Why has the result of the Identity Document Check returned as ‘consider’?

 Identity Document Checks return two types of overall results, Clear and Consider. Under the 'consider' result, three sub-results can be potentially returned;

Below is a full explanation of what warning flags will mean in each section of the document report breakdowns, when you receive a ‘consider result’.

Image Integrity

In the ‘Image Integrity’ section - a warning ('Rejected') flag will indicate that this document is not eligible for processing. This is either because the ‘image quality’ is insufficient;

• A low-resolution image where the document information is not readable.
• The MRZ (Machine Readable Zone) is obscured/unreadable.
• Vital data points are obscured/unreadable.

Supported Document - A document may be rejected because Onfido currently does not support that type of document. Please see a list of supported documents by Onfido here.

NB: This breakdown does not indicate any sign of potential fraudulence.

Colour Image - A warning (‘Rejected’) flag may be returned for ‘colour image’. Onfido does not accept black and white documents.

Conclusive Document Quality

‘Conclusive Document Quality’ is the ability to make a fraud assessment based on the quality of the applicant's document. This can be failed due to one of the below reasons:

• Obscured Data Points, e.g. date of birth obscured
• Obscured Security Features, e.g. glare obscuring a security chip
• Abnormal Document Features, e.g. severely diminished colours
• Watermarks or Text Overlay, e.g. watermark on document

Visual Authenticity

In the ‘Visual Authenticity’ section, a document check will still be processed even if a warning flag is present.

A warning flag for 'Face Detection' will indicate one of the below:

• Missing Human Face
• Obscured Human Face
• Non-Human Face

A warning flag for 'Original Document Present' means that the provided image is not an image of the original document and can indicate one of the below:

• Photos of scans, screenshots and printouts
• Screenshots of mobile phone or computer screens

A warning flag for ‘other’ indicates either that the document is potentially fraudulent, or that it cannot be confidently described as genuine.

Data Validation

‘Data Validation’ refers to the Onfido engine assessing that parts of the document are valid. Two common examples will be assessing whether document numbers on a driving license or the ‘Machine Readable Zone’ (MRZ) on a national ID card or a passport.

• If there is a flag for 'Machine Readable Zone (MRZ)' it means that the document is potentially fraudulent or in rare cases the document is currently not supported by Onfido.

• If there is a flag for 'Document Number' it means that document is potentially fraudulent as the document number is either invalid or does not match other data points present on the document.

A warning flag in this section will indicate that the document number is in the incorrect format and therefore potentially fraudulent.

NB: There will also be a warning flag next to ‘document expiration’ if the document has expired.

Data Consistency

‘Data Consistency’ ascertains whether the information in the MRZ (where applicable) matches the information contained within the document.

A warning flag will indicate that these values are not consistent. For example, the DOB in the MRZ may indicate one date, and the DOB in the bio-data page may indicate a different date, hence the flag for inconsistency.

Discrepancies such as these are almost certainly a sure sign of fraudulence and document tampering.

Data Comparison

‘Data Comparison’ indicates whether the information on the document matches the information supplied by the applicant.

A warning flag here will merely be a discrepancy between these two pieces of information and is not an indication of fraud.

NB: You may have the check for ‘data comparison’ on. This takes the details the user or the client inputted on the system (username, date of birth, gender etc.), and compares it to what is on the document. If the user or client inputs the details incorrectly, the result will flag as ‘consider’.

To increase pass rates on the Identity Document check, we recommend switching the data comparison step off. To do this, you will need to contact one of our Client Support Associates at client-support@onfido.com.

Compromised Document

A compromised document ('Consider') flag can indicate that an official identity document has been either recorded as stolen, lost or the individual has been a victim of identity fraud.

Additionally, this breakdown can also indicate that the document was either taken from the internet or has been exposed publicly on the internet.

Police Record

‘Police Record’ indicates whether a document has been lost, stolen or compromised.  

If a ‘cross’ appears next to this section, this a clear sign there may be a problem with the document, and will often be flagged accordingly.

For further information on the use of the ‘other’ breakdown, see this article which will give a full explanation of when an Identity Document Check will return an ‘other’ warning flag.