# Plaid Identity Verification (slim)

> Plaid Identity Verification checks a person against data sources, identity documents, selfies with liveness and SMS, with risk scoring and optional Monitor watchlist screening. Sessions run in Plaid Link or through a backend-only API flow.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/plaid-identity-verification.md (~6,650 tokens) · this version ~1,530 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/plaid-identity-verification.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/plaid-identity-verification
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · Updated: 2026-10-14

**B · 67.1/100 · rank #278 of 1076 · #5 in Identity & business verification · not agent-ready · confidence medium**


Assessment: Plaid Identity Verification has four typed endpoints in Plaid's public OpenAPI file, an idempotent create, a backend-only flow for data source checks and frequent changelog entries. Prices appear only after applying for Production, the secret has no scopes, and the rate-limit and error pages are disallowed to crawlers.

## Facts

- Kind: HTTP API · vendor: Plaid Inc. · category: Identity & business verification · legal entity: Plaid Inc. · provenance 97/100
- Local only (HTTP): npm `plaid`, pypi `plaid-python`
- Auth: API key · pricing: Paid · x402: no · licence: Proprietary service under Plaid's developer policy and end-user terms. The OpenAPI file and client libraries are MIT
- Probe metrics: not measured yet (probes haven't run)
- Surface graded: Identity Verification endpoints of the Plaid API. Plaid's bank data products are listed as plaid
- Endpoints: /identity_verification/create, /get, /list and /retry, plus /identity_verification/autofill/create. Monitor screening under /watchlist_screening/individual and /entity
- Checks: SMS, data source verification (name, address, date of birth, phone, ID number), document check with optional AAMVA (beta, US), selfie with liveness and age estimation, risk check, Trust Index score (US), AML screening through Monitor
- Flows: Plaid Link (web and mobile SDKs), Plaid-hosted verification links, backend-only data source flow
- Credentials: `client_id` and `secret` per environment in the request body. No scopes
- Retries: `is_idempotent` on create. /identity_verification/retry makes a new session id, billed again
- Webhooks: STATUS_UPDATED, STEP_UPDATED and RETRIED
- Retention: Kept while the contract is active. A rolling redaction period is set on request through support
- Eligibility: Integrating company based in the US, Canada or the UK. End users in nearly 190 countries
- Sandbox: Enabled self-serve from the Dashboard, with sample identities and reserved test names
- Status: status.plaid.com on Statuspage, API Production and Sandbox components, no separate Identity Verification component

- Scores: Reliability 68, Performance pending, Schema & documentation 91, Agent ergonomics 75, Security & auth 61, Payments & pricing 15, Task success pending, Maintenance & community 83, Transparency & trust 77 · total over the 7 assessed categories
- Why: Reliability, Read with the hosted lines. · Schema & documentation, Plaid's public OpenAPI file (plaid/plaid-openapi, version 2020-09-14_1.762.0) has the four `/identity_verification` operations and the… · Agent ergonomics, Four endpoints. · Security & auth, `client_id` and `secret` in the JSON body, separate secrets per environment, rotatable from the Dashboard. · Payments & pricing, No x402, MPP or L402 (0). · Maintenance & community, The changelog's latest Identity Verification entry is 13 October 2026 (SSA match result in `kyc_check`) (30). · Transparency & trust, Closed service under Plaid's published developer policy and end-user terms.
- Sources: 15, open questions: 4, both in the full twin
- Capabilities: kyc.identity, kyc.documents, kyc.screening
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/plaid-identity-verification.json
- Verify (for the vendor): the badge `https://www.anchorterminal.com/badges/plaid-identity-verification.svg` or a link to https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/plaid-identity-verification from a page on plaid.com or one of its subdomains, or the README of github.com/plaid/plaid-openapi, then `POST https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/verify` `{"slug", "url"}` or `verify_listing` at /mcp; re-checked weekly, no effect on the grade. Snippets in the full twin.

## Before you call it

1. Pass `is_idempotent: true` to /identity_verification/create so a retry returns the existing session
2. Use the backend-only flow (data source template, `gave_consent: true`) when you already hold the user's details. Documents and selfies need the person in Link
3. Wait for the STATUS_UPDATED webhook or poll /identity_verification/get. Link's onSuccess doesn't mean the user passed
4. Don't issue retries casually. Each retry is a new session billed again
5. Enable Sandbox for Identity Verification on the Dashboard Products page before the first call

## Connect

```bash
curl -X POST https://sandbox.plaid.com/identity_verification/create \
-H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
-d '{
  "client_user_id": "user-sandbox-b0e2c4ee-a763-4df5-bfe9-46a46bce993d",
  "client_id": "${PLAID_CLIENT_ID}",
  "secret": "${PLAID_SECRET}",
  "is_shareable": true,
  "template_id": "idvtmp_52xR9LKo77r1Np",
  "gave_consent": true
}'
```
Full config and headless snippets are in the full page. Through letme (picks today, calling later): https://letme.dev/plaid-identity-verification

## Similar tools

| Tool | Grade | Score | Shared capabilities | Slim |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Didit | BB | 75 | kyc.identity, kyc.documents, kyc.screening | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/didit.min.md |
| Persona | B | 69.5 | kyc.identity, kyc.documents, kyc.screening | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/persona.min.md |
| Sumsub | B | 68.5 | kyc.identity, kyc.documents, kyc.screening | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/sumsub.min.md |
| ComplyCube | B | 63.7 | kyc.identity, kyc.documents, kyc.screening | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/complycube.min.md |
| Socure RiskOS | B | 63.5 | kyc.identity, kyc.documents, kyc.screening | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/socure-riskos.min.md |


## Panel reviews (0, desk reviews from public material, no calls made)