Identity Types
Individual and organisation identity types supported by VerifiMe
Overview
VerifiMe supports two broad categories of identity: individual and organisation. Every customer in the system must have an individual identity - it is the foundation on which all other identity types depend. Organisation identities are optional and additive; a customer can hold zero or many of them alongside their individual identity.
All customer identities are stored in the customer's VerifiMe Wallet. Each identity type has its own verification lifecycle, document requirements, and associated party relationships.
Individual Identity
Individual identity is always required. Before a customer can verify as a company, trust, or any other organisation type, they must first complete individual verification. This is not configurable - the platform enforces this constraint at the workflow level.
Document Requirements
Individuals must provide government-issued identity documents. Configuration controls whether one or two documents are required:
- Single document - passport or driving licence
- Two documents - any two from: passport, driving licence, Medicare card (with photo)
Biometric Verification
All individuals undergo biometric verification as part of the process:
- Liveness detection - a live video capture with anti-spoofing measures to confirm a real person is present
- Facial comparison - the live capture is compared against the photo on the submitted identity document
Biometric verification is fully automated. The system generates a similarity confidence score and applies configured thresholds to determine the outcome.
Automation
Individual verification is fully automated. Once a customer submits their information and documents, the system runs document OCR, cross-references with government databases via the Document Verification Service (DVS), and completes biometric analysis in parallel. Manual review is only triggered when a check falls below the configured confidence threshold.
Organisation Identity
Customers may optionally hold one or more organisation identities. Four organisation types are supported, each with different structural rules.
Organisation Types
| Type | Subtypes | Controllers | UBOs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Company | Private, Public | Directors - must be individuals | Must be individuals |
| Trust | SMSF, Regulated, Unregulated | Trustees - any identity type | Must be individuals |
| Partnership | - | Two or more partners - any identity type | N/A |
| Sole Trader | - | 1:1 with an individual | N/A |
Directors and trustees are collectively referred to as Controllers in the platform. Every organisation must have at least one controller.
Key structural constraints to be aware of:
- Company directors must be individuals. Unlike trust trustees, they cannot be other organisations.
- Trust trustees are unrestricted - a trustee can be any valid VerifiMe identity type, including another trust or company.
- Ultimate Beneficiary Owners (UBOs) must always be individuals, regardless of organisation type.
- A sole trader is always linked to exactly one individual. It is the simplest organisation structure with a direct 1:1 relationship.
Verification is Manual
Unlike individual verification, organisation verification is always manual. There is no automated pathway for any organisation type. This is because:
- Formation documents (company extracts, trust deeds, partnership agreements) vary significantly in structure and format and cannot be reliably processed automatically.
- Organisational hierarchies require human judgement to map correctly - particularly for nested structures such as a corporate trustee.
- Role determination for associated parties requires contextual interpretation of the documents.
A VerifiMe administrator reviews and approves the submitted documents before the organisation is verified.
Formation Documents
Customers are required to upload formation documents appropriate to their entity type:
| Organisation Type | Expected Document |
|---|---|
| Company | Company extract |
| Trust | Trust deed |
| Partnership | Partnership agreement |
| Sole Trader | Business registration documents |
Associated Parties
During organisation onboarding, individuals identified from the formation documents - directors, trustees, partners, and UBOs - are recorded as associated parties of the organisation.
Associated parties have their email address captured during the onboarding process, but no document or biometric verification is performed on them at that stage. They are not yet verified individuals in the VerifiMe system; they are contacts whose identity the customer has declared.
Once the organisation is verified, the platform assigns roles automatically:
- Controllers - individuals identified as directors, trustees, or partners
- Viewers - associated parties who are not controllers
The submitting user (who may be a financial adviser, accountant, or other professional representative rather than an actual controller) has their Reviewer role removed after verification. If they need continued access, an administrator must manually assign them a Controller or Viewer role.
Workflow Types and Organisation Codes
Which identity types a customer can verify through a given integration is controlled by the Organisation Code. Each organisation code has a configured workflow type that restricts or permits specific identity type pathways.
For example, an organisation code configured for individual-only verification will not allow a customer to onboard a company or trust identity through that workflow - even if the platform supports those types globally.
Refer to the Organisation Code page for the available workflow type values and what each one controls.