Verifying UK address - best way

markb · Jan 21, 2016

I run a UK website where people signup and enter their home address. They currently verify their account using their email address but am interested in verifying that they actually live in the address they have given.

What do you think would be the easiest/best/quickest method of checking this?

I was thinking about 2 options :

1) use PayPal to charge a small fee, and then take the address from PayPal and check it is the same as the one given when they signed up. Benefit of this is that it is quick/instant.

2) somehow send them a pin via post that they need to enter on the website to verify their account. Problem is this would probably be costly and slow.

Anyone got any better ideas?

Thanks

ian · Jan 21, 2016

You could use http://www.whitepages.co.uk/electoral-roll-search-and-electoral-register-voters.html to validate some surely?

Some companies still use the PIN/Password verification via post to confirm this, so it is a method that works. I don't think Paypal validate by post address (may be wrong), so it could equally be fake on there too.

getmein · Jan 21, 2016

I think when google used postcard verification for google local, the legend goes...they started dumping bags of mail outside the office of the person who came up with the idea.

I think if telephone verification won't work, the paypal idea is quite elegant it's another step so might lose some customers on the way.

Edwin · Jan 21, 2016

Take a credit card payment, and match the credit card address to the stated home address.

Of course, that depends on what you're offering by registering being "worth" paying something for.

ian · Jan 21, 2016

Edwin said:
Take a credit card payment, and match the credit card address to the stated home address.

Doesn't work unless the customer has a numeric first line of their address though.

matty281k · Jan 21, 2016

royal mail database

Edwin · Jan 21, 2016

The question is how far you want to "prove" that somebody is who they say they are. If all you're asking for is an address, then somebody could give you a random address that they find on a website (for example)

But if you're actually charging a fee of some kind at the same time, that's an extra layer of verification since it's highly likely they're using their own credit card (whether personal or corporate) unless what you are getting people to sign up for is so valuable that they're willing to use stolen credit card details to access it!

Adam H · Jan 21, 2016

Are you looking for verification that the address is valid or a cross check to make sure that person actually lives there ?

If its the first one there is plenty of API's available for address validation for example :

UK
https://craftyclicks.co.uk/
http://www.postcodesoftware.net/

US

https://smartystreets.com/

Not looked into it but you might be able to cross check somewhere to achieve what you need.

Something else to look at is maybe : http://www.web-merchant.co.uk/avs.asp

wonder_lander · Jan 21, 2016

We use these guys in my day job - http://www.tracesmart.co.uk/identify/identity-checks

markb · Jan 22, 2016

The service would be worth paying a small fee for the users. Just to clarify, they signup with a home address, but I want to make sure that the address is where they live, so my original idea was use PayPal/credit card to charge them a fee, then take the address from PayPal/credit card so we know their correct address.

BeachLife · Jan 22, 2016

ian-d said:
Doesn't work unless the customer has a numeric first line of their address though.

Even then it is only a "fuzzy" logic check with many banks, as I understand it, so it may pass even if you have a numeral in the first line of the address and it does not match that entered.

The AVS checks first line for any leading numeric characters, and the numeric portion only of the post code. I can pass an AVS check for any address within my town, surrounding villages and a few large industrial estates, as they all have the same numeric portion of the post code!

spiderspider · Jan 22, 2016

markb said:
, but I want to make sure that the address is where they live,.

Near impossible to do with 100% certainty.

Electrical roll isn't complete, as people can opt out of the published version.
Cards can be registered elsewhere, as can PayPal addresses. For example, you can use your work address as a PayPal one.

Your best bet is to do like Nominet do, and others have suggested in this thread, and verify the address they have entered. There are loads of services that do this.

martin-s · Jan 22, 2016

wonder_lander said:
We use these guys in my day job - http://www.tracesmart.co.uk/identify/identity-checks

This is what you have to do to comply with anti money laundering regs if your industry is affected, so is probably the best way.

There are companies out there who can do it for £2-3 if you're delivering volume.

You do need client permission to run this check though.

Search "aml identity check"

ian · Jan 22, 2016

BeachLife said:
Even then it is only a "fuzzy" logic check with many banks, as I understand it, so it may pass even if you have a numeral in the first line of the address and it does not match that entered.

The AVS checks first line for any leading numeric characters, and the numeric portion only of the post code. I can pass an AVS check for any address within my town, surrounding villages and a few large industrial estates, as they all have the same numeric portion of the post code!

Yep, AVS is flaky at best

DomainAngel · Jan 22, 2016

Speak to the guys who run scanmypost, with them being a credit reference agency I'm sure they have some sort of solution. Every time I use a comparison site for car insurance I see 6 or 7 identity checks pop up on my credit searches.

With more and more people now on electoral role and using the likes of experian, noddle and new ones an identity check like this is widely available.

What business is it for?

Skinner · Jan 22, 2016

ScanMyPost require proof of address via statements/bills/passport/etc, so their system is invasive but I guess solid.

DomainAngel · Jan 22, 2016

Skinner said:
ScanMyPost require proof of address via statements/bills/passport/etc, so their system is invasive but I guess solid.

Ah sorry I meant, use them as a credit reference agency to do the quick address checks, possibly through automation.

Yes very thorough for their own post service.

markb · Feb 23, 2016

Its for a free classifieds website like gumtree. People need to register on the site and before they can create an advert, they need to enter their name, address and postcode. What I want to do is to verify that the person who is registering is who they say they are and that they live at the address entered.

Ideally I am looking for an instant online verification method, so they can create their advert on the site straight away. I don't really want there to be a long delay.

Regards

martin-s · Feb 23, 2016

Easy if you're willing to pay for it

markb · Mar 14, 2016

I am willing to pay for the service but would need to easily pass the cost on to the person using our website. We have around 2,000 new users registering every day, so the cost would be too expensive for us if it was costing £2 to 3 per user.

Has anyone else got any suggestions which would work. I was thinking charge a small fee via paypal to each user and then check the address returned by paypal to the address they used to register on our site and if they match then let them use the site, otherwise reject it.

Thanks