Identity verification API: the database-check approach

"Identity verification API" covers two very different product categories, and picking the wrong one wastes money and conversion. Document IDV asks the end user to photograph a government ID and take a selfie; it proves possession of a document. Database identity checks — what CoverFi provides — take details you already hold (name, date of birth, phone, email, address) and report whether they are consistent with a real person in consumer records. No upload, no user friction, sub-second answers.

CoverFi is the second kind, and is explicit about it: a match means *the details you submitted appear consistent with records for a real person*. It is not government ID verification, not biometric, and not a substitute for one when a regulation demands document proof.

When a database check is the right tool

• Fraud-awareness triage at signup or claim intake. Does this name + DOB + phone combination correspond to a real, consistent identity — or is it synthetic? Route inconsistent submissions to manual review instead of blocking everyone with document friction.
• Verifying details you already possess. A customer gave you their information; before you ship, pay out, or call, confirm it hangs together against independent records.
• Contact-data hygiene. Is this phone number still associated with this person, or was it reassigned? Is the address current or historical?
• Pre-filling and correcting records your team collected by phone or on paper.

When you need to prove a specific human is physically present with a specific document — regulated onboarding, age-gated products — use a document IDV provider; the two approaches are complements, not substitutes.

How CoverFi's identity check works

POST /orgs/{org_id}/records/check takes a full name, date of birth, and an email or phone, and returns one of three outcomes with a 0–100 confidence signal:

• Match — a strong locator (the email, phone, or DOB) plus name agreement. Deliberately conservative: a name alone never produces a match.
• Needs review — partially consistent; some submitted details agree, others disagree or are missing.
• No match — the combination is not consistent with anyone on file.

curl -sS -X POST "https://coverfi.com/api/orgs/$ORG_ID/records/check" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_live_YOUR_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"full_name":"Jane Rivera","date_of_birth":"1984-03-15","email":"jane@example.com"}'

Identity checks are free — they never consume credits. When a check comes back needs_review, the metered search endpoints let you investigate: see which details disagreed, pull the full profile, or check who is on file at an address. The API reference documents every endpoint, and each result explains itself with a labeled match tier and per-field last-seen dates (see the glossary for what each tier means).

What it checks against

Checks run against 250M+ US consumer records built from lawfully sourced consumer marketing files: names with alternate spellings and former names, dated address history, landline and mobile phones, emails, and month-precision dates of birth. The complete field-by-field layout is published in the data dictionary — a level of transparency about the underlying data that most identity providers don't offer.

Compliance boundaries

CoverFi is an informational service, not a consumer reporting agency. The API may not be used to determine eligibility for credit, employment, insurance, housing, or any other FCRA-regulated purpose — the FCRA vs non-FCRA explainer covers exactly where that line sits. Every account and every API key requires a permitted-use attestation, and consumers can request suppression of their records.

You can try the check itself on the homepage right now — one free check per hour, no account needed.