ID Verification
YEAR
2022
OVERVIEW
Redesigned Rakuten Pay's identity verification by integrating Japan's My Number Card (NFC scanning) — replacing a costly, slow third-party photo-based verification with a 2-minute, same-day, in-house solution that reduced costs by 89.5% and increased completion by 32%.
The existing KYC flow relied on a third-party service costing ¥190 per transaction
Users had to photograph their face and ID document manually — a high-friction, error-prone step
Verification took up to 5 days to complete, causing drop-offs and delayed access to payment features
The combination of high cost + long wait + awkward photo process meant users were abandoning verification entirely
PROBLEM
PROBLEM
The existing KYC flow relied on a third-party service costing ¥190 per transaction
Users had to photograph their face and ID document manually — a high-friction, error-prone step
Verification took up to 5 days to complete, causing drop-offs and delayed access to payment features
The combination of high cost + long wait + awkward photo process meant users were abandoning verification entirely
PROCESS
Competitive research — studied how competitors handled identity verification in Japan and globally
Stakeholder presentation — shared findings with team leaders and managers to build alignment on the opportunity
Gathered feedback & refined — iterated the proposal based on stakeholder input and technical constraints
Low-fidelity user testing — validated the My Number Card scanning concept with real users early
Proposed new flow — reported test results and recommended the NFC-based scanning approach
Directed UI creation — provided design specs and reviewed visual execution
High-fidelity user testing — validated the polished experience end-to-end
Final QA & delivery — confirmed development matched Figma designs pixel-for-pixel during staging
KEY DESIGN DESICION
My Number Card as the unlock — Japan introduced this card in 2016 (similar to U.S. Social Security Card) with NFC capability; we leveraged smartphone scanning to verify identity in seconds rather than days
2-minute completion, same-day results — designed the flow around speed as the core value prop, eliminating the 5-day wait entirely
Built an in-house SDK — instead of relying on third-party verification, we developed our own scanning SDK, giving us full control over cost, UX, and iteration speed
Eliminated photo-taking friction — replaced the awkward "take a selfie + photo of your ID" flow with a simple card tap, removing the most anxiety-inducing step
Data matching over visual matching — verifies information on the user's Rakuten registration against My Number Card data directly, rather than relying on human reviewers comparing photos
OUTCOME
89.5% cost reduction — from ¥190 → ¥20 per verification (¥170 margin gain per transaction)
+32% completion rate — within just 2 months of release
Same-day verification — down from up to 5 days
2-minute flow — from scanning to completion
In-house SDK ownership — full control over the verification experience for future iteration
ID Verification
YEAR
2022
OVERVIEW
Redesigned Rakuten Pay's identity verification by integrating Japan's My Number Card (NFC scanning) — replacing a costly, slow third-party photo-based verification with a 2-minute, same-day, in-house solution that reduced costs by 89.5% and increased completion by 32%.
The existing KYC flow relied on a third-party service costing ¥190 per transaction
Users had to photograph their face and ID document manually — a high-friction, error-prone step
Verification took up to 5 days to complete, causing drop-offs and delayed access to payment features
The combination of high cost + long wait + awkward photo process meant users were abandoning verification entirely
PROBLEM
PROBLEM
The existing KYC flow relied on a third-party service costing ¥190 per transaction
Users had to photograph their face and ID document manually — a high-friction, error-prone step
Verification took up to 5 days to complete, causing drop-offs and delayed access to payment features
The combination of high cost + long wait + awkward photo process meant users were abandoning verification entirely
PROCESS
Competitive research — studied how competitors handled identity verification in Japan and globally
Stakeholder presentation — shared findings with team leaders and managers to build alignment on the opportunity
Gathered feedback & refined — iterated the proposal based on stakeholder input and technical constraints
Low-fidelity user testing — validated the My Number Card scanning concept with real users early
Proposed new flow — reported test results and recommended the NFC-based scanning approach
Directed UI creation — provided design specs and reviewed visual execution
High-fidelity user testing — validated the polished experience end-to-end
Final QA & delivery — confirmed development matched Figma designs pixel-for-pixel during staging
KEY DESIGN DESICION
My Number Card as the unlock — Japan introduced this card in 2016 (similar to U.S. Social Security Card) with NFC capability; we leveraged smartphone scanning to verify identity in seconds rather than days
2-minute completion, same-day results — designed the flow around speed as the core value prop, eliminating the 5-day wait entirely
Built an in-house SDK — instead of relying on third-party verification, we developed our own scanning SDK, giving us full control over cost, UX, and iteration speed
Eliminated photo-taking friction — replaced the awkward "take a selfie + photo of your ID" flow with a simple card tap, removing the most anxiety-inducing step
Data matching over visual matching — verifies information on the user's Rakuten registration against My Number Card data directly, rather than relying on human reviewers comparing photos
OUTCOME
89.5% cost reduction — from ¥190 → ¥20 per verification (¥170 margin gain per transaction)
+32% completion rate — within just 2 months of release
Same-day verification — down from up to 5 days
2-minute flow — from scanning to completion
In-house SDK ownership — full control over the verification experience for future iteration
ID Verification
YEAR
2022
OVERVIEW
Redesigned Rakuten Pay's identity verification by integrating Japan's My Number Card (NFC scanning) — replacing a costly, slow third-party photo-based verification with a 2-minute, same-day, in-house solution that reduced costs by 89.5% and increased completion by 32%.
The existing KYC flow relied on a third-party service costing ¥190 per transaction
Users had to photograph their face and ID document manually — a high-friction, error-prone step
Verification took up to 5 days to complete, causing drop-offs and delayed access to payment features
The combination of high cost + long wait + awkward photo process meant users were abandoning verification entirely
PROBLEM
PROBLEM
The existing KYC flow relied on a third-party service costing ¥190 per transaction
Users had to photograph their face and ID document manually — a high-friction, error-prone step
Verification took up to 5 days to complete, causing drop-offs and delayed access to payment features
The combination of high cost + long wait + awkward photo process meant users were abandoning verification entirely
PROCESS
Competitive research — studied how competitors handled identity verification in Japan and globally
Stakeholder presentation — shared findings with team leaders and managers to build alignment on the opportunity
Gathered feedback & refined — iterated the proposal based on stakeholder input and technical constraints
Low-fidelity user testing — validated the My Number Card scanning concept with real users early
Proposed new flow — reported test results and recommended the NFC-based scanning approach
Directed UI creation — provided design specs and reviewed visual execution
High-fidelity user testing — validated the polished experience end-to-end
Final QA & delivery — confirmed development matched Figma designs pixel-for-pixel during staging
KEY DESIGN DESICION
My Number Card as the unlock — Japan introduced this card in 2016 (similar to U.S. Social Security Card) with NFC capability; we leveraged smartphone scanning to verify identity in seconds rather than days
2-minute completion, same-day results — designed the flow around speed as the core value prop, eliminating the 5-day wait entirely
Built an in-house SDK — instead of relying on third-party verification, we developed our own scanning SDK, giving us full control over cost, UX, and iteration speed
Eliminated photo-taking friction — replaced the awkward "take a selfie + photo of your ID" flow with a simple card tap, removing the most anxiety-inducing step
Data matching over visual matching — verifies information on the user's Rakuten registration against My Number Card data directly, rather than relying on human reviewers comparing photos
OUTCOME
89.5% cost reduction — from ¥190 → ¥20 per verification (¥170 margin gain per transaction)
+32% completion rate — within just 2 months of release
Same-day verification — down from up to 5 days
2-minute flow — from scanning to completion
In-house SDK ownership — full control over the verification experience for future iteration