What Is Experian Precise ID?

Precise ID matches a person's personal data against Experian's reference database to confirm who they are and assign a confidence score.

It works behind the scenes in common flows such as a consumer entering a name, address, email, or phone number to open a credit‑card account, sign up for a streaming service, or verify employment. In each case the service sends the supplied attributes to Precise ID, which returns a match likelihood, a risk flag, and optional demographic details. The same engine can be called during loan applications, background checks, or loyalty‑program enrollments, providing a quick, data‑driven way to reduce fraud and comply with KYC rules without exposing raw source data.

Precise ID verifies you by matching the information you submit to Experian's real‑time identity graph and returning a confidence score in under a second.

1. Collect key identifiers - The user‑oriented form sends data such as name, address, date of birth, and optional government ID numbers.
2. Normalize and hash - Precise ID standardizes formats (e.g., removes punctuation, applies case rules) and creates a secure hash, preventing raw data exposure.
3. Query the identity graph - The hash is compared against billions of records from credit bureaus, public registries, and proprietary sources that Experian updates continuously.
4. Calculate confidence - Algorithms weigh match quality, data freshness, and source reliability, producing a numeric score that reflects how likely the input belongs to a single real person.
5. Return result instantly - The score and a simple pass/fail flag are sent back to the calling application, allowing the merchant to approve, decline, or trigger additional checks.

For a deeper look at the data sources behind the graph, see Experian Precise ID data ecosystem.

Precise ID checks five core data types to confirm a consumer's identity in seconds.

• Government‑issued ID number - matches the Social Security Number or ITIN you provide against official records to verify legal identity.
• Current and past address history - cross‑references the supplied street address with postal and credit‑file data to confirm residency stability.
• Phone number - validates the mobile or landline against carrier databases and usage patterns for added confidence.
• Email address - compares the supplied email with verification services that flag disposable or compromised accounts.
• Device or biometric token - uses a device fingerprint or optional biometric data (fingerprint, facial geometry) to ensure the request originates from the same user in subsequent checks.

Precise ID delivers roughly 99 % matching accuracy, meaning most legitimate users are verified in seconds with confidence. The engine cross‑checks five data types - government ID, credit file, address history, device fingerprint and social‑profile signals - to generate a composite score that typically exceeds the industry‑average threshold.

False‑positive risks remain, especially when data is sparse or inconsistent; users with thin credit files or recent address changes may be flagged despite being genuine. Experian mitigates this by weighting newer signals lower and offering a manual review channel, but businesses should still anticipate occasional mismatches and design fallback flows. For deeper insight, see the Precise ID accuracy study.

Precise ID protects your privacy and data by never storing raw personal identifiers; instead it creates encrypted tokens from sources such as credit‑file attributes, address history, and device signals, and only shares those tokens with the requesting service. The system applies industry‑standard encryption at rest and in transit, and it limits exposure to the exact fields needed for a match, which keeps the original information out of any downstream workflow.

The platform also enforces consent‑driven retention, automatically deleting tokens after a configurable period and logging every access in immutable audit logs that meet GDPR, CCPA, and other regional requirements. Because only hashed, non‑reversible values travel between Precise ID and your application, the verification step described earlier can proceed without ever revealing the underlying personal data, and the subsequent data‑type checks will operate on the same privacy‑preserving tokens.

If your company faces fraud risk, regulatory ID checks, or serves thin‑file or immigrant customers, integrating Precise ID adds real‑time verification that can reduce chargebacks and onboarding friction.

Consider these factors before deciding:

• Fraud exposure: high‑value transactions or frequent account takeovers benefit most.
• Compliance mandates: industries such as finance, gaming, or healthcare often require government‑issued ID validation.
• User experience goals: instant, non‑intrusive checks improve conversion compared with manual document review.
• Data quality needs: Precise ID pulls from multiple sources (credit, telecom, public records) to fill gaps for thin‑file users.
• Cost vs. ROI: subscription fees must be outweighed by savings from prevented fraud and reduced manual review labor.
• Technical readiness: your stack should support API calls and handle the returned risk scores securely.

