seconds
• Reaching over 2 billion users across the globe
• Minimal synthetic identity fraud risk
• Customizable, no-code verification workflows

Suggested read: What Industries can Benefit from Non-Doc Verification and How?

Sumsub’s document-free verification is also currently available for user onboarding in the UK, Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nigeria, and the Netherlands, with South Africa and Ghana coming soon.

Are document-free methods AML-compliant?

Businesses must ensure that their document-free verification methods comply with AML regulations in the jurisdictions where they operate. Different countries may have specific requirements, and organizations need to be aware of any legal changes.

While KYC compliance can be achieved with document-free verification methods, such as Sumsub’s Non-Doc Verification and GDV, it is at the discretion of each company to ensure that the applied verification method is compliant, based on the country-, use case-, and industry-specific regulations in place.

Suggested read: History of Identity Verification and Most Secure Checking Methods

What are the key differences between Non-Doc Verification and Global Database Verification in terms of KYC?

Both GDV and Non-Doc Verification can be applied for user verification, either as an additional check or to replace the KYC process altogether. However, applicability depends entirely on the industry and regulations.

GDV and KYC:

• GDV can be a standalone check for non-regulated industries. For regulated ones, it can serve as a post/pre-screening check as part of the overall KYC process
• GDV may require several data inputs, including Full Name, Date of Birth, National ID Number, Address, and Phone Number.

Non-Doc Verification and KYC:

• Non-Doc Verification can serve as full KYC both for regulated and non-regulated industries.
• Non-Doc Verification either requires the input of an ID document number and a Liveness Check to submit biometric data or a bank account login and device authentication.

For more information on which is the most suitable document-free verification product for your business’s KYC needs, you can get started here.