Person Verification for KYC and AML Checks

Validate your data against our UK people data sources

Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti Money Laundering (AML) checks are mandatory in many industries and must be undertaken before you can do business with a new customer.

Customer identity verification is achieved by matching their name and address details against a number of data sources including the full Electoral Roll, totalling over 48 million people in the UK.

Person verification can also be used with your existing customer database or CRM system. Knowing that a customer is who they say they are is one of the key ways to prevent fraud within your business.

API method to use: person_verify

You may also want to use our age verification service which verifies if a UK person is age 18 or over. This is advisable if you are selling age restricted goods and now mandatory for corrosive products and offensive weapons with the introduction of the Offensive Weapons Act 2019.

How it works

The method returns a status of true if the person is found in our data, when the following data is supplied:

Forename
Surname
UK Postcode
UK address (full or partial)

The method also uses fuzzy matching so that close matches will also be returned, to account for slight spelling mistakes. You can control the level of fuzziness used through setting of parameters.

More information including lists of optional and mandatory parameters can be found in the Documentation section.

We also offer bulk person verification checks using the person_verify_bulk method.

API method to use: person_verify

Credits per use: 20

Validate your data against our UK people data sources.

This method can be used to validate and verify an individual using simple input parameters. If you can provide a name and address, we can search our vast dataset of 48+ million records and provide you with a match. You can then feel confident that you are dealing with a genuine customer who lives at the address they have provided.

This method is perfect for integration into ecommerce sites , particularly ones that sell age restricted items such as alcohol and pharmaceuticals or gaming sites. You may also want to check our age verification service.

Your data MUST contain:-

Surname
Forename / first initial
UK Postcode
UK Address (whole or partial)

The method will then attempt to locate the individual in our data. You can control the level of fuzziness that the method will use, by setting a series of parameters.

If a person is found in our data, the method returns a validation status true. We also describe the quality of the match.

If, for example, your data has a record for Ian Whitehead, and our method finds Ian Whithead (note the slight spelling difference) at the same address, we include this element:-

<match_code_surname>FUZZY</match_code_surname>

to indicate that there is a slight spelling difference.

Mandatory Parameters

None of the parameters are case sensitive apart from the api key or javascript key.

Name	Description
`api_key` or `javascript_key`	Use your API key if invoking server-side. If invoking from the browser via JavaScript, generate a JavaScript key using the javascript_key method.
`surname`	The surname of the subject. The case is irrelevant.
`forename`	The forename of the subject. If initial_match is set to true, this can be also be just the first letter.
postcode	The postcode of the subject. Ideally this is the full UK postcode, but the method will check a partial code. If postcode_fuzzy is set to true, it will allow the final character of the postcode to be incorrect. This can be in any case and any format (such as YO98 9HZ or yo989HZ)
addr1	The first line of the address

Optional Parameters

Name	Description
client	You can optionally include an identifier for your final client or user. This is logged in your usage log and you will be able to view your usage statistics by client.
output	Set to json for a JSON response; the default response is XML. Not applicable to the SOAP API.
callback	When using JSON, specify a JSONP wrapper in which the JSON response is to be wrapped.
addr2	The second line of the address
addr3	The third line of the address
place	The locality
town	The postal town
surname_fuzzy	Set to true (default) to allow a slight fuzzy match.
forename_fuzzy	Set to true (default) to allow a slight fuzzy match.
use_current_data	Set to true (default) to search against current occupants.
use_historic_data	Set to true to search against historic data. By default the selection is false.

Returned Values

The XML response is contained within a <person_verify_res> element.

Name	Description
status	Returns `ok` if the operation has succeeded, or `error` if an error has occurred; Returns the `error_code` for error details.
error_code	Returns the error code when the status is `error`. See below for error codes.
t2a_version_number	The current API version number.
credit_used	The number of credits used in order to execute the request.
validation_status	Set to:- NOT_FOUND when the person could not be validated. FOUND when a person has been validated. FOUND_HISTORIC when a person has been validated against historic data (requires 'use_historic_data' setting to true), an example response can be seen below. TOO_MANY when the search parameters indicates more than one person sharing the full name.
match_code_surname	Describes how we matched the surname. Possible values:- FULL when the surname perfectly matched. FUZZY when the surname was slightly incorrect (or a known synonym).
match_code_forename	Describes how we matched the forename. Possible values:- FULL when the forename matched. FUZZY when the forename was slightly incorrect or was a known synonym. INITIAL when the forename was matched only by the first letter.
match_code_address	Describes how we matched the address. Possible values:- FULL when the address input perfectly matched the person's address. PARTIAL when the address input partially matched. This occurs if some (but not all) of the words in the address, place and town fields were matched, and they were in the correct order. (None) when the address was not used when matching the person.
end_date	If historic data is used (requires 'use_historic_data' setting to true), and an historic record is found, an end_date in a date_details structure, is supplied. The end_date is the last recorded date of the individual at the searched address.

