Biometric ID Verification began in Canada in 2013. It started with travelers, students and workers from certain visa-required countries and initially was based on providing fingerprints and having their photo taken before arriving in Canada.
Technological advancements in the digital identity verification space works by examining a variety of data sources, ID documents, and even selfie photos to ensure a person is who they say they are. These data sources and unique identifiers are very difficult to fake.
A few biological identifiers include earlobe geometry and retina patterns.
Many industries in Canada have begun following new FINTRAC guidelines around identity verification to ensure their compliance measures are mitigating the chance of identity theft and fraud. As you can imagine, especially for large financial transactions, this necessity to confirm a realtor or mortgage broker is working with a specific individual is extremely important.
There have been numerous cases of real estate identity theft or title fraud that could have been prevented simply by using a biometric ID verification tool.
In the past, if someone has had their identity and other income verification stolen, a fraudster could complete an entire real estate or mortgage transaction based on the information data points they provided to a bank. In recent years, large data breaches on email providers have provided criminals with enough information to complete large scale transactions fraudulently.
Fastkey’s biometric ID verification tool requires an individual to take a live photo of current government issued ID as well as a live selfie. A would-be criminal could potentially steal your current ID but would not be able complete the live selfie portion, and this report if completed would fail. This would allow the mortgage broker or realtor the opportunity to complete additional due diligence during the application process, and most likely, the criminal would be turned away.
As more and more professionals adopt this cutting edge technology, fraud is expected to decline.