Last updated on May 16th, 2025 at 11:41 am
In an increasingly digital and global economy, global ID verification has become a cornerstone of fraud reduction and compliance operations. Whether onboarding new customers, preventing fraud, or complying with regulations like KYC (Know Your Customer) and AML (Anti-Money Laundering), businesses around the world are under pressure to verify identities quickly, securely, and at scale.
Yet, global ID verification is no small feat. With over 190 countries, thousands of document types, and a wide range of languages, standards, and regulatory expectations, implementing a robust global identity verification system is key.
In this blog, we explore the key principles and best practices to ensure effective, compliant, and user-friendly global identity verification.
Understand the compliance landscape
Before deploying any ID verification solution, it’s crucial to understand the regulatory requirements in the jurisdictions where your business operates. Regulations such as:
- GDPR (Europe)
- CCPA (California)
- FINTRAC (Canada)
- FATF recommendations (global)
- eIDAS (EU digital identity)
- KYC/AML requirements (vary by region)
Each region may have specific mandates regarding data storage, consent, biometric use, and verification standards. Some countries (like Germany) may have strict rules around the storage of identity documents, while others may require in-person verification for certain services.
Choose a scalable, document-agnostic solution
With passports, national IDs, driver’s licenses, and other official documents varying widely from country to country, it’s critical that your identity verification solution supports a broad range of ID types and formats. Opt for providers that support machine-readable zones (MRZ), optical character recognition (OCR), barcode scanning, and NFC chip reading where available.
An identity verification platform like VeriScan is capable of reading IDs and passports for more than 200 countries and can easily be integrated into existing platforms or act as a standalone solution. It can be implemented both in person and remotely, making it an ideal solution that is easily scalable.
Layered identity verification
No single method of verification is foolproof. A layered approach, often called multi-factor or multi-layered identity verification, combines several signals to create a higher level of assurance. This is an especially beneficial tactic for those businesses that need to verify identity remotely.
Common verification layers include:
- Document verification (valid ID check)
- Biometric verification (face matching/selfie verification)
- Liveness detection (anti-spoofing)
- Database checks (e.g., sanctions lists, PEPs)
Facial biometrics combined with liveness detection (e.g., blinking, head movement, depth analysis) has become a standard in ID verification, especially on mobile platforms as a counter-measure to deepfakes, masks, and replay attacks.
Have a backup plan for abnormal cases
Not all users will have standard documents or ideal conditions. Refugees, elderly individuals, or immigrants may lack access to a formal ID. Being able to verify identity via backup documents like passports or digital IDs could help provide a service for a user while also ensuring your business remains protected.
Conclusion
Global identity verification is as much about trust and security as it is about enabling access and inclusion. Done well, it protects businesses and users alike. Done poorly, it creates friction, exposes vulnerabilities, and opens the door to fraud and compliance risks.
By following these best practices—grounded in compliance and security—organizations can partner with identity verification systems that scale globally, work reliably, and build lasting trust with users worldwide.
