What VerifiOnce is

VerifiOnce is a reusable identity credential — a record of a completed identity check that a customer holds and can choose to share with other businesses, instead of starting the verification process over each time.

 When someone completes identity verification through VerifiMe, that result can be issued to them as a VerifiOnce ID, stored in their own wallet on their phone. When a new business needs to verify them, the customer approves the sharing of their VerifiOnce credentials, and that business receives a completed record showing which details were verified, what method was used, and when — rather than a fresh set of document photos.

 The customer holds the verified credential in their phone. They approve each use individually with nothing looked up about them without their approval.

 How a business would use it

If a customer shares a VerifiOnce ID with you, you don't need an existing relationship with the business that originally verified them, and you don't need a VerifiMe account to receive it. You identify yourself and accept short verifier terms at the point of receiving the credential — that's how the system knows who it's releasing information to, since that's what the customer is approving.

 What it doesn't change

One thing worth being clear on: VerifiOnce gives you better verification data, not a finished compliance outcome. The judgment about whether you know who you're dealing with and/or the risk associated with offering a designated service stays yours — it's just made with a known record as a starting point, instead of a blank slate.

 What changes is where your verification data comes from. Instead of collecting documents from a customer and checking them yourself from scratch, you receive a record of a check already performed, and you use that record within your own due diligence process — the way you'd use any other verification source. You still apply your own risk rating, and you still keep your own evidence. And you can choose to run additional processes to enrich the credential if required for your own onboarding.

 Who it's for

VerifiOnce is most useful where several businesses need to check the same person for the same transaction. Property transactions and lending are early, obvious cases — a buyer who has verified with a real estate agent can share that credential with a conveyancer and a broker instead of re-photographing their licence for each one. Accounting and legal practices, and other businesses that have to establish who their customers are, see the same pattern.

 Some businesses that use VerifiOnce IDs have obligations under Australia's AML/CTF regime; others use it simply to confirm who they're dealing with.

 Where this is heading

VerifiOnce is a natural extension of what VerifiMe already does — verify people properly, once — but built so the result can go further than a single business. We'll have more detail, including a dedicated site, as the roll out accelerates.

 Have questions about accepting a VerifiOnce ID, or want to know how it fits into your existing AML/CTF programme? Contact us at hello@verifime.com.