Maximizing Verification Success

Not all PII fields are required for every verification method, but providing more data significantly improves match rates and verification success. At minimum, you need a name and phone number, but including date of birth, address, and SSN (last 4 or full) dramatically increases the likelihood of a successful match. Design your onboarding flow to collect as much PII as practical without creating excessive friction.

Field	Impact	Why it matters
First + Last name	Required	Baseline identity anchor
Phone number	Required	Links to carrier records and Method’s network
Date of birth	High	Disambiguates common names, strong identity signal
Address	High	Confirms geographic identity, helps with thin files
Email	Moderate	Secondary signal, helps when primary fields are ambiguous
SSN (last 4 or full)	Highest	Strongest single identity signal, near-guaranteed match

Common Pitfalls

Phone number without country code — Method only accepts US phone numbers at this time, and they must include the +1 country code (e.g., +15551234567)

Abbreviated names vs. legal names — use the name on their credit file, not nicknames (e.g., “William” not “Bill”)

PO Box instead of physical address — physical addresses match better against identity records

Stale or outdated address — use the user’s current address, not a previous one

For platform availability details, see the IDV Overview.

Verification Outcomes

When data collection is maximized but matching still fails.

Verification Sessions API

Full API reference for verification session endpoints.

Getting Started

Entities

Identity Verification

Connect

Accounts

Updates

Payments

Additional Products

Use Cases: Commerce

Use Cases: Lending

Use Cases: PFM

Maximizing Verification Success