**Step-up verification** is the process of triggering additional identity checks when an initial [evaluation](https://help.socure.com/riskos/docs/understanding-riskos#evaluations) can't reach a confident [decision](https://help.socure.com/riskos/docs/understanding-riskos#decisions). Instead of immediately rejecting borderline cases, the [workflow](https://help.socure.com/riskos/docs/understanding-riskos#workflows) pauses and requests further evidence from the user.

## When step-up verification triggers

Step-up verification is triggered by workflow logic — typically a [Condition step](https://help.socure.com/riskos/docs/understanding-riskos#rules--conditions) that evaluates [enrichment](https://help.socure.com/riskos/docs/understanding-riskos#enrichments) [signals](https://help.socure.com/riskos/docs/understanding-riskos#signals--attributes) and routes inconclusive cases to a verification step:

| Trigger condition                 | Step-up action                          | Example                                           |
| --------------------------------- | --------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------- |
| Identity score below threshold     | Document verification (DocV)           | "Score is 0.6 — request a government-issued ID" |
| Address can't be verified          | OTP verification                        | "Send a one-time passcode to the phone on file" |
| Device risk increases              | Selfie/liveness check                  | "Request a biometric selfie to confirm identity" |
| Fraud signals detected             | Multiple verifications                  | "Request both document capture and OTP"         |
| Inconclusive initial result        | Additional data collection              | "Prompt the user for missing PII"               |

## Step-up verification methods

| Method                      | Workflow step                      | What it verifies                                       | User interaction                                   |
| --------------------------- | ---------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------- |
| **Document Verification (DocV)** | Enrichment (Predictive DocV)      | Government-issued ID authenticity and identity match | User captures ID with camera                       |
| **OTP Verification**        | OTP step                          | User controls the phone number or email on file     | User enters a one-time code                        |
| **Selfie / liveness**      | Enrichment (DocV with selfie)    | The person presenting the ID is physically present   | User captures a selfie                              |
| **Hosted Flow**            | Hosted Flow step                  | Any combination of PII, OTP, DocV, and consent      | User completes a Socure-hosted page                |

## How step-up fits into a workflow

```
Yes

No

Evaluation starts

Run enrichments

Confident decision?

Decision: ACCEPT / REJECT

Step-up: DocV / OTP / Hosted Flow

Evaluation paused

User completes verification

Evaluation resumes

Final decision with additional signals
```

1. The evaluation runs initial enrichments and rules.
2. If the workflow reaches a confident decision, it returns immediately ( [synchronous](https://help.socure.com/riskos/docs/sync-vs-async-evaluations)).
3. If the workflow cannot decide, a step-up step pauses the evaluation ( [asynchronous](https://help.socure.com/riskos/docs/sync-vs-async-evaluations)).
4. The user completes the required verification.
5. The evaluation resumes with the new signals and reaches a final decision.

## Step-up via workflow configuration

A Decision Rules step can be configured to route inconclusive evaluations back for additional data collection. When the workflow reaches this state, your application should:

1. Prompt the user for the required information.
2. Send a `PATCH` request to `/api/evaluation/{eval_id}` with the updated data fields. The request body follows the same structure as the original `POST` request.
3. The workflow resumes from where it paused.

This is functionally equivalent to a step-up verification, but initiated by the decision logic rather than a conditional branch.

## Related concepts
- [Evaluations](https://help.socure.com/riskos/docs/understanding-riskos#evaluations) — The execution that triggers step-up
- [Decisions](https://help.socure.com/riskos/docs/understanding-riskos#decisions) — Decision values that can trigger step-up flows
- [Statuses & Lifecycle](https://help.socure.com/riskos/docs/statuses-and-lifecycle) — Step-up creates `paused` evaluation states
- [Signals & Attributes](https://help.socure.com/riskos/docs/understanding-riskos#signals--attributes) — Additional signals collected during step-up
- [Rules & Conditions](https://help.socure.com/riskos/docs/understanding-riskos#rules--conditions) — Condition logic that routes to step-up
- [Synchronous vs Asynchronous Evaluations](https://help.socure.com/riskos/docs/sync-vs-async-evaluations) — Step-up makes evaluations asynchronous
- [Hosted Flows](https://help.socure.com/riskos/docs/hosted-flow-core-concepts) — A common step-up delivery mechanism (preconfigured workflow variant)
- [Enrichments](https://help.socure.com/riskos/docs/understanding-riskos#enrichments) — DocV and OTP as enrichment-based verification methods
- [Resuming Paused Evaluations](https://help.socure.com/riskos/docs/resuming-paused-evaluations) — How to resume after step-up
- [Predictive DocV](https://help.socure.com/riskos/docs/predictive-document-verification) — Document verification enrichment
- [OTP Step Reference](https://help.socure.com/riskos/docs/otp) — OTP step configuration

Updated about 1 month ago