What is face match?
Face match is the comparison of two facial images — typically a selfie captured during onboarding and the photograph on an identity document — to determine whether they depict the same person. The output is a similarity score, not a yes or no.
How it works
Both images are converted into numerical representations of facial features, and the distance between them is measured. The business sets a threshold above which a match is accepted. Where that threshold sits is a risk decision: set it high and genuine customers are rejected over lighting, age or image quality; set it low and impostors pass. Veriqos provides this through its face match and liveness API.
Face match is not liveness detection
This distinction is the single most consequential confusion in the field, and it costs institutions money.
Face match asks: is this the same person as the ID? Liveness asks: is this a real person, present now, in front of the camera?
A stolen identity document combined with a printed photograph of its holder can pass face match. A perfect liveness check performed on the wrong person’s face passes liveness. Each defeats the other’s blind spot, which is why running both — and logging their scores separately — is materially stronger than running either alone.
What defeats both
Injection attacks bypass the camera entirely, feeding a manipulated video stream directly into the verification pipeline. Against these, the sophistication of the detection model matters little, because it is analysing a stream that was never captured. Defending against them requires corroboration across independent checks rather than a better camera-based check.
Where it is used
Video KYC, remote account opening, driver and worker onboarding, exam proctoring, and re-authentication for high-value transactions.
Related terms: Liveness Detection · Video KYC (V-CIP) · e-KYC · Aadhaar Verification API