Sumsub unveils real-time bank account verification for SA

Sumsub introduces a solution that allows businesses to confirm a bank account exists and belongs to the customer providing the information.

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Global identity verification and compliance tech firm Sumsub has launched a South African bank account verification solution to help businesses strengthen compliance, reduce fraud and accelerate digital onboarding.

The offering uses SA’s interbank account verification service infrastructure to verify bank account ownership and status in real-time, covering about 91% of the country’s banked adult population without requiring documents or online banking credentials.

It supports a range of compliance and operational use cases, including customer due diligence, enhanced risk scoring, payout validation, debit order pre-authorisation, refund security and beneficiary verification.

"Across the world, we're seeing businesses move beyond document-based verification towards faster, more secure ways of establishing trust," said Andrew Novoselsky, chief product officer at Sumsub. "As digital fraud becomes increasingly sophisticated, organisations need verification methods that strengthen security without creating unnecessary friction for legitimate customers.”

The service helps companies comply with the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, industry guidelines established by the Payments Association of South Africa, and data privacy principles outlined in the Protection of Personal Information Act.

During onboarding, users provide their South African ID or passport number, surname, bank name and account number with explicit consent. The information is then validated in real-time against banking verification infrastructure connected to the South African Reserve Bank ecosystem.

See also

How can digital retailers verify customer identity online in SA?

Modern digital identity is win for government, people and banks

Sumsub said the approach reduces reliance on manual verification while limiting exposure to sensitive financial information, as the service does not access account balances, transaction histories or online banking credentials.

“Our South African bank account verification solution helps businesses verify account ownership in real-time using trusted banking infrastructure, supporting compliance while delivering a faster and more seamless onboarding experience,” said Novoselsky.