Frequently asked questions

• What is Docusign Identify?

  Docusign Identify refers to our family of enhanced identity verification and authentication products. These offerings solve the business problem of automating identity verification while maintaining a secure, simplified, and user-friendly experience that goes beyond standard email-based methods (i.e. asking the signer to confirm their email address). Due to the scope of our portfolio, our solutions can be tailored around your needs no matter your industry or use case.

• What challenge is Docusign Identify seeking to address?

  At Docusign, we understand that agreement is based on identity and intent. While the standard way of identifying a signer is to send a link to the signer’s email address, certain types of high-value or highly-sensitive agreements require enhanced identity verification. While this may vary by country, region, or industry, the extensive list of solutions offered within Docusign Identify help customers integrate the right identity verification technique for any given type of agreement, while keeping the signing experience digital, user-friendly, compliant, and enforceable.

• What types of identity verification and authentication does Docusign offer?

  Within the Docusign Identify portfolio, we offer several identity verification solutions, with each one verifying the identity of signers in a different way. For example:

  - Docusign ID Verification consists of various options to select from:

  - Require signers to provide government-issued identity documents before having to pass a simple biometric analysis (liveness detection). Enable Identity Wallet to save time for repeat signers.

  - Ask signers to successfully answer a series of knowledge-based questions that have automatically been scraped from publicly-accessible databases.

  - Enable signers to authenticate themselves by using electronic IDs.

  - Let signers easily verify their identity through CLEAR.

  - Enable workflows that dynamically adjust identity verification type based on customer risk with Risk-Based Verification††.

  - Docusign Phone Authentication: As a means of signer authentication, signers receive a One-Time Password (OTP) to their registered device via SMS or Phone, and must enter that password into the platform before accessing the document.

  - Docusign ID Verification for EU Qualified: For customers with global operations and who may require Qualified Electronic Signatures (QES), this solution requires signers to complete the identity verification checks for this type of digital signature.

  Regardless of the option you select, the identity verification process is automated, tightly-integrated into the Docusign eSignature process, and tailored to your business needs to help streamline your agreement processes.

• Is the identity verification process automated or manual?

  For the majority of the identity verification solutions offered within Docusign Identify, the process is fully automated, offering a self-service process for signers. However, due to specific regulations, some solutions require that certified agents review the information provided by the signer.

  - ID Verification: When Liveness Detection is enabled, in addition to validating their government-issued identity document, the signer must also perform various biometric checks. In most cases, the AI-powered system will be able to validate both the authenticity of the document and the genuinity of the biometric checks, but in the event that those checks are not conclusive, a certified agent will be asked to review them. 

  - ID Verification for EU Qualified: Regional regulation (eIDAS) stipulates that, as part of the Qualified Electronic Signature (QES) attainment process, a face-to-face (or equivalent) review has to be performed by a certified agent. While the actual identity verification process is entirely self-service, the final step is a review by a certified agent. Performed asynchronously, the agent reviews the information provided by the signer, in a process that usually takes less than a couple of minutes.  

  Agents are available 24/7 and typically complete their reviews within a few minutes.

• What is Docusign ID Verification?

  Docusign ID Verification uses advanced technologies to digitally and dynamically verify the identity of signers, by letting them do so on any device, anywhere, as part of a secure, intuitive, mobile-first signing process.
  
  Part of the Docusign Identify family, ID Verification allows users to prove they are who they say they are, no matter where they are based or what method they prefer. Signers upload government-issued IDs (driving license, passport, residence permit, etc.), complete AI-enabled liveness verification, use electronic IDs, answer knowledge-based questions, or verify their identity through CLEAR. When using our Risk-Based Verification workflow, customers can effectively balance security and user experience by automatically adjusting verification type based on unique customer risk profile††.
  
  In doing so, organizations achieve faster and more secure agreement completion while providing streamlined, mobile first signer experiences.

• What is Docusign Phone Authentication?

  Part of the Docusign Identify portfolio, when activated Phone Authentication enables signers to receive a One-Time Password (OTP) by SMS or phone call. To confirm their identity, the recipient must enter the code sent to their device, using their keyboard. Only once they have successfully passed the authentication challenge, can they access and review their documents as usual. 

  Docusign Phone Authentication supports over 70 languages and 190 countries.

• Are Docusign’s identity verification solutions available globally?

  As a global organization, through Docusign Identify we have the ability to support your businesses’ identity verification needs, regardless of where you do business. While solutions such as Docusign ID Verification are available globally* and can support most popular ID types, some of our solutions are more region-specific or relevant. For example, Knowledge-Based Authentication and Remote Online Notarization are only available to US-based customers, while ID Verification for EU Qualified is relevant to customers seeking a UK or EU eIDAS-compliant Qualified Electronic Signature (QES).      

  To find out more about which solution is perfect for you, contact our sales team or speak to your account manager. 

  *With the exception of China

• What types of ID documents do you support?

  Depending on where your signers are from, the types of ID documents we support may vary. For global solutions such as Docusign ID Verification, the full list of countries supported can be found here. Depending on the country, we can support the following documents: 

  - Passport

  - Driver license

  - Residence Permit

  - National Identity Card

• What is Risk-Based Verification?

  Docusign’s Risk-Based Verification helps organizations in regulated industries balance security and user experience by adjusting verification based on unique customer risk profiles. High-risk customers are assigned thorough checks, while low-risk customers complete simpler methods. Detailed and actionable insights help easily assess exposure to fraud††.

• How does your integration with CLEAR work?

  Build trust while reducing friction by enabling participants to instantly verify their identity using CLEAR directly through Docusign. Combine Docusign’s recognition as America’s most trustworthy company with CLEARs trusted reputation in the identity verification space for fast, secure, and compliant agreement completions.