VerifyNow
Driver & courier onboarding for ride-hailing & delivery.
Home Affairs SA ID verification, SA Driver’s Licence decode, face match against the Home Affairs photograph, bank account verification for payouts and vehicle/VIN lookup for specs — the verification stack for ride-hailing, last-mile delivery and fleet operators in South Africa.
In short: what VerifyNow does for a mobility platform
A defensible driver / courier onboarding workflow in South Africa combines Home Affairs SA ID verification, SA driver’s licence (SADL) decode, face match against the Home Affairs photograph, bank account verification for payouts, and vehicle or number-plate lookup for specifications. For public-transport and higher-risk routes a SAPS criminal clearance and PSIRA registration check are typically layered on top. The platform operator remains the responsible party for POPIA and for the wider vetting framework.
VerifyNow’s scope: Home Affairs SA ID verification, SA driver’s licence decode (SADL), face match / liveness, bank account verification (AVS), vehicle / number-plate lookup (specs only), VIN decoder, AML/PEP screening and consumer / phone trace — all under POPIA-compliant consent. VerifyNow does not run SAPS criminal record clearances, does not verify PSIRA registration, does not return vehicle ownership or encumbrance data, and does not verify PrDP status beyond what the licence barcode carries. Those are sourced from SAPS (or an authorised provider), PSIRA, eNaTIS / NaTIS channels and the National Road Traffic Act regime respectively.
Built for SA mobility & delivery
Ride-hailing platforms
Onboard drivers with SA ID, SADL decode, face match and payout AVS before the first trip.
Last-mile delivery
Courier onboarding for grocery, food and package delivery with the same verification stack.
Fleet operators
Vet employed drivers at intake and at annual licence-renewal points.
Car rental
Confirm driver identity and licence validity (and class) at pickup.
Truck / logistics
Long-haul driver intake — layer SAPS and PrDP checks (external) on the VerifyNow driver stack.
E-hailing aggregators
Central driver-record service white-labelled via the VerifyNow API to multiple consumer apps.
The stack behind every driver record
Six services specifically relevant to mobility. Source labelled for each.
Home Affairs SA ID Verification
Confirm the driver or courier's identity against Home Affairs at sign-up — the anchor for every subsequent check.
SA Driver's Licence Decode (SADL)
Decode the SA licence barcode: licence code, expiry, issue date, holder name and ID number. Confirms the licence matches the verified driver.
Face Match & Liveness
Selfie-to-Home-Affairs-photo match. Binds the platform account to the physical driver at activation and at random re-verification.
Bank Account Verification (AVS)
Verify the payout account belongs to the verified driver. Defends against weekly-payout redirection fraud.
Vehicle / Number-Plate Lookup
Return vehicle specifications by number plate (specs only — no ownership). Confirm the car matches the driver's registered vehicle.
VIN Decoder
Decode a VIN to return make, model, variant, engine and year. Useful at fleet intake and for imported-vehicle checks.
Sourced separately from VerifyNow
- • SAPS criminal record clearance: obtained from SAPS directly or from an authorised criminal-check provider. This is a category VerifyNow does not offer and is commonly required for ride-hailing and delivery.
- • PSIRA registration: verified directly with PSIRA for driver-vetting scenarios that require a security clearance.
- • Vehicle ownership / encumbrance / stolen-vehicle status: eNaTIS / NaTIS regime through authorised channels. VerifyNow returns specifications only, not ownership.
- • PrDP validity: beyond the licence-barcode encoding, PrDP status is administered under the National Road Traffic Act and verified via the issuing authority.
From application to first trip
- 01
Driver applies + POPIA consent
Applicant submits SA ID + driver's licence scan + selfie + payout bank account, with explicit consent to run each VerifyNow check and any externally-sourced SAPS clearance.
- 02
Home Affairs ID verification
Real-time HANIS check returns name, DOB, ID status and the Home Affairs photograph.
- 03
SADL decode
The SA driver's licence barcode is decoded to confirm licence code, expiry and ID-number match against step 2.
- 04
Face match
Live selfie matched against the Home Affairs photograph to bind the platform account to the physical driver.
- 05
Payout AVS
Bank account verification confirms the nominated payout account is in the driver's name and matches the verified ID.
