#videokyc

In today's fast-paced and competitive business environment, organizations are increasingly prioritizing employee integrity, safety, and productivity. While traditional background verification checks such as criminal records, address verification, and educational credentials have become standard, one critical area still remains underexplored in India—drug screening.

Why Drug Screening Matters

Drug abuse can have severe consequences in the workplace, including safety hazards, poor performance, absenteeism, and legal liabilities. Industries such as transportation, manufacturing, healthcare, and construction face higher risks, where an employee under the influence could endanger not only their own lives but also those of others.

In countries like the United States, drug testing is already a well-integrated part of pre-employment and periodic screening protocols. However, in India, despite growing awareness around substance abuse, drug screening is not yet mainstream in corporate hiring practices. This raises the question—should drug screening become a standard part of background checks in India?

The Case for Mandatory Drug Testing

Workplace Safety: Especially in roles involving machinery, driving, or patient care, being under the influence can lead to accidents, errors, or even fatalities.

Productivity and Performance: Substance abuse often correlates with absenteeism, reduced output, and frequent errors—costing companies valuable time and resources.

Legal and Regulatory Compliance: As compliance frameworks evolve, organizations may soon be required to demonstrate they’ve taken proactive steps to ensure a drug-free workplace.

Reputation Management: Hiring an employee later found involved in substance abuse can damage a brand’s credibility, especially in customer-facing or high-responsibility roles.

Challenges to Implementation

Despite its importance, drug testing in India is not without challenges:

Lack of Clear Guidelines: There’s currently no central regulatory body mandating drug screening during hiring.

Privacy Concerns: Candidates may view drug testing as intrusive.

Cost Implications: Some employers, especially SMEs, may hesitate due to the perceived cost of implementing such checks.

A Balanced Approach

To strike a balance, organizations can start with role-based screening, focusing on high-risk jobs. Additionally, transparency in communication, informed consent, and collaboration with reliable third-party background verification partners like OnGrid can ensure the process remains ethical and compliant.

Final Thoughts

India’s financial ecosystem has seen rapid digital transformation in recent years, but rural inclusion still lags behind. With over 65% of the population living in rural areas, delivering accessible financial services is both a challenge and an opportunity. Video KYC is emerging as a powerful tool to address this gap—offering a fast, secure, and paperless way to verify customers without the need for physical presence.

What Is Video KYC?

Video KYC is a remote, real-time verification process that allows individuals to complete their identity checks through a live video call with a KYC officer. It uses technologies like face match, OCR (Optical Character Recognition), and AI-driven fraud detection to ensure security and compliance. This method is compliant with regulatory standards laid out by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and is rapidly gaining adoption among banks, fintechs, NBFCs, and insurance providers.

Why Rural Markets Need Video KYC

Traditional KYC methods require visiting branches, submitting physical documents, and waiting for days or even weeks for verification—especially problematic in remote locations. In contrast, Video KYC removes these hurdles by:

Enabling remote access: Customers can complete verification from their homes via smartphones or tablets.

Reducing onboarding time: The entire KYC process can be completed in minutes.

Ensuring compliance: AI-powered verification ensures AML (Anti-Money Laundering) and CFT (Counter-Terrorism Financing) compliance.

Lowering operational costs: Eliminates the need for physical infrastructure and in-person field agents.

Real-World Impact

Financial institutions and fintech platforms are now using Video KYC to bring digital accounts, credit services, micro-loans, insurance, and even investments to rural India. This shift is helping previously excluded populations participate in the formal economy and build credit histories.

A significant benefit is the democratization of financial services—where an individual in a Tier 3 village has the same onboarding experience as someone in a metro city. For MSMEs and gig workers in rural markets, this means faster access to capital and support systems.

Why Gridlines?

Platforms like Gridlines are helping bridge this rural-urban gap through their robust, API-first Video KYC solution. With real-time face match, liveness checks, and seamless integration, Gridlines empowers businesses to scale their outreach without compromising on compliance or security.

