Recruitment & HR

Verification for recruiters, HR and payroll teams

Use VerifyNow to confirm candidate identity, decode driver's licences where the role requires it, screen regulated hires for AML/PEP risk and verify payroll bank accounts before money or access is granted.

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Recruitment and HR verification

Verify candidates before they join your team.

Bring identity, Employee Bundle, employment information, driver’s licence and bank checks into one recruitment workflow.

  • Candidate identity
  • Employee Bundle
  • Licence and bank checks
Home Affairs-backed ID
Remote-ready face match
Pay per check

In short: what VerifyNow does for recruitment and HR

A defensible pre-employment and onboarding workflow in South Africa combines Home Affairs SA ID verification, face match for remote candidates, driver’s licence verification for driver and field roles, AML/PEP/sanctions screening for regulated-industry or leadership hires, consumer/person trace for address corroboration, and bank account verification before the first payroll run — alongside — where the role justifies it — a SAPS Police Clearance Certificate, qualification verification with the issuing institution or SAQA, and a credit bureau report for roles with financial responsibility under NCA Section 19(3).

VerifyNow’s scope: Home Affairs SA ID verification, Face Match, separate Passive Liveness, driver’s licence verification, AML/PEP/sanctions screening, bank account verification (AVS), consumer/person trace, document authentication, and employment verification. The customer remains responsible for the POPIA basis and controls for its use. VerifyNow does not issue SAPS criminal record clearances, qualification verifications, or credit bureau reports.

Services for HR and recruiters

The checks that belong in your hiring stack

Not every role needs every check. Use what matches the role: identity for everyone, face match for remote, AML/PEP for regulated, licence for drivers, AVS for payroll.

SA ID Verification

Confirm a candidate's SA ID against Home Affairs before an offer letter is issued or a payroll record is created.

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Face Match

Compare a current selfie with the Home Affairs identity photo and review Passive Liveness when remote hiring needs stronger evidence.

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Consumer/Person Trace

Confirm the address, contact details and prior-address history a candidate has supplied on their application.

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AML / PEP / Sanctions

Screen shortlisted candidates for leadership, finance or regulated-industry roles against PEP and sanctions lists.

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Driver's Licence Verification

Read the SA driver's licence barcode for its class, encoded expiry, identity fields and portrait. Full Verification + Passive Liveness adds two Home Affairs photo comparisons and a current-selfie liveness check.

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Bank Account Verification (AVS)

Verify that the payroll bank account a new hire provided actually belongs to them before the first pay run.

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Employment Verification

Review the supported employer and employment details returned for a candidate before offer sign-off.

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Employee Bundle

Run Home Affairs ID and Photo with a full Consumer or Person Trace, then keep both result sections in the candidate file.

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For one candidate request, the Employee Bundle returns Home Affairs ID and Photo evidence with a full Consumer or Person Trace. Keep both result sections under the same hiring review.

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Workflows

Four hiring moments that deserve real verification

Short playbooks your recruiters, hiring managers and payroll team can follow without stitching together three tools.

1

Remote candidate onboarding

  1. Send the candidate a verification link at application or offer stage.
  2. Run SA ID Verification against Home Affairs and Face Match from a live selfie.
  3. Store the verification receipt with the candidate file so recruiters and HR share a single record.
2

Pre-employment screening for regulated roles

  1. Capture ID and run ID verification for finance, compliance or leadership hires.
  2. Run AML/PEP/sanctions screening for roles that sit inside an accountable institution or regulated industry.
  3. Re-run screening on promotion, role change or at a frequency your internal policy defines.
3

Driver and field-role hiring

  1. Ask the candidate for their SA driver's licence card.
  2. Read the card-sourced class (e.g. B, C1, EC1) and encoded expiry date.
  3. Add Full Verification + Passive Liveness when the role needs identity and current-selfie evidence.
4

Payroll account onboarding

  1. At contract sign-off, capture the nominated bank account details.
  2. Run Bank Account Verification (AVS) to confirm account, ID number, name and bank match.
  3. Only release the first payroll run after the AVS receipt is on file.
Compliance context

Where recruitment and HR sit in South African law

POPIA. Candidate CVs, ID numbers, photos, licences and bank details are all personal information. POPIA requires a lawful basis for processing (consent, contract, legal obligation, legitimate interest), a clear privacy notice at the point of capture and retention that does not outlast the reason you collected the data.