- 06
Vehicle lookup
Registered vehicle's number plate or VIN decoded to confirm make, model and class match the driver's declared vehicle.
- 07
External SAPS clearance (not VerifyNow)
Platform arranges a SAPS criminal record clearance from SAPS or an authorised provider. PSIRA registration (if required) is verified with PSIRA. These are not VerifyNow services.
National Road Traffic, PSIRA, SAPS & POPIA
Driver onboarding in South Africa sits across several regimes. The National Road Traffic Act governs driver licences, licence codes and the Professional Driving Permit (PrDP) for public transport and freight. PSIRA regulates private security registration, which platforms use as a proxy for additional driver-background vetting on certain routes. SAPS (or an authorised provider) issues criminal record clearances — essential for passenger-facing roles and strongly advisable for delivery handling cash or valuables.
VerifyNow operates inside this stack as the identity and licence verification layer: Home Affairs SA ID verification, SADL barcode decode, face match, payout AVS, and vehicle-specification lookup. SAPS clearances, PSIRA registration, and eNaTIS / NaTIS ownership data are sourced from their respective authorities or through authorised providers — they are not VerifyNow services.
All driver personal information processed through VerifyNow runs under POPIA-compliant consent. The platform operator remains the responsible party under POPIA and owns the wider vetting framework.
Mobility questions
Does VerifyNow run SAPS criminal background checks on drivers?
No. VerifyNow does not run SAPS criminal record clearances. For ride-hailing, delivery and fleet driver onboarding, SAPS clearances must be obtained from SAPS directly or from an authorised criminal-check provider. This is important — most platforms require a recent criminal clearance as part of driver vetting, and it is a separate workflow from the checks VerifyNow provides. VerifyNow's scope is Home Affairs SA ID verification, SA Driver's Licence (SADL) decode, face match, bank account verification for driver payouts, vehicle / number-plate lookup (specs only, no ownership) and VIN decode.
What does SA Driver's Licence decode return?
VerifyNow's SA Driver's Licence (SADL) decode reads the barcode on the physical card and returns the structured data: licence number, licence code(s) (B, EB, C1, EC1, C, EC etc.), expiry date, issue date, restrictions, and the holder's name, surname, gender and ID number. This lets a ride-hailing or delivery platform confirm that the licence is in-date, the licence class is appropriate for the vehicle, and the licence actually belongs to the same person who passed the Home Affairs ID verification.
Does the vehicle lookup return ownership information?
No. VerifyNow's vehicle and number-plate lookup returns vehicle specifications (make, model, variant, year, engine, VIN where applicable) — it does not return ownership or registered-keeper information. For ownership or encumbrance checks, platforms use the eNaTIS / NaTIS regime through authorised channels. VerifyNow's VIN decoder and number-plate lookup are specification services, useful for confirming the car a driver shows up with matches the vehicle they registered on the platform.
Does VerifyNow verify a Professional Driving Permit (PrDP)?
The SADL decode returns licence codes and restrictions from the barcode. If a PrDP category is encoded and present on the licence it will be returned. However, PrDP validity and PSIRA-regulated driver vetting go beyond what the licence barcode carries — platforms running public-transport or high-risk courier routes typically layer a SAPS clearance (sourced externally), a PSIRA registration check (sourced from PSIRA), and a medical certificate on top of the VerifyNow driver onboarding stack.
Why verify the payout bank account for a driver or courier?
Driver and courier fraud is a recurring pain point — an attacker creates or takes over a driver account and redirects the weekly payout to an account they control. VerifyNow's Bank Account Verification (AVS) confirms the payout account number, branch and holder name match the verified driver identity before the first payout runs. It is a one-call defence against payout redirection fraud.
Can VerifyNow verify drivers who use their own vehicle?
Yes for the driver side (Home Affairs ID, SADL, face match, AVS for payouts). For the vehicle, VerifyNow's number-plate lookup and VIN decoder return specifications — useful to confirm the driver showed up with the vehicle they registered. Ownership, stolen-vehicle status and outstanding-finance encumbrance sit outside VerifyNow's scope and are resolved through eNaTIS/NaTIS channels and insurer data-sharing arrangements, not through VerifyNow.
Every driver, verified in minutes
Home Affairs ID, SADL decode, face match, payout AVS and vehicle lookup — one dashboard, one API. Layer SAPS and PSIRA alongside.