Final Thoughts

In today's rapidly evolving digital landscape, businesses are continually seeking efficient and secure methods to onboard customers. Traditional Know Your Customer (KYC) processes, often involving physical document verification and in-person meetings, are becoming obsolete. Enter Video KYC—a transformative approach that leverages technology to streamline customer verification.

What is Video KYC?

Video KYC, or video-based Know Your Customer, is a digital process that enables organizations to verify the identity of individuals remotely through live video interaction. This method allows companies to onboard customers in real-time without requiring physical presence, making the process faster and more efficient.​

How Does Video KYC Work?

Gridlines' Video KYC solution simplifies the verification process into a few seamless steps:​

Pre-Call Verification: System checks ensure both agent and customer are ready for the session.

Call Initiation: Secure video connection is established, adhering to compliance protocols.

Document Presentation: Customers present their ID documents, which are instantly verified using AI-driven OCR and fraud detection.

Real-Time Audit: The session is monitored live to ensure accuracy, quality, and compliance.

This entire process is designed to be completed in under two minutes, offering a swift and user-friendly experience.​

Benefits of Video KYC

Speed and Efficiency: Reduces onboarding time from days to minutes.

Enhanced Security: Utilizes AI-powered facial recognition and liveness detection to prevent fraud.

Regulatory Compliance: Fully adheres to RBI guidelines and data protection regulations.

Cost-Effective: Minimizes operational costs associated with traditional KYC processes.

Scalability: Capable of handling high volumes of verifications simultaneously.​

Why Choose Gridlines?

Gridlines stands out with its AI-powered, RBI-compliant Video KYC solution that ensures faster onboarding, lower costs, fraud prevention, and regulatory compliance. Key features include:​

Advanced Technology: AI-driven OCR for document verification and facial recognition for photo match and liveness detection.

User Experience: Intuitive interface with multilingual support to cater to diverse geographies.

Platform Flexibility: Dynamic agent allocation and customizable workflows to suit various business needs.

Security: End-to-end encryption and compliance with ISO 27001:2022 and SOC 2 Type II standards.​

Conclusion

Introduction

The Know Your Customer (KYC) process has long been a crucial element in establishing trust between financial institutions and their clients. However, traditional KYC methods requiring physical documentation and in-person verification are becoming obsolete in today's digital world. Enter video KYC, an innovative solution that streamlines identity verification while maintaining security and regulatory compliance. This blog explores video KYC, its process, benefits, challenges, and future trends.

What is Video KYC?

Video KYC, or video-based Know Your Customer, is a digital process that enables businesses to verify customer identities remotely through live video interactions. Introduced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in 2020, this method allows financial institutions to conduct KYC via video conferencing while ensuring compliance with stringent security standards.

How Video KYC Works

The video KYC process integrates technology with regulatory requirements to provide a seamless yet secure verification experience. Here’s how it works:

Customer Initiation – The customer submits basic details and uploads a government-issued ID online.

Scheduling a Video Call – The customer books a live video session with a KYC representative.

Live Video Verification – The representative asks the customer to:

Display their government-issued ID (e.g., Aadhaar, PAN card).

Perform specific actions (e.g., nodding, smiling) to prevent fraud.

Document Validation – The representative cross-checks the ID with customer details, often using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for accuracy.

Face Match & Liveliness Detection – AI-powered facial recognition verifies the customer’s identity, ensuring the video feed is live and not pre-recorded.

Regulatory Checks – The system scans customer data against Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Politically Exposed Persons (PEP) databases.

Approval or Rejection – The KYC application is either approved or rejected within 10-15 minutes based on verification results.

Benefits of Video KYC

Convenience & Speed – Customers can complete KYC from their homes, benefiting those in remote locations or with mobility issues.

Cost Efficiency – Eliminates expenses related to paperwork, infrastructure, and in-person verification.

Enhanced Customer Experience – A fast, seamless process reduces onboarding friction.

Scalability – Businesses can process multiple KYC verifications simultaneously.

Improved Security – AI-based fraud detection, OCR, and AML checks enhance identity verification.

