What are Smart lookups?
Smart lookups let you check a customer's details against credit bureau data, online footprint analysis and anti-money laundering databases instantly from your dashboard - before asking them to upload a single document.
Use them to pre-screen applicants, make faster decisions based on existing data, and only request documents from customers who actually need them.
Available checks
Type | Description | Required search fields |
Credit Bureau (UK only) | Verifies name, date of birth and address against credit reference agency data from Infact (FCA-authorised) and public sources like the electoral roll. | First name, last name, date of birth, postcode, address |
Online Footprint | Analyses digital presence across ~500 sources. A strong footprint signals the person is real, not a synthetic identity.
| First name, last name, email and/or phone number |
Anti-Money Laundering (AML) | Screens against ~280 international databases covering PEPs, sanctioned individuals and watchlists. | First name, last name, date of birth |
How to run a Smart lookup
Go to the Smart lookup tab in your dashboard
Select one or more check types - the form fields update based on what you select
Enter the required information
Click the green Run button
Review your results - these are saved in your Past lookups for future reference
☑️ You must select at least one check type before running a lookup.
Understanding your results
Submitting a search query will return individual results for each check you selected, as well as an overall combined result which is displayed in the Past lookups table located below the search panel.
Result | What you'll see | Description |
Pass |  | All checks passed |
Fail |  | All checks failed |
Partial |  | Mixed results across checks |
Inconclusive |  | Couldn't return a definitive result |
Not Performed |  | Check couldn't be executed |
Click on a user's name to see the full breakdown of each check and their individual results, which are explained below:
Credit Bureau
Shows two scores from credit reference agency records:
Identity score: Does the name and date of birth match?
Address score: Is the person linked to this address?
Result | What you'll see | Description |
Pass |  | Matches found in credit bureau data |
Inconclusive |  | No matches found - common for thin credit files |
Control matching strictness
You can control how strict credit bureau matching is in your dashboard.
Go Settings → Smart lookup matching mode, choose a mode, then click Save changes.
Default mode
Tolerant to minor inconsistencies for the best pass rate. Allows small differences (like formatting or address variations) and can still pass if date of birth is missing or only weakly matched.
Strict mode
More stringent matching criteria for higher accuracy and fewer false positives. Less tolerant of differences in name, date of birth, or address, so incomplete or inconsistent data will return partial matches or fails.
Online Footprint
Shows trust scores out of 100 for email and phone, plus any connected accounts found.
Result | What you'll see | Description |
Pass |  | High trust score that meets the threshold of 50 |
Fail |  | Low trust score that does not meet the threshold of 50 |
💡 For the best result, provide both email and phone number.
Anti-Money Laundering (AML)
Result | What you'll see | Description |
No matches |  | No weak or strong matches found |
No strong matches |  | Weak matches found but below threshold |
Potential AML match |  | Strong match over 95% threshold - requires manual review. |
API access
Smart Lookups are also available via the Vouchsafe API, where you can set custom thresholds and run checks programmatically.