Providers of Verified Identity

The KuppingerCole Market Compass on Providers of Verified Identity examines a fast-moving, heterogeneous market focused on verifying that a digital identity corresponds to a real-world identity and enabling that verified identity to be reused across services, platforms, and organizations. Enterprises face pressure to support digital-first, privacy-forward, user-centric identity experiences for customers, employees, and partners while meeting stringent KYC/AML and broader regulatory requirements. Verified identity verification is positioned as a foundational enabler for future identity ecosystems and remote operations, including customer onboarding, employee/partner onboarding, KYC/AML verification uplift, using verified identity as an authentication factor, and sharing trusted attributes or credentials with relying parties.

The report defines inclusion criteria (digital-only onboarding, identity verification in onboarding, creation of a potentially reusable digital ID, and secure protection of identity data) and excludes vendors that only perform one-time ID verification or provide non-reusable national IDs. It outlines four main technological approaches: fraud detection with AI/ML-driven decisioning; document and video verification that triangulates MRZ, OCR, NFC chip reads, and biometrics; federated identity hubs that integrate standards like SAML, OpenID Connect, and OAuth2 alongside decentralized protocols; and decentralized identity verification that stores immutable proofs on ledgers while keeping identity data on user devices.

Core expected capabilities span document processing, video identification, biometrics and liveness, fraud detection, verified identity reuse, authentication integration, secure storage, user-centric controls, and privacy safeguards. Vendor comparisons rate offerings across security, deployment, interoperability, usability, and market standing, and identify standout strengths (notably Microsoft and Ping Identity for reuse; 1Kosmos and Verimi for user-centricity; Thales for document verification; Onfido for biometric analysis; Avoco and Octopus for attribute collection). Overall, no dominant method has emerged, but interoperability, automation, and reuse are accelerating the shift away from one-time manual verification.

• Inclusion requires digital-only onboarding, an identity verification step, a digital ID with potential reuse, and secure storage/protection of identity data.
• Vendors that only provide ID verification are excluded from the market segment definition.
• Vendors that provide a national ID limited to one country or region are excluded.
• Four technological approaches are described: fraud detection, document and video verification, federated identity hubs, and decentralized identity verification.
• Document verification can triangulate Machine-Readable Zone data, OCR extraction, and NFC chip reads, then compare to a real-time selfie for liveness.
• Microsoft and Ping Identity are identified as outstanding in verified identity reuse.
• 1Kosmos and Verimi are identified as outstanding in user-centricity.
• Thales is identified as outstanding in document verification.
• Onfido is identified as outstanding in biometric data analysis.
• Avoco and Octopus are identified as outstanding in identity attribute collection.

• “Enterprises face the dilemma of deciding how to enable customers, employees, and partners to interact securely with their systems”
• “KuppingerCole considers this a highly heterogeneous market, and each vendor should be considered for its individual efforts”
• “No single dominant method has emerged, but the market promises rapid and dynamic change”
• “A reusable verified identity has the potential to change the trust afforded to credentials from other systems”
• “User-centricity is another trend that will shape the future of identity.”
• “Currently identity verification is restricted to one time use, as there is no generally accepted way to store a verification for future use.”
• “When a digital identity can be verified for multiple uses, this will likely trigger large savings for companies in identity management”
• “The decision to pursue an open-source project instead of a product is based on perceiving identity being a basic necessity, like water.”
• “SeLF offers a fact-based identity management process, removing provisioning, request and approval processes.”
• “Verified.Me is built with triple-blind capabilities to protect user privacy”