Canada Non-Document Identity Verification (Credit Data) is Sumsub’s document-free customer onboarding solution designed specifically for the Canadian market. It is one of the most well-recognized electronic verification methods across both organizations and their end-users.

The solution relies on an individual’s credit trade line information, reported by major banks, lenders, and telecommunication providers in Canada to the official credit bureau. This allows businesses to onboard their users according to the FINTRAC guidelines for electronic verification, using pre-verified identity credentials from reliable sources. As a result, Canada Non-Document Identity Verification covers over 80% of the country’s adult population. It successfully represents all credit- and subscription-active consumers across financial and telecommunication systems, including users of credit cards, loans, mortgages, mobile, and network services.

There are two possible methods for electronic identity verification under FINTRAC guidelines:

• The Credit file method requires matching the Applicant’s Name, Date of Birth, and Address against a credit file. The file must be at least 36 months old and contain two active, independent trade lines of any age.
• The Dual-process method requires matching the Applicant’s Name and Address against one credit trade line, and their Name and Date of Birth against another credit trade line. The two trade lines must be active, independent, and at least 6 months old.

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Note

An active trade line is considered one that has reported activity by the obligated institutions within the last 12 months.

Supported credit reporting institutions

The following is a list of credit reporting institutions currently supported by Canada Non-Document Identity Verification:

Data matching configurations

This section describes the data matching configurations used for our Canada Non-Document Identity Verification. These configurations define how combinations of an applicant’s Name, Date of Birth, and Address are matched against credit bureau records and outline the scenarios that result in successful verification.

Credit file method

The Credit file method contains a single data verification combination that is recognized in the FINTRAC guidelines as sufficient to verify an individual’s identity:

• Name + Date of Birth + Address

Dual-process method

The Dual-process method contains two possible data verification combinations that are recognized in the FINTRAC guidelines as sufficient to verify an individual’s identity:

• Name and Date of Birth + Name and Address
• Name and Address + Name and Date of Birth

Data matching logic and fuzziness

These are the criteria for data matching and fuzziness within Canada Non-Document Identity Verification:

Name

For the Name input, the number of character differences allowed depends on the length of the name elements:

• 3 characters or fewer — no differences allowed
• 4 or 5 characters — one difference allowed
• 6 or more characters — up to two differences allowed

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Note

Common nicknames are also accepted. For example, Nicholas = Nick, Richard = Dick, Robert = Bob.

Address

Address data input is filtered through a correction system before applying the match rules. The filter uses the Canada Post standards to ensure that all address components are parsed into the correct fields. If the address can be corrected, the system may adjust the Province code, Postal code, City, and/or Street according to the Canada Post standards. Once the address is standardized, all the fields, except for the Street, require an exact match only.

Date of Birth

Date of Birth input is parsed according to a standardized format and allows for an exact match only.