Dating apps have changed the way the world is socializing. Nowadays, it’s less frequent for people to meet each other through their social circle. Apps like Tinder, Meetup, and others have changed the mindset on a global scale. Online dating continues to skyrocket with brand new apps with fresh offers we see every day. Of course, it raises the question of security - how reliable is it to give your data to these apps?

In this article, we’ll dive deep into the online dating industry and tell you all about the importance of identity verification in this field. We have also included an interview with one of our partners, who is successfully using our services to prevent this issue from their platform. 

What is the landscape in the Online Dating industry?

According to Statista sources, 49% of people using the various dating apps are searching for an “exclusive romantic relationship” through the app. This industry is predicted to rise to the overall revenue of up to $649 million by 2023. 

The legit users of these apps have a very clear goal in mind - they don’t want to waste their time meeting the wrong people. They want high efficiency and vibrant social life. According to the research, most people think that online dating is way more efficient than other ways of meeting people and socializing.

On the other hand, we have scammers that are using these facts in their favour. The most common reported scams involved spam and identity theft. There is a clear need to re-establish trust in this industry - out of 1500 registered dating apps, more than 60% of them have high-risk security issues. 

What are the ways to solve this problem?

Online Identity Verification is proven to be a smart way to verify legitimate accounts and authenticate profiles. For example, Bumble requires users to upload a picture of themselves in one of 100 poses to register successfully. Verification solutions help to build trust and boost confidence to start matching with the right people. 

The most popular player in this field, Tinder, gives the users a chance to verify their ID on the app as an extra layer of security. They claim that integrating ID verification solutions is challenging, but a critical safety project at the same time. Their users can confirm their identity either with photo verification, ID verification, both, or neither.

We also have examples from our partner companies that are using our tools to verify people and secure their dating apps. Take a look at the interview:

A real-life example from Kvalifika 

Let us introduce you to Peter Breittschwerdt, the CEO and founder of aplacetomeet.me, which aims to build an online dating platform that values data privacy and security the most. 

The primary problem is that it is simple in other dating platforms to register a few fake accounts and misuse their capabilities. With this in mind, the team wanted to create an app with 100% verified profiles to make sure that people could trust each other on the platform. He achieved it by integrating the Kvalifika solutions into the platform to make sure that the registration procedure is smooth and secure.

We had a really nice conversation about their product and the ways they use it to ensure privacy. Enjoy!

How would you describe your company in the simplest way?

Aplacetomeet.me is an online dating platform designed for people who respect privacy and honest relationships. We make sure that every account on this platform is valid and has a real person behind it. Our team is committed to give the best possible experience to our users and ensure their data privacy.

What’s special about the service you offer?

For us, transparency is a crucial factor. Our platform requires every registered user to verify their profiles. Unfortunately, we see that there are many cases on this market when people are faking their accounts and publishing profiles that are not real. We want to minimize this as much as possible and offer the best possible experience to our users.

The ultimate way to do this is through verification. In the beginning, we considered going with email verification systems. But there is still a threat of having a fake account in that case. That’s why we chose to integrate the Online Identity Verification system to ensure that the people behind their accounts are the ones they claim to be. 

We looked through the service providers on the market and went for the option that suited us the best - the offer from Kvalifika was exactly what we’ve been looking for. 

Why did you choose Kvalifika services?

We had contact with many other service providers when we were searching for the most suitable option for us. There was smooth communication with the Kvalifika team from the beginning, and their offer perfectly suited our needs. During the testing period, we noticed that their algorithm has high accuracy, and the platform is easy to manage and understand. 

We started using the Kvalifika services after November 2020. Since then, we have been communicating with the team. They are very helpful every time we need to solve something. They know how to work with small and medium-sized startups, which can be essential in this field.  

What tools do you use to ensure the safety of your platform?

We use their Online Identity Verification platform as the first step of onboarding our clients. As I said, we need to ensure the validity of our users. Also, it is important to verify their age, considering the industry we operate in. The Liveness and Age check tool is extremely useful for us in that matter. We also use the Activity Dashboard to track the registrations from our new users. 

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Here at Kvalifika, we are always happy to help early-stage startups deal with issues caused by customer identification and onboarding. Our tools help companies easily integrate the identity verification software into their platform and effectively start onboarding clients. Take a look at our solutions and contact us if you have any questions. We are open to talk!