Electronic Identity Verification (eIDV): How It Works and When to Use It

What electronic identity verification is

Electronic identity verification (eIDV), also called data source verification or database verification, checks a person's claimed identity against records held by third parties. The customer types in their name, date of birth, address and sometimes a national ID number. The eIDV service queries one or more data sources and returns whether those details match, partially match or do not match.

The customer uploads nothing and the check usually completes while the sign-up form is still on screen. That is why eIDV is widely used as the first step in onboarding, particularly where conversion matters and the risk of a single account is moderate. ScreenlyyID offers this as part of its eIDV product, alongside the wider identity verification suite.

One point worth stating plainly: eIDV proves that an identity exists and that the details are consistent with records. It does not, on its own, prove that the person typing is the person described. That distinction drives most of the design decisions below.

How eIDV works, step by step

1. Capture. Collect the minimum fields the target market's sources need. Typically that is full name, date of birth and current residential address. Some markets also use a national identifier.
2. Normalise. Clean the input: address standardisation, name order, transliteration, removal of stray characters. Many false "no match" results come from formatting, not fraud.
3. Query sources. The request is sent to the relevant data sources for the customer's country. See how eIDV works for the product-level flow.
4. Match and score. Each field is compared with the source record, often with tolerance for typos, initials and abbreviations.
5. Apply your rules. Your policy decides what counts as a pass: for example, a full match on name plus date of birth or address across a required number of sources.
6. Route the outcome. Pass, fail or refer. Referred cases move to a stronger check, such as a document and selfie step, rather than straight to rejection.

Typical data sources by country

Which sources exist, and which a regulator accepts, differs by country. The table shows the usual categories only. Availability changes, and access is normally through an aggregator rather than directly, so confirm coverage for each market before you build a flow around it.

"eIDV global" is often used as a search term, but a single global eIDV check does not exist in practice. A global product is really a set of country-specific source integrations behind one API, and results quality tracks the data behind each country.

Match rules: how many sources, how strict

The match rule is where compliance policy meets product design. Common patterns include:

• Single-source match. One source confirms name plus date of birth or address. Simple, but only appropriate for lower-risk products where the rules allow it.
• Two-source match. Two independent sources each confirm the customer. Several regimes use this idea, for example the dual-process method described in FINTRAC's guidance, and it is a common internal standard even where it is not mandated.
• Field-level rules. For example: name and date of birth must match, and address must match in at least one source.
• Tiered rules. Stricter requirements for higher-risk customers, higher limits or higher-risk jurisdictions.

Two practical points. First, "independent" matters: two sources that both derive from the same credit file are not two sources in the sense most regulators mean. Ask your provider how sources are classified. Second, record exactly which sources matched and on which fields. That audit trail is what you show an examiner.

eIDV versus document verification

The two methods answer different questions.

Stolen personal details are easy to buy or guess, so a perfect data match can still be a fraudster. That is the gap document authentication and biometric and liveness checks close.

When to combine them

• Step-up on risk. Run eIDV first. Only customers who fail, partially match or trip a risk signal get the document and selfie step. This keeps friction low for the majority.
• Always both for high-value accounts, payouts, crypto on-ramps or other high-risk products, or where your regulator or your policy expects a photo ID check.
• Document first, eIDV as corroboration where thin-file customers will not appear in data sources but hold valid ID.

Adding IP and device intelligence and email or phone validation gives you extra signals for the "refer" decision without adding customer steps.

Accuracy and coverage limits

Be wary of any vendor that quotes a single pass rate. The result depends on the country, the age and segment of your customers and the sources queried. Known limits include:

• Thin-file customers. Young adults, recent migrants and people who avoid credit products appear in fewer sources, so they fail more often. That is a fairness and inclusion issue as well as a conversion one, so always give a fallback path.
• Stale data. Recent movers may have an old address on record.
• Name variations. Transliteration, multiple surnames, nicknames and married names cause mismatches.
• Data breach exposure. Real people's details are widely available to criminals, so matching data is not possession of the identity.
• Lawful basis. Using personal data for checks must fit privacy law in each market.

Measure your own results by country and segment: pass rate, refer rate, fallback completion and later confirmed fraud. Those numbers are more useful than anything on a vendor sheet.

Regulatory acceptance: verify per market

Many AML and KYC regimes allow electronic or non-documentary verification, usually where the data is from reliable and independent sources and the approach is risk-based. Names to check include AUSTRAC in Australia, FINTRAC in Canada, the FCA and HM Treasury framework in the UK, and the customer identification programme rules in the US. Some regimes specify the method in detail, others leave it to a documented risk assessment. Some sectors or higher-risk cases require more than eIDV.

Requirements change, so check the current rules with the regulator or legal counsel before launching in a market. This page is general information, not legal advice. For a wider picture of how this fits into onboarding, see what is identity verification and what is eKYC. Market-specific notes are collected in our regulations section.

What eIDV costs

Pricing is usually per check, and the main cost drivers are the country, the number of sources queried, volume and whether you pair eIDV with document and biometric steps. Cost per verified customer is more useful than cost per check: a cheap check with a high refer rate that sends many people to a document step can cost more overall. See ScreenlyyID pricing for current plans, and build a model using your own country mix.

Getting started

Pick one market, define the match rule with your compliance lead, configure the fallback to document verification, and test on real traffic. When you are ready, start verifying customers through self-serve sign-up, or talk to the team about multi-country coverage.