Basic KYC
Running Basic KYC in Uganda? Learn more here.
Overview
The Basic KYC API enables verification of an individual's identity information using their personal details and the ID number from one of our supported ID Types. This API returns a result of no match, partial match, or exact match, along with detailed data on the matching outcomes for specific fields.
Integration Options
Basic KYC is currently available only through the REST API.
Asynchronous vs. Synchronous
This API is available as both an Asynchronous API (recommended), which guarantees an eventual response regardless of ID authority availability, and as a Synchronous API to be used in real-time environments such as mobile applications, which does not guarantee a response if the ID authority is unavailable. For high-volume applications, the Asynchronous API is required. If you are using the Asynchronous API, you must include a callback endpoint in your request to receive the response. The URLs for the endpoints are:
Asynchronous:
Sandbox
https://testapi.smileidentity.com/v2/verify_async
Production
https://api.smileidentity.com/v2/verify_async
Synchronous:
Sandbox
https://testapi.smileidentity.com/v2/verify
Production
https://api.smileidentity.com/v2/verify
Request Values
The Basic KYC API requires the following input parameters in a JSON body object submitted to the endpoint:
Request Type: POST
source_sdk
string
Yes
The integration option you are using. For the REST API, send the value as "rest_api".
source_sdk_version
string
Yes
The version of the integration option you are using. This can be any value (including your own).
partner_id
string
Yes
A unique number assigned by Smile ID to your account. Can be found with your API key here.
signature
string
Yes
The outgoing signature to authenticate the request from you to Smile ID.
timestamp
string
Yes
The timestamp used to calculate the signature in ISO date/time format.
callback_url
string
Yes (async)
Your callback URL. Results of jobs will be sent to the specified URL. You can read more about callback URLs here.
first_name
string
Yes
First name.
middle_name
string
No
Middle name.
last_name
string
Yes
Last name.
dob
string
No
Date of birth (YYYY-MM-DD).
Note: For the Nigerian Voter ID, only the birth year should be entered in the format YYYY
.
gender
string
No
Gender (M, F).
phone_number
string
No
Phone number.
partner_params
object
Yes
A JSON object containing the partner parameters listed below as well as any additional key-value pairs you wish to include for tracking, which will be returned in the response.
job_id
string
Yes
A value generated by you to track jobs on your end. This value must be unique, can be any string, and can follow your identifier convention.
user_id
string
Yes
A value generated by you to track users on your end. This value must be unique, can be any string, and can follow your identifier convention.
Example JSON Body
Return Values
The Basic KYC API returns a set of top level values as well as a detailed set of actions that can be used for a more granular evaluation of the individual fields.
SmileJobID
string
The Smile internal reference number for the job.
PartnerParams
object
The contents of the partner_params object from the request.
ResultText
string
Textual value of the match outcome.
“Partial Match”, “Exact Match”, “No Match”
ResultCode
string
Numeric value of the match.
1020 = Exact Match, 1021 = Partial Match, 1022 = No Match. Find a list of potential error codes below.
Actions
object
A JSON object containing the details of the individual field comparisons.
Return_Personal_Info
string
Confirms if the personal information retrieved from the ID authority was sent to you.
“Not Applicable”
Verify_ID_Number
string
The result of looking up the ID number in the ID authority database.
“Verified”, “Not Verified”, “Not Done”, “Issuer Unavailable”
Names
string
Result of comparing names supplied by the user with the names returned by the ID authority.
“Exact Match”, “Partial Match”, “Transposed”, “No Match”
DOB
string
Result of comparing the date of birth supplied by the user with the date of birth returned by the ID authority.
“Exact Match”, “Partial Match”, “Transposed”, “No Match”
Gender
string
Result of comparing gender supplied by the user with the gender returned by the ID authority.
“Exact Match”, “No Match”, “Not Provided”
Phone_Number
string
Result of comparing the phone number supplied by the user with the phone number returned by the ID authority.
“Exact Match”, “No Match”, “Not Provided”
ID_Verification
string
Same as ResultText.
Signature
string
The outgoing signature. You can use this to verify that the response is from Smile ID.
Timestamp
string
The outgoing timestamp in ISO date/time format. Use this to calculate the outgoing signature.
Example JSON Response
The response you receive varies depending on whether you use the asynchronous or synchronous endpoint.
For the Asynchronous Endpoint:
For the Synchronous Endpoint (this response is also sent to the callback of the asynchronous endpoint):
Evaluating the Results
You can choose to use the ResultCode and ResultText to make a verification decision or you can make a more granular decision based on the values from the individual fields located in the actions object. If all the underlying fields are an exact match the overall result is an exact match. If all the underlying fields are any mixture of exact, partial match, or transposed then the overall result is a partial match. If any of the fields are no match then the entire result is no match. Here is an explanation of the matching rules:
Partial Match
For name values it is a partial match if the values are a levenshtein distance of <= 2 apart. For date of birth it is a partial match if any single component (Day, Month, Year) is within 1 digit of the returned value. If more than one component of date birth is off then it is no match.
Transposed
Two elements are transposed. For example first name and last name or month of birth and date of birth
Not Provided
An optional field was not provided with the request
No Match
All other cases
Result Codes and Result Texts
Result codes details what the current (or final) result of a job is. Basic KYC Result Codes fall into one of two categories:
Approved (or Pass) This means that all applicable Actions passed and the overall job was approved.
Rejected (or Fail) This means that one or more of the applicable Actions for job failed, and thus, the overall job was rejected according to Smile ID standards.
General Failures Result Codes and Texts
This means no further processing is possible on the job. General failures occur when a job could not be submitted due to a logical/technical issue. These jobs do not show up in the portal and do not have a Smile Job ID.
0001
Data Invalid
Rejected
2405
Error - "You are not authorized to do that" *
An invalid signature was used to sign the request.
-
2213
Error - A required parameter is missing
Not all the required keys were submitted in the info.json or request payload. Please check request values for this product.
-
2204
Error - A parameter is of the wrong data type
The format of one of the request values was wrong. Please check request values for this product.
-
2205
Error - You are not authorized to do that. *
An invalid signature was used to sign the request.
-
2220
Error - Production is not enabled for this account. Please complete your KYC with Smile ID.
You have not completed your KYC.
-
2212
Error - Invalid job type **
An invalid value was inputted in the job_type key. Change the value to "5".
-
2413
Error - valid id_type is required
An invalid or unsupported country/id_type pair was used in the request
-
* - read more on how to troubleshoot this error here ** - set Job Type to "5"
Product Specific Result Codes and Texts
1013
Invalid ID
The ID info was not found in the ID authority database.
Rejected
1014
Error - Unsupported ID number format
The ID number submitted was of an invalid format. Please use our regex samples as a guide.
-
1015
Error - Queried Database Unavailable
The ID authority is unavailable.
-
1016
Error - Need to Activate Product
You do not have access to the ID Type. Please contact support for more information.
-
1020
Exact Match
The user submitted details exactly match the ID info in the ID authority database.
Approved
1021
Partial Match
At least one of the user submitted details partially/exactly match the ID info in the ID authority database.
Approved
1022
No Match
None of the user submitted details partially/exactly match the ID info in the ID authority database.
Rejected
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