Error Codes

Name	Description
missing_surname	Mandatory parameter
missing_forename	Mandatory parameter
missing_addr1	Mandatory parameter
missing_postcode	Mandatory parameter
invalid_postcode	The postcode is not a valid UK postcode. Note that the format of the postode is flexible – any case, and the space is not mandatory.

See the common error codes.

Worked Example

Mrs Rowena Stanley

26 Braeside Gardens

York

YO24 4EZ

The free test mode may be accessed by the use of the value test for the api_key. The test mode provides free access to a fictional analogue of our real search engine data.

The fictional person above is provided to enable easy and free integration of our API method.

The address is also fictional, although it is an extrapolation of real streets.

Perfect Match Example

Using these parameters to find our dummy record:-

Parameter	Value
surname	Stanley
forename	Rowena
postcode	YO244EZ (or YO24 4EZ)
addr1	26 Braeside Gardens
town	York

...returned the XML below. Note that the match codes are all FULL for the name and address values.


<?xml version="1.0"?>
<person_verify_res>
  <mode>normal</mode>
  <t2a_version_number>3.1.0.1</t2a_version_number>
  <validation_status>FOUND</validation_status>
  <match_code_forename>FULL</match_code_forename>
  <match_code_surname>FULL</match_code_surname>
  <match_code_address>FULL</match_code_address>
  <match_code_postcode>FULL</match_code_postcode>
</person_verify_res>

Successful Fuzzy Match Example

In this example the forename has been mis-spelt and by default we allow a small degree of fuzziness on the match. The API indicates that a fuzzy match has been made. You can edit the fuzzy matching criteria with the optional input parameters forename_fuzzy and surname_fuzzy (set them to true or false as needed).

Using these parameters to find our dummy record:-

Parameter	Value
surname	Stanley
forename	Roweena
postcode	YO244EZ (or YO24 4EZ)
addr1	26

...returned the XML below. Note that the match code for the forename is FUZZY because of the slight spelling change, and PARTIAL for the address.


<?xml version="1.0"?>
<person_verify_res>
  <mode>normal</mode>
  <t2a_version_number>2.2.3.8</t2a_version_number>
  <validation_status>FOUND</validation_status>
  <match_code_forename>FUZZY</match_code_forename>  
  <match_code_surname>FULL</match_code_surname>
  <match_code_address>PARTIAL</match_code_address>
  <match_code_postcode>FULL</match_code_postcode>
</person_verify_res>

Exact Match Failure Example

The forename has been mis-spelt but forename_fuzzy and surname_fuzzy are both set to false.

Using these parameters to simulate an exact match failure

Parameter	Value
forename_fuzzy	false
surname_fuzzy	false
surname	Stanley
forename	Roweena
postcode	YO244EZ (or YO24 4EZ)
addr1	26 Braeside Gardens
town	York

...returned the XML below.


<?xml version="1.0"?>
<person_verify_res>
  <mode>normal</mode>
  <t2a_version_number>2.2.3.8</t2a_version_number>
  <validation_status>NOT_FOUND</validation_status>
  <match_code_forename>NO_MATCH</match_code_forename>
  <match_code_surname>NO_MATCH</match_code_surname>
  <match_code_address>NO_MATCH</match_code_address>
  <match_code_postcode>NO_MATCH</match_code_postcode>
</person_verify_res>

Example Of Historic Match Response

In this example we have set use_historic_data to true, to return a match against historic records.


<?xml version="1.0"?>
<person_verify_res>
  <mode>normal</mode>
  <t2a_version_number>2.2.3.8</t2a_version_number>
  <validation_status>FOUND_HISTORIC</validation_status>
  <match_code_forename>FULL</match_code_forename>  
  <match_code_surname>FULL</match_code_surname>
  <match_code_address>FULL</match_code_address>
  <match_code_postcode>FULL</match_code_postcode>
  <end_date>
	  <y>2017</y>
	  <m>6</m>
	  <d>1</d>
	  <en>1 Jun 2017</en>
  </end_date>
</person_verify_res>

There are two ways to authenticate your application with the T2A API. The two implementation examples on this page cover each type of authentication

We recommend using an API key for internal applications and the javascript key for public facing applications where you would want to protect your API key.

Please note: The examples below run on a sandbox environment which return sample data. To quality check the data we provide, up to 3 free searches are available in the demo tab with results showing live [REDACTED] data.

