Identity verification in France
France runs one of Europe's most prescriptive KYC regimes. On top of the EU AML acquis transposed into the Code monétaire et financier (CMF), the country layers three French-specific regulators (ACPR, AMF, ANJ), a national financial intelligence unit (Tracfin) that processed 211,165 suspicious transaction reports in 2024, a dedicated remote-onboarding certification scheme (ANSSI PVID), and a state
Documents supported
(Government IDs from 220+ countries)
Average verification time
Countries covered
(Government-issued IDs validated)
Market overview
France is the EU's second-largest economy (≈68M residents) and one of its most banked populations: over 99% of adults hold a bank account, the vast majority through the six domestic systemic groups (BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole, BPCE, Société Générale, Crédit Mutuel, La Banque Postale). The fintech ecosystem has matured rapidly around Station F and the France Fintech association: Qonto, Lydia/Sumeria, Swile, Alma, Younited, Ledger, Kraken France, Trade Republic FR, Shine, Memo Bank, Finary, and challenger payment/EMI infrastructure providers such as Treezor (Société Générale), Swan, Okali (ex-Xpollens), and Lemonway. The crypto sector was pioneered by the 2019 Loi PACTE, which created the Prestataire de Services sur Actifs Numériques (PSAN) regime and made France the first major EU jurisdi
Supported documents
Didit templates cover national IDs, passports, residence permits and regional documents — plus 14,000+ documents globally for cross-border flows.
Regulators
Autorité de Contrôle Prudentiel et de Résolution, attached to Banque de France
Autorité des Marchés Financiers
Traitement du Renseignement et Action contre les Circuits Financiers clandestins
Autorité Nationale des Jeux, created by ordonnance 2019-1015 and effective 23 June 2020
Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertés
Agence Nationale de la Sécurité des Systèmes d'Information
Prestataire de Vérification d'Identité à Distance
ANTS (Agence nationale des titres sécurisés)
regulated
National identity card and passport verification managed by ANTS. API access regulated and available to authorized entities.
INSEE
restricted
Civil registry and NIR (Numéro d'Inscription au Répertoire / social security number). Access highly restricted due to sensitivity of the NIR.
INSEE
open
Business registry providing SIREN/SIRET numbers for all French enterprises. Publicly accessible via API.
DINUM (Direction interministérielle du numérique)
regulated
Digital identity federation platform. Connects multiple identity providers (La Poste, Ameli, impots.gouv.fr) for unified authentication.
Government & regulated databases
Compliance framework
AML framework
Supervised by ACPR
Primary AML law. The Code monétaire et financier, Book V Title VI (Obligations relatives à la lutte contre le blanchiment des capitaux et le financement du terrorisme), Articles L561-1 to L561-50 and implementing Articles R561-1 to R561-22, transposes AMLD4 (Dir. 2015/849), AMLD5 (Dir. 2018/843), and AMLD6 (Dir. 2018/1673). The core obligations:
Data protection
Supervised by CNIL
- GDPR + Loi Informatique et Libertés (Law n° 78-17 of 6 January 1978, as amended by Law n° 2018-493 of 20 June 2018) — CNIL is the supervisor. Biometric identification is Art. 9 GDPR catégorie particulière, requiring explicit consent, a DPIA (Art. 35 GDPR), and strict purpose limitation. - CNIL gui
Penalties for non-compliance
The ACPR Sanctions Committee is one of Europe's most active AML enforcers. Selected published decisions of direct relevance to remote-onboarding and fintech operators:
Use cases
Neobanks, EMIs, payment institutions, lenders, brokerages.
For a French EMI, payment institution, or credit institution onboarding a retail customer fully remotely, the ACPR-compliant happy path is:
Exchanges, custodians, wallets, on/off-ramps.
Under the French PACTE regime (Art. L54-10-1 to L54-10-7 CMF), providing any of: custody of digital assets for third parties, buying/selling digital assets against fiat, exchange of digital assets against other digital assets, or operation of a digital-asset trading platform — required PSAN registra
Sports betting, online casinos, age-gated platforms.
Online gambling is regulated by Law n° 2010-476 of 12 May 2010 and supervised by the ANJ, with core implementing texts in the Code de la sécurité intérieure and in ANJ decisions such as Décision 2020-059 on the Fichier des Interdits de Jeu (FIJ) technical requirements.
Gig platforms, delivery, creator economy, e-commerce.
French marketplaces sit at the intersection of three regulatory regimes:
Biometric liveness
This is the section where France diverges most sharply from other EU countries. In March 2022 ANSSI — jointly with DG Trésor — published the Référentiel d'exigences applicables aux prestataires de vérification d'identité à distance (PVID), creating a national certification scheme for remote KYC providers. It is the only such scheme in the EU. What PVID covers. The scheme certifies the end-to-end remote identity verification service: document capture and authentication, optical/MRZ/chip verificat
CERTIFICATIONS
Our platform meets the highest international standards for information security, data privacy, and biometric accuracy.
Full EU data protection compliance
Information security management
PAD (liveness + face match)
TRUSTED WORLDWIDE
Join thousands of companies that trust Didit for their verification needs
Didit’s NFC + active biometrics technology blocks the most advanced fraud scenarios, offering a level of security equivalent to or superior to in-person verification.
Spanish Financial Sandbox
CNMV, SEPBLAC & Spanish Treasury — Conclusions Report
Didit is an exceptionally valuable partner, delivering a stable and highly adaptable solution”.
Vuk Adžić
Head of the E-Business Department at Crnogorski Telekom
Didit offered us a robust technology with a simple implementation and adaptability to different markets”.
Fernando Pinto
CEO & CoFounder at TucanPay
Thanks to Didit we have been able to reduce manual processes and improve data extraction accuracy”.
Diana Garcia
Trust & Safety Executive at Shiply
Didit’s integration slashed verification times and costs, freeing resources for other projects”.
Guillem Medina
COO at GBTC Finance
Didit removed KYC costs, enabling faster scaling with high verification standards and less fraud.”
Paul Martin
VP Marketing & Growth at Bondex
Didit’s secure, user-friendly verification boosts customer trust and optimizes our process.”
Cristofer Montenegro
Executive assistant to the CEO at Adelantos
Didit ensures a precise, secure digital onboarding without slowing negotiations or client time.”
Ernesto Betancourth
Gerente de riesgos at CrediDemo
FAQ
Yes. France permits remote KYC onboarding under its national AML framework, including document verification, biometric liveness and video identification where required by regulation.
Didit verifies all major national IDs, passports and residence permits issued in France, plus 14,000+ document types globally for cross-border flows.
Didit charges $0.30 per verification with 500 free checks per month. No contracts, no minimums. Competitors typically charge $1.00–$2.50+ per verification.
Yes. Didit screens against 1,000+ global watchlists including PEP databases, sanctions lists (EU, UN, OFAC, OFSI), and adverse media — covering all AML obligations in France.
Most regulated sectors in France require or strongly recommend biometric liveness detection for remote onboarding. Didit provides ISO 30107-3 PAD Level 2 certified liveness.
Yes. Didit supports document verification, liveness, AML screening and ongoing monitoring aligned with France’s crypto regulatory framework, including EU Travel Rule compliance where applicable.
Yes. Didit provides document-based age verification and identity confirmation suitable for France’s iGaming regulatory requirements.
500 free verifications per month. No contracts, no minimums. $0.30 per verification after the free tier.
