Identity verification in Lebanon
Country profile for identity verification, KYC, and AML compliance in the Lebanese Republic. Companion to `lb.yaml`. Focus: banks, money changers, capital-markets firms, insurance, Casino du Liban, and any foreign fintech or crypto operator touching Lebanese users. Context is dominated by the post-2019 banking crisis, Hezbollah-linked US sanctions exposure, and Lebanon's October 2024 FATF greylist
Documents supported
(Government IDs from 220+ countries)
Average verification time
Countries covered
(Government-issued IDs validated)
Market overview
No KYC conversation about Lebanon makes sense without the post-2019 banking crisis. In the autumn of 2019 BDL's decades-old "financial engineering" unwound: Lebanon defaulted on a USD 1.2 bn Eurobond in March 2020, the local currency collapsed from LBP 1,500 to the dollar to well over LBP 90,000 at peak, and banks imposed de facto capital controls by refusing depositors access to their own USD balances. Banks remain solvent only on paper; correspondent relationships with European and US banks have shrunk sharply; and the IMF has repeatedly conditioned any bailout on a restructuring of the sector, a forensic audit of BDL, a credible deposit-recovery plan, and genuine AML reform. The consequences for KYC/AML:
Supported documents
Didit templates cover national IDs, passports, residence permits and regional documents — plus 14,000+ documents globally for cross-border flows.
Regulators
Ministry of Interior
government-majority-owned concession
Ministry of Interior
restricted
Civil registry based on confessional system. National ID card (hawiyyeh) issued. Very limited digitization due to economic crisis and infrastructure challenges.
Government & regulated databases
Compliance framework
AML framework
Supervised by Directorate General of Personal Status
| Regulator | Scope | Key legal instrument | |---|---|---| | Banque du Liban (BDL) | Monetary policy; licences and supervises banks, financial institutions, money changers, electronic payment providers | Code of Money and Credit (1963); BDL Basic Circulars (notably 83, 126, 137) | | Special Investigation Commission (SIC) | Dual role: national FIU (receives/analyses STRs) and AML/CFT supervisor for all BDL-licensed entities; has power to lift banking secrecy and freeze accounts | Law 44/2015 (Art
Data protection
Supervised by Dual role
Penalties for non-compliance
- Sumsub — The most visible global IDV vendor in MENA and has Lebanese counterparties. Document library supports Lebanese ID, passport and residence permit. Sanctions screening is mature.
Use cases
Neobanks, EMIs, payment institutions, lenders, brokerages.
The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) was established by Law 161/2011, ratified 17 August 2011, as an independent authority to license and supervise capital-markets activities in Lebanon. The CMA's scope covers brokerage firms, financial advisors, asset managers, collective investment schemes, and the
Exchanges, custodians, wallets, on/off-ramps.
For Lebanese banks, the operational KYC rulebook is BDL circulars, not Law 44/2015 directly. The practical obligations track FATF's risk-based approach:
Sports betting, online casinos, age-gated platforms.
Lebanon's data-protection regime is governed by Law No. 81 of 10 October 2018 on Electronic Transactions and Personal Data, which entered into force in 2019. It recognises electronic writings and electronic signatures as legally valid, introduces data-protection principles broadly aligned with GDPR
Gig platforms, delivery, creator economy, e-commerce.
Lebanon's gambling market is consolidated into two state-licensed operators:
Biometric liveness
| Document | Issuer | Machine-readable | Chip / biometric | Usable for remote KYC | |---|---|---|---|---| | Lebanese national ID card (hawiyyeh) — paper/plastic | Directorate General of Personal Status (Ministry of Interior) | Limited | No chip on legacy cards | Yes — document scan + liveness; no NFC read | | Lebanese biometric passport (from 1 August 2016) | Directorate General of General Security | Yes (ICAO 9303) | Yes (ePassport — face + fingerprints, excluding minors under 12) | Yes — best
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. Lebanon 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 Lebanon, 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 Lebanon.
Most regulated sectors in Lebanon 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 Lebanon’s crypto regulatory framework, including EU Travel Rule compliance where applicable.
Yes. Didit provides document-based age verification and identity confirmation suitable for Lebanon’s iGaming regulatory requirements.
500 free verifications per month. No contracts, no minimums. $0.30 per verification after the free tier.