Regulatory Compliance – Adheres to legal and financial compliance standards across various industries.

Use Cases of Video KYC

Video KYC is widely adopted across multiple sectors:

Banking & Financial Services – Enables remote account opening, loan applications, and investment verifications.

Insurance – Verifies policyholder identities quickly and securely.

Fintech Startups – Used for digital wallet onboarding and secure transactions.

Real Estate – Validates tenant or buyer identities for fraud prevention.

E-commerce & Gaming – Ensures secure transactions and age verification.

Challenges in Video KYC Implementation

While video KYC offers significant advantages, it comes with challenges:

Technical Issues – Poor internet connectivity can disrupt video calls.

Data Privacy Concerns – Handling sensitive customer data requires robust cybersecurity measures.

User Accessibility – Not all users are tech-savvy, making the process difficult for older customers.

Regulatory Variations – Different countries have distinct compliance requirements, necessitating region-specific implementations.

The Future of Video KYC

With digital transformation accelerating, video KYC is expected to become the standard for identity verification. Key trends include:

Blockchain Integration – Enhancing security by creating immutable records of verification.

Advanced AI & Facial Recognition – Improving speed and accuracy of identity verification.

Expansion Beyond Finance – Adoption in sectors like healthcare and education for secure onboarding.

Regulatory Standardization – Governments working toward uniform compliance guidelines.

How Video KYC Aligns with Gridlines’ Services

Gridlines offers a robust video KYC solution tailored for businesses looking to streamline their onboarding processes. Key features include:

Seamless Integration – Easily integrates with existing platforms for quick deployment.

AI-Driven Fraud Prevention – Facial recognition and liveliness detection enhance security.

Regulatory Compliance – Ensures adherence to global KYC norms.

Real-Time Analytics – Provides valuable insights for better decision-making.

Conclusion

The finance and banking sector is becoming increasingly digitized and globally accessible. Consequently, we are witnessing a sharp surge in the demand for remote identification services. The goal of KYC video identification services is to make life easy for banks and their customers.

The financial institutions of India face a number of issues. KYC and other compliance processes are a couple of them. At present, there are quite a few solutions provided by fintechs for digital transformation in the market. These are stable and secure enough for financial companies to adopt right off the board.

The Need for a Global Digital Trust System

Since the world is getting more and more connected, people today want to access services from the comfort of their homes. When it comes to the identification process, carrying out banking procedures becomes a hassle in these scenarios.

This is where ID Identification comes in. A KYC video identification process allows banks and other financial institutions to verify customers while onboarding them through video over the Internet.

This is an attractive option for financial companies. It eliminates security vulnerabilities and minimizes loopholes. Identity frauds deter our growth as a financial institution and as a nation. This will allow financial companies to build a global network of customers.

Used effectively, KYC video identification can help speed up customer onboarding. And, it helps with KYC/AML compliances. Online video KYC eliminates security gaps by combining human scrutiny with both software and AI and ML-enabled learning.

Use Cases and Applications of Video KYC

Video KYC has started it’s journey across the financial services industry. Institutions like banks, lenders, investor onboarding and ICO’s have shown a great interest in the potential of VideoKYC.

A KYC video identification system can allow all of these organizations to maintain excellent standards of compliance and trust while not compromising on the customer experience.

The Challenges with Legacy KYC Process

Traditionally the KYC process has been tedious and cumbersome in terms of:

Maintaining physical documents that occupy space, take time, and utilize manpower.

Processing documents offline which brings with it the threat of misuse of documents.

Delays in processing the files hamper the customer experience. Usually known as increases in the turnaround time (TAT).

In-person verification: Requires the person’s availability and beats the globalization of financial services.

The time and cost involved in the legacy KYC process hamper the efficiency of a banker. You can choose to eliminate this hindrance by using video KYC.

Choosing the right KYC Video solution

There are quite a few solutions available in the market that promise to transform the traditional KYC process and upgrade it. We encourage you to look for these indicators to make sure your investment in a video KYC solution brings maximum ROI.