When these criteria line up, the next step is to explore the Precise ID API integration workflow, which guides developers through authentication, request formatting, and response handling. 

Developers integrate Precise ID by calling its REST API with secure credentials.

1. Register on the Experian developer portal and obtain an API key and secret.
2. Generate an OAuth 2.0 access token using the client‑id and client‑secret; include it in the Authorization: Bearer header of every request.
3. Create a JSON payload that matches the required fields (name, address, date of birth, SSN, etc.) outlined in the '5 data types Precise ID checks' section.
4. POST the payload to the /v1/identity/verify endpoint over HTTPS.
5. Read the response JSON for the confidence score, match level, and any error codes; map these to your business rules for accept, review, or reject.
6. Handle rate‑limit (429) and server‑error (5xx) responses with exponential back‑off retries; log transient failures for later analysis.
7. Encrypt stored identifiers, retain only what you need for audit, and purge the data after verification to honor the privacy safeguards discussed earlier.
8. Test all flows in the sandbox environment, then switch the base URL to the production endpoint once your integration passes functional and security checks.
9. Monitor usage quotas and error metrics; adjust your subscription tier as described in the 'Precise ID pricing and subscription models' section.

Precise ID pricing and subscription models revolve around monthly verification volume, offering tiered plans that drop the per‑lookup cost as you scale and letting you add optional modules such as fraud scoring or compliance checks.

• Starter - up to 5,000 lookups/month, $0.30 per verification; includes core identity match and basic data sources.
• Growth - 5,001  -  50,000 lookups/month, $0.20 per verification; adds extended data types (e.g., government IDs) and real‑time risk scores.
• Enterprise - over 50,000 lookups/month, custom per‑lookup rate (often ≤ $0.10); provides full suite, dedicated SLA, and white‑label integration.
• Add‑ons - fraud‑score engine, AML watchlist, and multilingual support billed separately (typically $0.02‑$0.05 per use).

All plans require a monthly commitment; Experian also offers a pay‑as‑you‑go option for low‑volume pilots. See Experian Precise ID pricing details for the latest rates.

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• Precise ID signals a flag by returning a 'DENIED' or 'REJECTED' status in the API response.
• The 'reasonCode' field then names the exact trigger - e.g., 'MISMATCHED_SSN', 'HIGH_RISK_DEVICE'.
• Experian also pushes a webhook or email alert whenever a instructions crosses the risk threshold.
• Log in to the Precise ID portal dashboard and look for a red indicator next to the transaction ID.
• Seeing any of these cues means the next section 'what to do if Precise ID mistakenly flags you' applies.

An incorrect Equifax pull can be erased in a day or two by disputing it directly with Equifax and notifying the card issuer.

First, pull your credit report, locate the unauthorized hard inquiry, and note the date, amount, and issuer (for example, a Chase business card). Next, open a dispute on the Equifax dispute page, attach a screenshot of the inquiry, and state that you never authorized the request. Include the issuer's reference number if you have it.

While the dispute is processing (usually 15 business days), call the issuer's fraud or customer‑service line - Chase Business, Amex Business, etc. - and ask them to withdraw the pull. Provide the same details you gave Equifax; most banks will delete the inquiry on their end once they confirm the error.

When you receive the dispute‑resolution letter, verify that the inquiry no longer appears on your report. If it remains, follow up with both Equifax and the issuer, citing the resolution letter and the FTC's guidance on credit‑report errors. Once removed, the hard inquiry will no longer affect your personal credit score, and future business‑card applications will reflect a cleaner history.

Precise ID pulls alternative data - utility bills, telecom records, rental payments, government‑issued IDs - to create a confidence score for users who lack a traditional credit history or who have recently immigrated. By cross‑checking name, birthdate, and address against these sources, the service can verify identity even when the core credit file is thin or absent.

The algorithm then feeds that score into the real‑time verification engine described earlier, applying the same five data‑type checks before returning a pass, fail, or manual‑review flag. This approach lets businesses extend reliable onboarding to thin‑file and immigrant customers while staying aligned with the privacy safeguards covered in the next section. Precise ID alternative data strategy