A digital identity verification and KYC platform for African businesses that screens users, verifies documents and biometrics, and runs AML checks across Africa.

Smile ID Product Overview

Is Smile ID Right for You?

Liners prepares and updates these highlights as product information changes. Editorial standards

Best For

  • Fintech onboarding
  • Banks and lenders

What It Does Well

  • Fast identity checks
  • Document verification

Things to Check

  • Supported ID types
  • Biometric options

About Smile ID

Screenshot of Smile ID website

Smile ID is a digital identity verification and compliance platform for businesses in Africa that need to onboard users, verify identities, and reduce fraud across multiple countries.

Key capabilities include:

  • Document Verification to authenticate ID documents and match a selfie to the ID photo, plus Enhanced DocV that cross-references documents with government databases.
  • Government KYC checks (including Basic KYC and Enhanced KYC) to match user details against official government records.
  • Biometric KYC and SmartSelfie™ Authentication for face matching and liveness checks; the service reports 99.8% facial recognition accuracy and an average 2-second verification time.
  • AML Check to screen users against 1100+ global sanctions, PEP, and adverse media watchlists, including 170K+ news sources.
  • Fraud prevention tools such as Smile Secure, designed to identify duplicate account creation using facial biometrics.
  • Business Verification to retrieve business records and stakeholder information from official registries, plus bank account verification and phone number verification (South Africa, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya).

Available via REST API, server-to-server, Web/Mobile Web integration, mobile SDKs, and no-code verification tools; demo apps are available on Android and iOS.

It targets B2B teams such as fintechs, banks, lenders, crypto platforms, remittance providers, BNPL, and investment and savings products operating across Africa.

Notable in the African market for pan-African coverage (every African country) and reported scale metrics including 200M+ verifications completed and 2.3B+ unique identities covered, with security certifications listed as ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type 2, and ISO/IEC 30107-1:2023.

Smile ID Facts

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African alternative to

Recent Reviews for Smile ID

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3.7
Great · 1 review
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M
Misskimani2024

NG · 4 reviews

May 12, 2026

ID verification is fast, simple and seamless

Smile ID Funding History

Liners compiles funding history from company announcements, investor records, and trusted reporting. We refresh it as new rounds are confirmed. How we source data

Smile ID has raised $31M across 6 recorded funding events. The latest was Series B in Feb 2023.

Total Raised:
$31M
Latest Round:
Series B

Smile ID Investors & Funding Rounds

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Latest Smile ID News & Updates

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Jobs at Smile ID

TitlePosted
Operations ManagerApr 26, 2025

Frequently Asked Questions About Smile ID

Smile ID is Africa's leading digital identity verification solution that helps businesses confirm user identities in real-time using smartphones or computers. It works through tools like document verification, face biometrics, liveness detection, AML checks, and fraud prevention, accessible via SDKs and APIs for KYC compliance and user authentication across Africa.

Smile ID operates in every African country, with specific mentions of coverage in Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, Rwanda, and Uganda.

You can sign up directly on their website at usesmileid.com by providing your business details and starting the integration process.

Yes, Smile ID is available on iOS and Android. You can download Smile ID on the App Store for iPhone, or get it on Google Play for Android.

Smile ID is best suited for businesses scaling in Africa, such as fintechs, banks, neobanks, crypto exchanges, ride-sharing, and telecommunication is companies needing KYC, identity verification, and fraud prevention.

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