API key

<div class="person-verify-example">
  <form class="person-verify-form">

    <div class="form-group">
          <label for="surname">Surname</label>
          <input type="text" class="form-control" id="surname" placeholder="Person's surname e.g Fawcett">
      </div>

    <div class="form-group">
          <label for="surname">Forename</label>
          <input type="text" class="form-control" id="forename" placeholder="Person's forename e.g John">
      </div>

    <div class="form-group">
          <label for="surname">Postcode</label>
          <input type="text" class="form-control" id="postcode" placeholder="UK Postcode">
      </div>

    <div class="form-group">
          <label for="surname">Address</label>
          <input type="text" class="form-control" id="addr1" placeholder="UK Address (First line)">
      </div>

    <button type="submit" class="btn example-submit">Submit</button>
  </form>
</div>

<div class="results">
  <div id="results-output"></div>
  <a class="results-return" href="#">Back to search</a>
</div>

.person-verify-example, .results {
  margin: 20px auto;
  width: 400px;
}

form.person-verify-form, .results {
    background-color: #F6F6F6;
    border: 1px solid #CBCBCB;
    padding: 15px;
}

.example-submit {
    background-color: #F0614C;
    border-radius: 2px;
    font-size: 11px;
    font-weight: 400;
    color: #fff;
    text-transform: uppercase;
    letter-spacing: 0.193em;
    width: 138px;
    height: 41px;
    margin-top: 10px;
}

.results {
  display: none;
}

.results-return {
    font-weight: 600;
    color: #F0614C;
}

#results-output span {
    font-weight: bold;
    text-transform: capitalize;
}

#results-output hr {
    border-top: 1px solid #000;
}

.error {
  font-size: 11px;
  color: #f00;
}

p.not_found {
  font-weight: bold;
  color: red;
}

p.found {
  font-weight: bold;
  color: green;
}

$(document).ready(function(){ 	
    $(".person-verify-form").submit(function(e) {
        e.preventDefault();	

        $('.error', $(this)).remove();

        var surname = $("#surname");        if(!surname.val()) {
                errorBefore("Please enter a surname.", surname);
            }

        var forename = $("#forename");        if(!forename.val()) {
                errorBefore("Please enter a forename.", forename);
            }

        var postcode = $("#postcode");        if(!postcode.val()) {
                errorBefore("Please enter a postcode.", postcode);
            }

        var addr1 = $("#addr1");        if(!addr1.val()) {
                errorBefore("Please enter an address.", addr1);
            }

        if($('.error', $(this)).length) {	
            $('.error', $(this)).first().next('input').focus();
        } else {
    
            $.ajax({
                url: 'https://api.t2a.io/rest/rest.aspx',
                dataType: 'json',
                data: {
                    'method'   : "person_verify",
                    'api_key'  : 'sandbox',
                    'surname' : surname.val(),
                    'forename' : forename.val(),
                    'postcode' : postcode.val(),
                    'addr1' : addr1.val(),
                    'use_historic_data' : 'true',
                    'output'   : 'json'
                    },
                success: function(result){
                    if(result.validation_status == "NOT_FOUND") {
                        $('#results-output').append('<p class="output not_found">'+forename.val()+' '+surname.val()+' was not found at the specificed address')
                    };
                    if(result.validation_status == "FOUND") {
                        $('#results-output').append('<p class="output found">'+forename.val()+' '+surname.val()+' was found at the specified address')
                    };
                    $('.person-verify-example').hide();
                    $('.results').show(); 
               }
            });
        }
    });
    
    $('.results-return').on('click', function(e){
        e.preventDefault();
        $('#results-output').empty();
        
        $('.person-verify-example').show();
        $('.results').hide();
    });
});

function errorBefore(msg, insertBefore) {
    $('<p class="error">' + msg + '</p>').insertBefore(insertBefore);
}

Javascript key

<div class="person-verify-example">
  <form class="person-verify-form">

    <div class="form-group">
          <label for="surname">Surname</label>
          <input type="text" class="form-control" id="surname" placeholder="Person's surname e.g Fawcett">
      </div>

    <div class="form-group">
          <label for="surname">Forename</label>
          <input type="text" class="form-control" id="forename" placeholder="Person's forename e.g John">
      </div>

    <div class="form-group">
          <label for="surname">Postcode</label>
          <input type="text" class="form-control" id="postcode" placeholder="UK Postcode">
      </div>

    <div class="form-group">
          <label for="surname">Address</label>
          <input type="text" class="form-control" id="addr1" placeholder="UK Address (First line)">
      </div>

