Video KYC
Solution

A complete guide to the video KYC API

A video KYC API lets a regulated business identify a customer over a live video call instead of meeting them in person. In India this is known as the Video-based Customer Identification Process, or V-CIP, and it is permitted for regulated entities under the Reserve Bank of India's KYC rules. This guide explains what a video KYC API does, how a typical session runs, what the rules expect, and how teams design a flow that customers actually finish.

Why video KYC exists

Some onboarding routes have limits. OTP-based Aadhaar e-KYC, for example, comes with restrictions on the accounts it can be used for. Video-based identification closes that gap: it gives a remote process that is treated as equivalent to an in-person verification, so a customer can open a full account without visiting a branch. A video KYC API is the technology that makes that remote process practical at scale.

How a video KYC API session runs

1. Pre-checks. Before the call, the customer typically completes basic details, gives consent, and allows camera, microphone and location access. Many teams also run PAN and Aadhaar-based checks at this point so the call itself is short.
2. Joining the call. The customer joins a live session with a trained official of the regulated entity. The video KYC API handles the video connection, recording and the data captured during the call.
3. Liveness and identity. The official confirms the person is live and present, compares their face with their identity records, and captures an image of their PAN card during the session.
4. Questions. The official asks questions to confirm the customer's details and that they are acting on their own behalf.
5. Completion and audit. The session is recorded with its date, time and location details, and the record is stored so the process can be reviewed later.

What the rules expect from a video KYC API

The RBI's KYC Directions set out the requirements for V-CIP, and they shape how any video KYC API is built and used. At a high level they cover: the session being live and run by a trained official of the regulated entity, liveness checks, capture of the customer's location, capture of the PAN, the customer's consent, secure recording and storage of the session, and review of the completed process. Because these requirements are detailed and can change, read the current text of the RBI's KYC Directions for NBFCs rather than relying on a summary, including this one.

Designing a video KYC API flow customers finish

Video KYC fails most often for practical reasons rather than compliance ones. The customer's connection drops, the light is poor, they do not have their PAN card to hand, or they are asked to wait in a queue for too long. A good video KYC API flow is designed around those realities.

• Tell people what they need before they start: their original PAN card, a quiet place, good light, and a few minutes.
• Check the device first: camera, microphone, network quality and location permission, so problems are found before an official joins.
• Show expected waiting time and offer a scheduled slot when demand is high, rather than an open-ended queue.
• Make reconnection easy if the call drops, without making the customer start from the beginning.
• Do the heavy checks before the call, so the live part of the video KYC API session only covers what genuinely has to happen live.

Liveness and face matching

Two technical checks sit at the heart of a video KYC API session. Liveness detection checks that a real person is present rather than a photo, screen replay or mask. Face matching compares the person on the call with the photo on their identity record. Both produce signals for the official to use; neither replaces the official's judgement in a V-CIP process. Our Face Match & Liveness Detection API covers these checks on their own for flows that do not need a full video session.

Operational planning

Because a video KYC API session needs a trained official on the other side, it is as much an operations question as a technology one. Plan for peak hours, define how long a session should take, and decide which cases go back to the customer and which can be completed. Track completion rates at each step, from consent to a finished session, so you can see where customers drop out and fix that step rather than the whole flow.

Security and data handling

A video KYC API produces sensitive records: video, images of identity documents, and location data. Store them securely, restrict who can view them, keep them only as long as your retention rules require, and log every access. Customers should be told how their recording will be used and kept. India's data protection framework also applies to this data, alongside the KYC rules.

When to use a video KYC API and when not to

Use a video KYC API when you need a full, in-person-equivalent identification without a branch visit: for example, account types that OTP-based e-KYC cannot fully cover, or customers you want to bring fully on board remotely. For lower-risk products, lighter checks such as DigiLocker-based verification, PAN verification and bank account validation may be enough on their own. Matching the check to the risk keeps the experience fast for most customers and reserves the video KYC API session for the cases that really need it.

Getting started

Start by mapping which of your products need a V-CIP process, list the checks that can run before the call, and decide how your operations team will staff live sessions. With those decisions made, integrating a video KYC API becomes a well-defined project rather than an open-ended one.