Question 1

What does Smile Identity do?

Accepted Answer

Smile Identity (also known as SmileID) is Africa's leading identity verification company, providing KYC, biometric authentication, document verification, and AML compliance infrastructure to businesses across 52 African countries. Founded with a specific focus on the African market, Smile Identity has built its technology to address a challenge that global identity verification providers consistently fail at: accurately verifying African identities using AI and biometrics trained on African faces.

The company holds ISO 27001 (information security), SOC 2 Type 2 (security and availability), and ISO/IEC 30107-3:2023 Level 2 (biometric presentation attack detection) certifications — achieving a 0% biometric facial attack penetration rating, the highest level of liveness detection certification achievable.

**Nigeria Coverage — 9 Government Databases, 132M+ Records**
In Nigeria, Smile Identity verifies against nine government identity databases, providing the widest official data coverage of any single KYC provider in the market:
1. NIN (National Identification Number) — NIMC database
2. NIN V2 (enhanced NIN with additional fields)
3. V_NIN (Virtual NIN — tokenized format per NIMC policy)
4. BVN (Bank Verification Number) — NIBSS database
5. Bank Account verification
6. Phone Number verification
7. Voter ID (INEC — Independent National Electoral Commission)
8. FRSC Driver's License
9. International Passport

This 9-database coverage gives Nigerian businesses access to 132 million+ identity records, ensuring that virtually any Nigerian customer with any government-issued ID can be verified through a single Smile Identity integration.

**SmartSelfie — African-Face-Optimized Biometric Authentication**
SmartSelfie is Smile Identity's proprietary biometric authentication system, built with six AI anti-spoof models specifically trained on African facial features. This is a critical differentiator: most global facial recognition systems are trained on predominantly Western facial data, resulting in significantly higher error rates (false rejections and false acceptances) for African users. SmartSelfie achieves 99.8% accuracy on African faces, making it the most reliable biometric tool for Nigerian and broader African customer onboarding.

The system detects presentation attacks (photographs, videos, masks, deepfakes) at ISO/IEC 30107-3:2023 Level 2 — the highest certification level — with a documented 0% penetration rate in testing.

**Document Verification & OCR**
Smile Identity's document verification module uses OCR to extract data from physical and digital identity documents — passports, national IDs, driver's licenses — and cross-references the extracted data against government databases to confirm authenticity. This catches tampered, expired, or fabricated documents that database-only lookups would miss.

**Business Verification (KYB)**
For Know Your Business (KYB) compliance, Smile Identity verifies company registration details, directors, and ultimate beneficial ownership against business registry databases. This is used by B2B lenders, payment platforms, and corporate banking services.

**AML Compliance**
Smile Identity includes AML (Anti-Money Laundering) screening capabilities — checking customer identities against global sanctions lists, PEP databases, and adverse media — as part of the integrated compliance workflow.

**52-Country African Coverage**
Smile Identity supports identity verification across 52 African countries using country-specific national ID documents and government databases. This makes it the most geographically comprehensive African KYC provider, particularly valuable for platforms with pan-African ambitions.

**Authentication & Integration**
API access requires both an API Key and a Partner ID, issued after account registration at portal.usesmileid.com. Both credentials must be present in all API requests. SDKs are available for web, iOS, and Android — enabling both server-to-server integrations and embedded mobile verification flows. A free sandbox environment is available immediately upon registration.

**Pricing**
Per-verification pricing, tiered by volume. Specific rates vary by ID type and country. Enterprise volume pricing is available. Contact Smile Identity for current pricing schedules.

**Why Choose Smile Identity Over Other Providers**
The unique combination of 52-country African coverage, African-face-trained biometrics at ISO Level 2 certification, and 9 Nigerian government database access makes Smile Identity the strongest choice for African-market-focused KYC. Global providers like Jumio or Onfido offer broader international coverage but have weaker African-face accuracy and fewer Africa-specific database integrations.

**Frequently Asked Questions**
Q: What makes SmartSelfie different from standard facial recognition?
A: SmartSelfie uses 6 AI models trained specifically on African faces, achieving 99.8% accuracy — far higher than Western-trained models.

Q: How many Nigerian ID types can Smile Identity verify?
A: Nine — NIN, NIN V2, vNIN, BVN, bank account, phone, Voter ID, FRSC Driver's License, and International Passport.

Q: What certifications does Smile Identity hold?
A: ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type 2, and ISO/IEC 30107-3:2023 Level 2 (0% biometric attack penetration).

Q: Is there a sandbox for testing?
A: Yes — register at portal.usesmileid.com to access sandbox credentials immediately.

Q: Does Smile Identity cover countries outside Africa?
A: Smile Identity is Africa-focused (52 countries). For non-African markets, use a global provider.

Question 2

How much does Smile Identity cost?

Accepted Answer

Smile Identity is a paid API. Per-verification pricing. Tiered plans based on volume — contact Smile Identity for current pricing schedule. Enterprise plans available. Sandbox free.

Question 3

How do I authenticate with the Smile Identity API?

Accepted Answer

API Key + Partner ID — both required in all requests; issued after account registration at portal.usesmileid.com

Question 4

Is there a rate limit on Smile Identity?

Accepted Answer

Not publicly documented — enterprise SLA-based

Question 5

Does Smile Identity offer a sandbox or test mode?

Accepted Answer

Yes — Smile Identity provides a sandbox or test environment so you can integrate and test before going live.

Question 6

What is Smile Identity best suited for?

Accepted Answer

African fintechs, banks, and regulated businesses needing best-in-class biometric KYC tuned specifically for African faces — with 52-country coverage, 9 Nigerian government databases, 132M+ Nigeria records, and ISO/IEC 30107-3 Level 2 certified facial recognition at 0% attack penetration.

Question 7

Is there anything else I should know before integrating Smile Identity?

Accepted Answer

Smile Identity holds ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type 2, and ISO/IEC 30107-3:2023 Level 2 certifications. SmartSelfie uses 6 AI anti-spoof models trained specifically on African faces — 99.8% accuracy. Covers 52 African countries and verifies against 9 Nigerian government databases (NIMC, NIBSS, INEC, FRSC, and others). Also known as SmileID.

Question 8

Where can I find Smile Identity's documentation?

Accepted Answer

The official API documentation is at https://docs.usesmileid.com. The provider's website is https://usesmileid.com.

Question 9

Does Smile Identity support Nigerian developers?

Accepted Answer

Yes — Smile Identity explicitly supports Nigerian developers/use cases.

Smile Identity

Features Included

Key Highlights

Required Access Documents

Use Cases

Ask question or give feedback

Sign in to participate

Discover similar API's

Ask question or give feedback

Sign in to participate