Automatically requiring ID verification from customers
You can choose to manually create ID verification checks to be delivered to your customers by email, SMS or a direct link at any time.
However, if you'd like to automate ID verification on your customers and orders, you can do so with Real ID.
Real ID is flexible and allows you to customize your store's risk policies. You can have Real ID automatically check all orders, none or various risk levels in-between.
Looking for requiring ID verification before checkout? Please read our article on requiring ID verification before an order is placed.
The triggers described below apply after checkout is completed by the customer.
Available automatic ID verification triggers
- How to only require ID verification once per customer
- Require ID verification on all orders
- Require ID verification on orders totaling above a certain price
- Require ID verification when the order has billing & shipping addresses that don't match
- Require ID verification for high risk orders
- Require ID verification for specific products
- Require ID verification on specific collections
All of these options are available in the Settings page of the Real ID app on Shopify.
How to only require ID verification once
You can choose to have Real ID not require ID verification from customers that have already completed ID verification.
That way, a customer only needs to prove their identity for their first order, and then subsequent orders they won't be prompted to complete ID verification again.
To enable or disable this feature, open the Settings page and scroll to the section titled Customers only need to verify once.
Click the checkbox to only require ID verification on a customer's first order. Or uncheck it to require ID verification on all orders.
All done! Real ID will not require your already verified customers to undergo ID verification again, even if an automatic ID verification rule is triggered by their order details.
How does Real ID determine if a customer has already verified their ID?
When a customer successfully completes ID verification or you elect to manually approve their submission, Real ID will automatically add the tag ID verification completed to the customer & order on Shopify.
If that customer returns to make another order, Real ID will check the customer for the ID verification completed tag and will not prompt the user to verify their ID again.
I was using another ID verification app before and they placed different tags on my customers, will I need to update them all?
No. Real ID will also check for other ID verification apps tags that signal a customer is already verified. To check to see if your tag is supported automatically or to have a different tag supported, please contact us and we'd be happy to help.
How to require ID verification on all orders
You can choose to have Real ID require ID verification on all incoming orders to your Shopify store.
You can choose to enable or disable this feature at any time. Simply click the toggle next to "Require ID verification on all orders" in the Settings page of the app.
And that's it! All orders will be required to complete ID verification.
Will already ID verified customers be required to complete ID verification?
No, as long as you have the Customers only need to verify once setting enabled.
You can read more about this option in the How to require ID verification once section.
How to require ID verification on orders above a certain price
You can choose to have Real ID only require ID verification for orders that total above a certain price. You may want to enable this is an automatic check for orders that are far above your average order. That way you can protect yourself against a potentially expensive chargeback.
Criminals don't care how much they're charging to a stolen credit card, they're using using their own funds. You may want to consider enabling this option to prove the identity of the credit or debit card holder before fulfilling.
You can choose to enable or disable this feature at any time. Simply click the toggle next to "Require ID verification for orders above..." in the Settings page of the app.
Then you can set the minimum price that an order needs to total to qualify for ID verification. For example, if the minimum is set to $100 USD, and an order totals at $101.00 USD, then Real ID will automatically send an ID check to the customer.
How to require ID verification on orders with mismatching billing & shipping addresses
You can choose to have Real ID only require ID verification for orders that don't have the same billing & shipping addresses.
While this is not a certain sign of fraudulent activity, it is a very common one. A bad actor using a stolen credit or debit card will ship the goods to their location of choice, while the real card holder lives elsewhere.
However, mismatching shipping & billing addresses on orders doesn't always mean there's fraudulent afoot. There are perfectly normal scenarios like shipping gifts to family or friends that live in different areas. Other fraud apps don't give you the real identity of the card holder, requiring ID verification in these scenarios may be helpful.
To enable, open the Settings page of Real ID and click the toggle next to Require ID verification for orders that the Billing Address does not match the Shipping Address this will enable or disable this setting.
How to require ID verification for high risk orders
You can choose to have Real ID only require ID verification for orders that are deemed to be "high risk" by Shopify or 3rd party anti-fraud apps.
Real ID offers 2 levels of order risk detection: medium risk & high risk. You can choose to automatically create checks based on orders that are labeled as high risk in the Settings area of the app.
First select which order risk level you'd automatically like to require ID verification for. After you've selected your acceptable order risk levels, click the toggle above to enable the automatic order risk detection on your incoming orders.
That's it! Real ID will automatically challenge all orders of those corresponding order risk levels.
Will Real ID read the over all risk score of the order or does it use individual risk scores?
Real ID only considers the overall risk score of the order to consider it low, medium or high risk.
It won't take the individual scores into consideration.
Will Real ID read the other risk scores made by other anti-fraud apps?
Yes, as long as the 3rd party anti-fraud app uses the Shopify native order risk system. Real ID also uses this native system provided by Shopify.
If the 3rd party app only shows an particular order's risk in the app or doesn't use the normal Shopify risk levels (low, medium and high) then Real ID can't read those risk scores.
Please also see the note about when Real ID reads for high risk labelling below.
Note regarding orders with high risk levels that require ID verification
Shopify & 3rd party apps calculate an order's risk level out of band at the time the order is placed by your customer.
This means that your store will receive the order instantaneously, but there is sometimes a delay to when the order's risk is calculated. Especially by 3rd parties.
For that reason, Real ID will wait 15 seconds for Shopify & 3rd party apps to determine the risk level of the order. That should be enough time for the final order risk to be calculated before Real ID considers it against your preferences.
How to require ID verification on specific products
You can choose to have Real ID only require ID verification for orders that contain one or more specific products that require ID verification to purchase.
You may sell a handful of products that are age restricted or are high value that which make them a high chargeback risk.
With Real ID you can define a list of products that are listed on your Shopify store that automatically require ID verification on checkout.
First, use the search bar to search for the product you'd like to require ID verification for. Your Shopify store's products matching that name will appear in the field below. To require ID verification on a specific product, just click the search result. A ID verification required tag will appear on the product.
After you'd choosen which products require ID verification, you'll need to enable the feature. To do so, click the toggle next to Products requiring ID verification... this will enable setting.
How to require ID verification on specific collections
You can choose to have Real ID only require ID verification for orders that contain one or more specific collections that contain products that require ID verification to purchase.
You may sell large amounts of prodcuts that are age restricted or are high value that which make them a high chargeback risk. But not all of your products in your store meet this criteria.
With Real ID you can define a list of collections that are listed on your Shopify store that automatically require ID verification on checkout. If one or more products in these collections are present in a given order, they will be required to complete ID verification automatically.
First, use the search bar to search for the collection you'd like to require ID verification for. Your Shopify store's products matching that name will appear in the field below. To require ID verification on a specific product, just click the search result. A ID verification required tag will appear on the product.
After you'd choosen which collections require ID verification, you'll need to enable the feature. To do so, click the toggle next to Collections requiring ID verification... this will enable setting.
How can I see which products are now required to complete ID verification?
The collections you choose will populate in the Products requiring ID verification tab. Simply search for the product you'd like to check is requiring ID verification, and the same product will appear in the products requiring ID verification.
Will Real ID automatically track when products are added to collections?
Yes. Whenever a product is added to a collection, Real ID will automatically update your products that require ID verification to match.
Smart Collections in Shopify are slightly different. Real ID cannot get real time updates of smart collections, but it will check automatically add for new products in smart collections every hour.
Note regarding updating collections that require ID verification
When you add a collection that requires ID verification, behind the scenes Real ID is adding each individual product in that collection to your Products that require ID verification list.
Because collections can potentially contain thousands of products, it takes time for Real ID to update your collections list.