EMAS eKYC now supports Proof of Income & Address services

Innov8tif Solutions today announced upgrades to OkayID — the document verification component of EMAS eKYC, which now supports Proof of Income (POI) and Proof of Address (POA) services.

Traditionally, eKYC primarily revolves around verifying only user identities through facial recognition and scanning ID documents. This new upgrade expands the scope of what eKYC can offer, allowing businesses to verify the user’s residential addresses and income status by scanning relevant documents using their mobile phones.

This will greatly streamline customer journeys that involve income or address verification, such as loan application, consumer service subscription, company secretarial services, professional services and more.

“We decided to introduce this new feature because there is a huge demand for in-depth authentication services that goes beyond just personal identity,” says George Lee, CEO of Innov8tif Solutions.

“In fact, we have been providing POI and POA services to several of our clients. End-customers often apply for services without preparing the full sets of documents, which results in multiple visits to the branch office. Businesses also find it difficult to communicate the full list of required documents to the customer, despite having the information available online.”

“Hence, we decided to incorporate POA and POI formally as part of our API. Beyond just high accuracy, eKYC solutions now need to be more generalised and flexible to suit the rapidly shifting digital consumer landscape. These new upgrades are the next step towards that,” he adds.

How it works

Both POA and POI services perform the following three distinct steps:

• Collection

The user first takes a photo of the supporting document (utility bills, tax forms) using their mobile phones. There are checks in place to ensure that the document is captured properly, such as image size, lighting detection and font legibility.

• Verification 

The captured media is then run through a series of automated processes to determine its authenticity. Advanced algorithms are then used to ensure that the document has not been spoofed or tampered with, such as users submitting a photoshopped or photocopied document.

• Extraction

Using optical character recognition (OCR) technology, OkayID then extracts the relevant information, such as address and income details. The data is then channelled to the OkayDB component, which may be used to store the data in a predetermined database, or compare it against other databases, such as comparing home addresses with government sources.

Currently, OkayID supports the following Malaysian documents, but can be expanded upon dependant on the client’s unique business needs and requirements:

• KWSP Statements

• LHDN Receipts

• TNB Bill

How it can be used

At Innov8tif, we have witnessed demand for POA from industries such as internet service providers and digital services. The newly upgraded OkayID component offers an additional layer of authentication to streamline operations and ensure user accountability.

For instance, internet service providers often dispatch technical teams to set up network infrastructure in residential homes and corporate offices. POA minimises the errors in user-submitted addresses, reducing the number of missed appointments or reschedulings.

Digital services (such as online streaming) also need to ensure that users subscribing to family plans are not openly sharing their accounts with strangers. POA serves as a layer of protection, dissuading users from breaching the company’s terms of services.

On the other hand, POI has seen wide adoption from the financial sector and real estate industry. For digital banks, loan applicants can submit their income details to prove their creditworthiness. In the US, landlords often require potential tenants to submit pay stubs (monthly income statements) to evaluate the attractiveness as renters.

This content is provided by Innov8tif Solutions Sdn Bhd.

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