FICA (employer-side only). FICA applies to the employer where the employer itself is an accountable institution under Schedule 1 (for example a bank, insurer, legal practice or motor vehicle dealer). In that case, employee screening (PEP, sanctions, identity) sits inside the Risk Management and Compliance Programme. For employers that are not accountable institutions, FICA does not oblige HR to run AML checks — but risk-based screening for finance or leadership roles is still common practice.

Build the candidate evidence file. VerifyNow supplies the identity, AML, bank, licence, consumer-trace and company-verification results used during hiring. A role-specific file can also include a Police Clearance Certificate, SAPS criminal record checks or a credit bureau employment check from the employer’s approved source.

Checks to run

FICA workflow checklist for Recruitment & HR

Use this path for pre-employment identity checks, regulated roles, drivers and contractor onboarding.

Compliance note

Recruitment checks are usually POPIA and employment-risk workflows; use FICA resources where the role or employer is regulated.

Practical onboarding sequence

  1. 1Define the job-related lawful basis for each check before collecting personal information.
  2. 2Verify identity and documents before onboarding or placing the candidate.
  3. 3Run licence authentication for driving or fleet roles.
  4. 4Use trace or AML/PEP checks only when the role, risk and lawful basis justify them.
  5. 5Keep consent, purpose, report results and retention notes in the candidate file.

Toolkit links

Open FICA ToolkitUse the guided toolkit to decide which FICA, POPIA, CDD and RMCP resources apply.
CDD checklistTrack customer due diligence steps before onboarding or continuing with a customer.
RMCP generatorBuild a starting Risk Management and Compliance Programme where one is required.
KYC workflowMap the legal requirement to a practical onboarding workflow.

Home Affairs ID + Photo

Checks a South African ID number against Home Affairs and returns the official identity details and photo where available for your CDD file.

Run check

Document Authentication

Reviews an uploaded ID document, passport or licence image for document data, OCR and tamper signals where supported.

Run check

Driver's Licence Verification

Read the driver's licence barcode and embedded portrait through the dashboard or API. Driver workflows can add identity evidence, two Home Affairs photo comparisons and Passive Liveness.

Run check

Consumer/Person Trace

Returns trace context such as contact or address indicators where available, helping corroborate details for a lawful fraud-prevention purpose.

Run check

AML/PEP/Sanctions

Searches sanctions, PEP, watchlist and adverse-risk sources so your team can review higher-risk people, directors and counterparties.

Run check
Conditional AML pack

Need to screen a customer list?

If your organisation is an accountable institution, or your RMCP calls for a customer-book review, Batch AML lets you upload 10 to 1,000 people or entities and keep one consolidated result file. It is an optional workflow based on your duties and risk controls, not a requirement for every business in this industry.

Batch AML serviceHow to run a batch

Educational guidance only. Your accountable-institution status, RMCP, customer risk rating and lawful basis determine the final checks and records you must keep.

Recruitment FAQ

Questions recruiters and HR ask first

Which VerifyNow checks support pre-employment screening?

VerifyNow provides identity verification, Home Affairs Face Match, Passive Liveness, AML/PEP/sanctions screening, Consumer Trace, Driver's Licence Verification, bank account verification, vehicle lookup and company verification. Where a role also requires SAPS criminal record checks or a Police Clearance Certificate, HR can retain that authorised result in the same candidate file.

How do I verify a candidate remotely?

Send the candidate a verification link that captures their SA ID and a current selfie. ID Verification returns the available Home Affairs identity evidence. Face Match compares the selfie with the Home Affairs photo. Passive Liveness adds a separate presentation check for the submitted selfie.

Is POPIA consent required before I run these checks?

POPIA requires a lawful basis for processing personal information, not always consent. For pre-employment screening the usual lawful bases are consent (captured in the application or offer pack), the performance of an employment contract and compliance with a legal obligation (for example FICA, where the employer itself is an accountable institution). Your privacy notice should make the purpose and retention period clear.

Is FICA relevant to our HR function?

FICA applies to the employer if the employer itself is a FICA accountable institution (for example a bank, insurer, legal practice or motor vehicle dealer). In that case, employees in roles that sit inside the RMCP (for example compliance officers, finance staff, anyone who handles customer funds) are commonly screened for PEP and sanctions exposure at hire and at periodic intervals.

Can I re-verify existing staff for a promotion or role change?

Yes. The same services work for re-verification. Recruitment agencies and HR teams commonly re-run ID verification, AML/PEP screening and driver's licence decodes when staff move into more sensitive roles, take on signing authority or move into a driving position.

Give every hire a verified start

Create a free account, load credits and run ID, face match, AML/PEP, licence, AVS and consumer-trace checks from a single dashboard.

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