The solution should an offer exceptional face match score. Comparing the following two will help to eliminate the possibility of any fraudulent activity: 1. Photo identity submitted by the customer, and 2. The real-time video session.

The solution should have AI and ML embedded to detect and eliminate static photographs or pre-recorded videos.

The offering should also be able to check the liveliness of the user by carrying out a speech test. This is where the user is prompted to speak a series of numbers or words which is then matched with the audio recorded on the live streaming.

The solution should be integrated with video forensics to detect tampering or misuse of any nature.

The software should be easy to implement with an API, SDK, and a webcam for video KYC.

The proposed offering should have a quick turnaround time and should ideally take only a few minutes to complete the verification process.

An added provision of completely automating the video KYC process should also be a part of the solution.

The solution is 100% compliant with the local regulations.

The proposed solution can reduce overheads and backlogs in operations by upto 70%.

Installation and usage is hassle free for most users as the solution is platform agnostic and follows a Plug-n-Play approach.

A seamless interface provides a superior customer experience for a competitive advantage in the market.

A vibrant, engaging solution reduces customer drop-offs by upto 50%.

Paperless video KYC can empower financial organizations and change the way customers are treated and brought onboard.

How Does Video KYC Work?

The customer fills up a registration form on your website.

The customer provides relevant document identities such as National IDs, driver’s licenses or Passports.

A customer verification specialist connects with the customer on video, or an automated process is triggered for video KYC.

Using their smartphone or a webcam, the customer can be directed through the video KYC process in a seamless manner. (To completely eliminate any chances of error, along with AI and ML, facial recognition technology can be leveraged here.)

Once the documents are verified and the user is identified over a live video, they are sent back to the bank’s website. Next, the user can submit the process of onboarding.

Advantages of Video KYC for Financial Companies

Financial institutions stand only to gain from Video KYC solutions.

Save time —  Video KYC speeds up the onboarding process significantly. It allows you to process more applications at the same time and increase revenue. Also, you eliminate the need to train your staff on identity verifications because you have an automated system helping you with it.

Save money — Identity frauds can cost you money. Video KYC procedures save time and keep fraudulent people at bay.

Compliance — Meet the necessary Anti-money laundering and Know Your Customer compliances with a video KYC software that already complies with the Indian regulations.

Improve security — Video KYC software solutions are powered by AI, ML, and facial recognition technology. These are far superior and secure alternatives to traditional KYC processes.

Gather data — With video KYC, you can record all conversations and keep this data for future reference.

Video KYC Solution from Signzy

With the KYC video solution we offer, you can:

Match the provider of documents with their identity on the documents through face match algorithms.

Build trust with the customer through a live video feed.

Verify the actual documents with forgery detection algorithms.

Trust the document provider with algorithmic risk intelligence.

When our first client used our video KYC product for customer onboarding, they achieved jaw-dropping results:

Reduced TAT by 55%

Slashed rejections from 9% to 2%

Increased sales productivity three times.

Signzy is now completely integrated into the core customer onboarding process of over 15 enterprises in the BFSI sector.

Use our new-age trust protocol to improve customer experience, cut down costs, and simplify onboarding.

About Signzy

Signzy is a market-leading platform redefining the speed, accuracy, and experience of how financial institutions are onboarding customers and businesses – using the digital medium. The company’s award-winning no-code GO platform delivers seamless, end-to-end, and multi-channel onboarding journeys while offering customizable workflows. In addition, it gives these players access to an aggregated marketplace of 240+ bespoke APIs that can be easily added to any workflow with simple widgets.

Signzy is enabling ten million+ end customer and business onboarding every month at a success rate of 99% while reducing the speed to market from 6 months to 3-4 weeks. It works with over 240+ FIs globally, including the 4 largest banks in India, a Top 3 acquiring Bank in the US, and has a robust global partnership with Mastercard and Microsoft. The company’s product team is based out of Bengaluru and has a strong presence in Mumbai, New York, and Dubai.