    <button type="submit" class="btn example-submit">Submit</button>
  </form>
</div>

<div class="results">
  <div id="results-output"></div>
  <a class="results-return" href="#">Back to search</a>
</div>

.person-verify-example, .results {
  margin: 20px auto;
  width: 400px;
}

form.person-verify-form, .results {
    background-color: #F6F6F6;
    border: 1px solid #CBCBCB;
    padding: 15px;
}

.example-submit {
    background-color: #F0614C;
    border-radius: 2px;
    font-size: 11px;
    font-weight: 400;
    color: #fff;
    text-transform: uppercase;
    letter-spacing: 0.193em;
    width: 138px;
    height: 41px;
    margin-top: 10px;
}

.results {
  display: none;
}

.results-return {
    font-weight: 600;
    color: #F0614C;
}

#results-output span {
    font-weight: bold;
    text-transform: capitalize;
}

#results-output hr {
    border-top: 1px solid #000;
}

.error {
  font-size: 11px;
  color: #f00;
}

p.not_found {
  font-weight: bold;
  color: red;
}

p.found {
  font-weight: bold;
  color: green;
}

$(document).ready(function(){ 	
    $(".person-verify-form").submit(function(e) {
        e.preventDefault();	

        $('.error', $(this)).remove();

        var surname = $("#surname");        if(!surname.val()) {
                errorBefore("Please enter a surname.", surname);
            }

        var forename = $("#forename");        if(!forename.val()) {
                errorBefore("Please enter a forename.", forename);
            }

        var postcode = $("#postcode");        if(!postcode.val()) {
                errorBefore("Please enter a postcode.", postcode);
            }

        var addr1 = $("#addr1");        if(!addr1.val()) {
                errorBefore("Please enter an address.", addr1);
            }

        if($('.error', $(this)).length) {	
            $('.error', $(this)).first().next('input').focus();
        } else {
            $.ajax({
                url: 'https://t2a.io/ajax/getExampleJSKey',
                dataType: 'json',
                success: function (result) {       
                        
                    if (result.status)
                    {       
                        $.ajax({
                            url: 'https://api.t2a.io/rest/rest.aspx',
                            dataType: 'json',
                            data: {
                                'method'   : "",
                                'javascript_key'  : result.javascript_key,
                                'domain' : "t2a.io", 
                                'surname' : surname.val(),
                                'forename' : forename.val(),
                                'postcode' : postcode.val(),
                                'addr1' : addr1.val(),
                                'output'   : 'json'
                            },
                            success: function(result){
                                if(result.validation_status == "NOT_FOUND") {
                                    $('#results-output').append('<p class="output not_found">'+forename.val()+' '+surname.val()+' was not found at the specificed address')
                                };
                                if(result.validation_status == "FOUND") {
                                    $('#results-output').append('<p class="output found">'+forename.val()+' '+surname.val()+' was found at the specified address')
                                };
                                $('.person-verify-example').hide();
                                $('.results').show(); 
                            }
                        });
                    }
                }
            });
        }
    });
    
    $('.results-return').on('click', function(e){
        e.preventDefault();
        $('#results-output').empty();
        
        $('.person-verify-example').show();
        $('.results').hide();
    });
});

function errorBefore(msg, insertBefore) {
    $('<p class="error">' + msg + '</p>').insertBefore(insertBefore);
}

This example first needs to call to a file on your server, which will provide the user with an API key from your javascript key.

In our example above we have used a PHP file located at ajax/getExampleJSKey which looks like the example below

    <?php

        $url = 'https://api.t2a.io/rest/rest.aspx'
            . "?method=javascript_key"
            . "&api_key=sandbox" .
            . "&domain=" . $_SERVER['HTTP_HOST'];
            . '&ip_address=' . get_user_ip()
            . "&lifetime_minutes=10";

        $result = simplexml_load_file($url);

        if ($result->javascript_key) {
            echo (string)$result->javascript_key;
        }

Person Verification for KYC and AML Checks

How it works

Mandatory Parameters

Optional Parameters

Returned Values

Error Codes

Worked Example

Perfect Match Example

Successful Fuzzy Match Example

Exact Match Failure Example

Example Of Historic Match Response

API key

Javascript key

API Endpoint & Authentication

Demo

Price calculator

Person Verification for KYC and AML Checks

How it works

Mandatory Parameters

Optional Parameters

Returned Values

Error Codes

Worked Example

Perfect Match Example

Successful Fuzzy Match Example

Exact Match Failure Example

Example Of Historic Match Response

API key

Javascript key

API Endpoint & Authentication

Demo

Price calculator

The demo javascript key has expired