Passbase Identity Verification API
Identity verification platform providing document scanning, biometric liveness detection, and database cross-checks via REST API and embeddable SDKs for KYC compliance.
Score Breakdown
⚙ Agent Friendliness
🔒 Security
TLS enforced. No fine-grained API key scoping is a significant weakness for least-privilege access patterns. GDPR compliance supported with data deletion endpoints. Webhook payloads should be verified but signature verification documentation is sparse.
⚡ Reliability
Best When
You need a streamlined KYC widget with liveness detection that integrates quickly via SDK and does not require Stripe-level payments infrastructure as a prerequisite.
Avoid When
You need enterprise-grade SLA guarantees, extensive developer documentation, or global document coverage matching Onfido or Jumio.
Use Cases
- • Triggering full KYC flows (document scan + liveness check) from agent onboarding workflows
- • Retrieving structured identity verification results including extracted document data and match scores
- • Checking verification status asynchronously via webhook to gate agent-driven account activation
- • Integrating AML watchlist screening alongside document verification in a single API call
- • Accessing verification audit trails for compliance reporting and fraud investigations
Not For
- • Applications requiring only lightweight email/phone verification without document ID
- • High-frequency real-time identity checks (verification involves human-in-the-loop for edge cases)
- • Developers who need deep platform documentation — Passbase's docs are thinner than enterprise alternatives
Interface
Authentication
API key based authentication using a publishable key for frontend SDK initialization and a secret key for server-side API calls. No fine-grained scope control — secret key has full access to all verification data for the account.
Pricing
Pricing is not publicly listed; requires contacting sales for production volume quotes. Development sandbox available for testing without charges.
Agent Metadata
Known Gotchas
- ⚠ Verification results are delivered asynchronously via webhook; agents that poll the status endpoint immediately after session creation will almost always see 'pending'
- ⚠ No public OpenAPI spec means agents relying on auto-generated API clients must manually maintain request schemas
- ⚠ The secret API key has no scope restrictions — a compromised key grants full access to all customer PII in your account
- ⚠ SDK-only document capture means agents cannot programmatically submit documents via API alone; a user-facing UI is required for the capture step
- ⚠ Rate limit thresholds are not documented and enforcement behavior during bursts is unpredictable
Alternatives
Full Evaluation Report
Detailed scoring breakdown, competitive positioning, security analysis, and improvement recommendations for Passbase Identity Verification API.
Scores are editorial opinions as of 2026-03-06.