NigeriaFinance and insurance2023 – ongoing

Flutterwave

Biometric identity verification for merchant onboarding

Smile ID reported up to 90% fewer fraudulent Flutterwave sign-ups after biometric verification

WorkingVendor case studyVendor ↗

Problem

Flutterwave needed to block fraudulent registrations while making merchant onboarding faster. Merchants also needed confidence in online payments.

Approach

Flutterwave implemented Smile ID's biometric KYC solution. It compared a user's selfie with an official government photograph. Smile ID reported fewer fraudulent registrations and shorter onboarding times.

Results

up to 90%reduction in fraudulent sign-ups reported by Smile IDVendor case study[1]

10 to 15 minutesmerchant onboarding time, down from 24 hours, according to Smile IDVendor case study[1]

Takeaway

The identity check addressed fraud and onboarding delays in the same workflow. The vendor did not disclose the measurement period.

Sources

From Doubt to Dependence: How Flutterwave built trust with users while reducing fictitious sign-ups by 90%
Smile ID18 Sep 2023Vendor publication

Source summaries

[1]Smile ID18 Sep 2023

Smile ID described Flutterwave's selfie-based identity verification. It reported up to 90% fewer fraudulent sign-ups and onboarding reduced from 24 hours to 10 to 15 minutes.

Full details are in the original sources.

Added 1 Nov 2026 · Updated 1 Nov 2026