The KYC Buyers’ Guide Series: #3 Evaluating Workflows and Approaches

In today's digital landscape, businesses face increasing challenges in their customer onboarding and verification processes. Between regulation, rising identity fraud (thanks to AI) and users expecting a fast, frictionless process, selecting the right Know Your Customer (KYC) verification tools has never been more critical. This series will help you navigate the complex world of identity verification solutions and make informed decisions for your business. Our first two instalments discussed the evolution of KYC and what to look for when evaluating features, compliance and performance.  

In this third and final instalment, we will discuss how the market is shifting towards modular workflows, its value and some of the best practices around it. When assessing vendors, it’s important to ensure they can be responsive and adapt to how your business needs to work.

Effective Verification Workflows

Modular Approach to Verification

According to data, 59% of businesses still rely on manual or rigid KYC flows. This lack of flexibility leads to either over-verification, i.e., creating too much friction and driving high dropout rates, or under-verification, which can expose the business to fraud and/or fines.

Rather than applying the same verification process to all users, businesses are increasingly adopting a modular approach which allows them to adjust verification requirements based on user or risk profiles. 

For example, let’s say you’re onboarding a user in Italy with a verified government eID. That process may require just a single API call. But for a user in a high-risk geography or using a flagged device, you could automatically trigger additional layers, like biometric liveness, document uploads, or bank account ownership checks via PSD2 AISP. This dynamic adjustment not only keeps the process secure but also efficient.

As mentioned in our previous blog, ask your vendor if they can support you with modular workflows - and if they have an ISO9001 Certificate to ensure consistency and efficiency in those KYC workflows. 

From a business standpoint, modularity translates to real benefits:

• Faster time-to-market for new markets or products
• Lower operational costs by avoiding unnecessary checks
• Improved user experience with right-sized friction
• Easier compliance audits through granular control and traceability

Finally, a modular workflow architecture enables businesses to customize verification processes without requiring deep technical resources.

Optimizing the User Experience

The verification process represents a critical touchpoint in your customer journey. A streamlined and customized experience can significantly impact conversion rates and customer satisfaction. For example, at Authologic, customers who use eIDs in their KYC workflows see up to 60% increases in conversion rates. 

Customers today expect quick, secure, and seamless digital experiences. Replacing manual verification processes with streamlined user experiences facilitates modern, frictionless onboarding that caters to customer convenience while safeguarding their privacy.

Comparing Verification Approaches

In this series, we have discussed a variety of verification methods. One up and coming method is government-issued eIDs. While they are ubiquitous in some countries, such as Poland, in other places, the points of difference between eIDs and traditional verification methods, such as OCR+liveness, is not always clear. 

For example, in our first blog, we wrote about how AI is revolutionising fraud in the KYC process, with 44% of fraud now due to deepfakes. However, one of the biggest misconceptions in some places is around the security of eIDs. 

Below is a short overview of some key differences in traditional and eID verification..

Traditional vs. eID Verification

Traditional Document Verification Features:

• Security - vulnerable to forgery and deepfakes
• User experience - multiple steps, document uploads and high risk of human error
• Processing time - minutes to hours
• Privacy protection - exposes unnecessary personal data
• Implementation Complexity - moderate

eID Verification Features:

• Security - cryptographically secured
• User experience - streamlined, fewer steps
• Processing time - seconds to minutes
• Privacy protection - minimal data exposure
• Implementation Complexity - varies by region

Implementing a Future-Proof Verification Strategy

To ensure your verification approach remains effective as technologies and threats evolve, consider these strategic elements.

Integration Best Practices

While we’ve already discussed why documentation matters, ask your vendor how they can best support you as you go through these recommended steps: 

• Start with a pilot program to test effectiveness
• • What are your vendor’s SLAs for support in set up and beyond? 
• Collect feedback during early implementation
• Monitor key metrics to identify optimization opportunities
• • Can you access standardized data for analytics?
• Establish clear fallback procedures for verification failures
• • What workflows and other methods does your vendor offer for business continuity?
• Regularly review and update verification workflows
• • How easy is it to do reporting?

Making the Right Choice for Your Business

Selecting the optimal verification solution/s requires careful consideration of your specific business needs, customer expectations, and regulatory requirements.

Assessing Ultimate Value

When evaluating verification solutions, look beyond the per-verification price to the bigger picture. Make sure you have clear answers from your vendor AND internal teams around:

• Does this solution address business needs, as broadly as possible?
• Integration and implementation costs
• • Who is responsible for it? The vendor and/or your tech team?
• Ongoing maintenance requirements
• • Is this covered by vendor support, or your internal team?
  • How many integrations are you willing to manage (which either way, lead to high costs), or is there an option to consolidate available?
• Operational efficiency and compliance reporting 
• User experience and customer acquisition improvements
• • What tools and insights can your vendor or team easily provide, to help measure improvements, e.g., how much does the solution reduce onboarding time?
• Fraud reduction benefits

Useful questions to expand upon the bigger picture and assessing the total value of a solution for your business, should also include an understanding of: 

• How does the solution adapt to new fraud techniques?
• What is the provider's uptime guarantee and support structure?
• How frequently are security measures updated?
• What compliance certifications does the provider maintain?
• How easily can the solution scale with your business growth?

Conclusion

As identity verification continues to evolve, businesses must adopt solutions that provide robust security while maintaining excellent user experiences. The shift toward eIDs and automation through modular workflows represents a significant enhancement to traditional methods.

By carefully evaluating your verification needs and selecting a solution that combines interoperable verification methods with flexible workflow capabilities, you have the opportunity to evolve your KYC from a purely compliance-driven process to a pillar of responsible finance, operational resilience, and customer trust.

If you have any questions or would like to find out more about eIDs and what Authologic does, we’d love to hear from you.