FAQ

Frequently asked questions

What is credentials-native KYC?

Credentials-native KYC verifies a person by checking a government-issued digital credential directly against the authority that issued it, instead of reading a photo of a document. The credential lives in a wallet on the person's phone, such as DigiLocker in India, a state mobile driver's licence in the US, or an EUDI Wallet in Europe. The institution receives a signed proof and only the attributes it asked for. Syntex aggregates these national wallets behind one API.

How does DigiLocker verification work for US companies?

A US platform sends the person a Syntex verification link. The person opens DigiLocker, the Government of India wallet already on their phone, and approves a specific request: which attributes, for what purpose, shared with which recipient. Syntex checks the issuer's signature, expiry, and revocation status, then returns a signed attestation with only the approved attributes. The US company never handles an Aadhaar scan and never has to integrate with DigiLocker directly.

What did the September 2026 FinCEN guidance say about digital credentials?

On September 8, 2026, FinCEN, the Federal Reserve, FDIC, NCUA, and OCC issued joint FAQs on verifiable digital credentials under the Customer Identification Program rule. They confirmed that an unexpired, government-issued digital credential such as a state mobile driver's licence qualifies as government-issued identification for CIP, provided it evidences nationality or residence, bears a photograph or similar safeguard, the institution can extract its data, and its CIP allows it. The FAQs do not create new requirements, and credentials from private issuers are still treated as non-documentary methods.

What is the EUDI Wallet mandate?

Under eIDAS 2.0 (Regulation (EU) 2024/1183), every EU member state must provide at least one European Digital Identity Wallet by 24 December 2026. By 24 December 2027, private relying parties that are required to use strong user authentication, including banks and payment institutions, must accept the wallet when a user chooses to use it. Micro and small enterprises are exempt.

How is credential-native KYC different from document-based KYC?

Document KYC photographs an ID, runs OCR, liveness, and often manual review, then stores the scan and selfie. Every partner repeats the process and keeps its own copy, and the result is a confidence score that generated forgeries can now beat. Credential-native KYC checks a cryptographic signature from the issuing government, so a forgery fails outright. It stores nothing beyond the attributes requested, and the same credential can be presented again without collecting anything new.

What is selective disclosure in KYC?

Selective disclosure means the person shares only the specific attributes a verifier needs, such as full name, date of birth, or an over-18 flag, rather than handing over the whole document. Each attribute stays signed by the issuer, so the verifier can trust it without seeing anything else. With nothing extra collected, there is nothing extra to store, breach, or hand over.

Which national credential wallets does Syntex support?

Syntex starts with India's DigiLocker and Aadhaar, which are live today, followed by US state mobile driver's licences and the EU's EUDI Wallet. UAE PASS and Brazil's gov.br are next. Every scheme sits behind the same API, so a platform integrates once and accepts each new wallet as it comes online.

Does the person need to download an app?

No. The platform sends a verification link, and the person approves the request in the government wallet already on their phone. There is no Syntex app and no new account to create.

What happens when the same person verifies with another partner?

They present the same credential again. The next partner receives its own signed attestation in seconds, without a new document upload, a new liveness check, or a new manual review. Nothing is re-collected, and no partner has to store a copy of anything.