Verifying Identity using ID Biometrics - Helping to Combat application fraud. 

The ID Biometric or Selfie check is the most highly recommended verification of Identity as it allows you to perform a live "selfie check" on the applicant, almost always verifying that you are indeed dealing with the correct person.

The selfie check performs two crucial checks to combat Identity fraud: 

1.  Is the applicant present to take a selfie in front of a computer or on their phone?  

This ensure they are the actual applicant you are expecting, and that they are actually in front of the camera and alive. Not just a decent ID book copy that looks right. This also verifies they have access to the email or cellphone you sent the link too.

2.    Does the applicant, you have just taken a photo of, exist at Home Affairs and do they match the picture on file for the ID Number and Name you captured?

 The captured photo is then vetted against the details you have captured and the photo at Home affairs.  Again ensuring the person matches the details you will use to vet your tenant against and use to draw up a lease agreement.

How the check works:

In this check a SMS is sent to the applicant to ask them to confirm their identity, this SMS is sent the phone number captured on the Credit check.

Once the applicant clicks the link in the SMS it will ask them to capture themselves using their phone / computer camera. The Check will ask them to move their head around in a defined area and follow on screen instructions.

Once a photo is captured the photo is verified against the latest ID or Passport picture captured at the Department of Home Affairs. This can be a green barcoded ID, a smart card or passport.    

We will verify that the details you captured match those on the Home Affairs database and the photo is of the same person who was assigned the ID Number.

Once the check is completed by the applicant the Home Affairs photo as well as the selfie photo will be returned to you with an outcome showing mismatched fields and/ or non-match of photos. 

Summary Tab

Displays a green tick next to “Selfie” shows the Selfie check was done successfully, and the ID Photo matches the image captured on the selfie check.

The first step in accessing your applicant is to establish their identity number is valid, issued by the South African Department of Home Affairs and matches the supplied name and surname.

This check can be run against anyone who has a valid 13-digit South African ID number, this can include refugees and permanent residents.

To ensure the information you receive is accurate and up to date, the ID verification is run in real-time, directly against the South African Department of Home Affairs (DHA) database. 

Please note: As such we are dependent on the availability of the DHA system. 

Viewing the results of a successful ID verification

No Photo available

This means the applicant has not had an identity document or passport issued since HNAIS was brought online in about 2000. 

TPN recommendation for ID Blocked = Yes

• The ID is blocked by DHA.
•  It could have been reported by the Consumer as being used fraudulently, or DHA picked up that it has been fraudulently used and blocked the ID.
• The Consumer must contact DHA and receive a Clearance Letter before you proceed with placing the tenant.

Please read a news article published in August 2024 about this HERE

TPN recommendation for Deceased / Never Issued:

• This is probably a fraudulent application.
• Please send a copy of the ID DOCUMENT to TPN and we will manually verify with Home Affairs. This process takes 2 weeks. It is recommended that you don’t enter into any agreement until the ID document has been verified.
• If still verified as "Never Issued" or “Deceased” and the tenant believes there is an error, the tenant should contact Department of Home Affairs directly.

In some cases you may receive an error message " The call to DHA has timed out - DHA may be down.", this means the DHA (Department of Home Affairs) system is down and we are unable to verify the consumers identity. 

In some instances, we can verify the consumers identity by returning information from a recent check that was performed and verified by the Department of Home Affairs when they were online.  This would result in a record being shown called “ DHA Cache Used” with the date that the cached record was created.

If no cached result is available, you will need to try again later. 

Please note: You may experience intermittent downtime in future, until a permanent resolution has been found by the DHA. 

Compliance with the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA) is a legal requirement applying to all accountable and reporting institutions. (e.g. Property Practitioners).

This check allows you to validate the information your client has supplied, without the need to obtain supporting documentation.

The check confirms the consumer’s identity, address against a golden source, generates a FICA document on the consumer.

The address supplied by my potential client shows “Not Matched” or "Failed" on the KYC Check result - why does this happen? 

TPN KYC Check verifies the address you input into our system against golden source information.  

Golden source information is information that is verified against external third-party sources that also need to comply with FICA regulations like Banks, Insurance companies, cellular service providers and other financial institutions.

These institutions would do similar checks and request supporting documents to verify and KYC their clients.

It’s possible the third-party source has not received or processed a request from the client to update this information and the institution has not done a recent RICA or FICA Check, so the information they are providing is outdated but is the most up-to-date information they have. 

What must I do now to verify the address?

In cases like this you should perform further due diligence and verify the address the client has given against a third-party document, like a bank statement, utility bill or cellular invoice.

Be aware of strange looking documents and see if the document can be verified online or via telephone.

Customer Due Diligence is required according to FIC Act (FICA) for all accountable institutions. 

The TPN Enhanced Due Diligence Check verifies consumer information against trusted third-party sources and numerous global databases, including those specifically mentioned in the FIC Act.

• Search over 5500 Global Sanctions and Watchlists

Including the Targeted Financial Sanctions list from the  United Nations Security Council (UNSC) as prescribed by the FIC Act.

• Verify Political influence and exposure using up to date local and global sources.
• Search Global Adverse media.

• Select the KYC Check to verify your applicants identity against South African Department of Home Affairs and confirm proof of address using golden sources
• Verify Income and bank account details directly with the bank
• Company Check to confirm Members; Directors and Shareholders to ensure you are checking all relevant parties.

The FIC Act specifically requires you to check the targeted financial sanctions (TFS) list.

The Targeted Financial Sanctions / UNSC is included in the TPN Enhanced Due Diligence Check.  

As per their website “ The TFS list includes all persons and entities applicable to sections 26A, 26B and 26C of the FIC Act which refer to sanctions under a resolution by the UNSC and require accountable institutions to scrutinise their clients against the applicable list, to freeze assets and to ensure not to proceed with a transaction.

It is important to note the TFS list is not a FIC or South African domestic sanctions list, but a replica of the original source, which is the UNSC consolidated list of targeted financial sanctions.”

See the original source HERE

The UNSC is the United Nations Security Council and their Consolidated Sanctions list includes the UN 1267 and the TFS list mentioned by the FIC.

The UNSC Consolidated Sanctions List is included in TPN Enhanced Due Diligence check.