Introducing Identity Verification on Swaphouse

When you’re deciding whether to swap, you’re not just looking at a home. You’re getting to know the person behind it. Reviews, a good chat and a video call all help. But especially with newer members who don’t have reviews yet, we kept hearing the same question: how do I know this person is who they say they are?

So we built Identity Verification. It’s optional, free for now, and it adds a new badge to your profile and home listing.

What’s new

You can now verify your identity with a short check on your phone:

• In your profile, choose Verify your identity and confirm your legal name.
• Didit, our verification partner, emails you a link. You scan your ID and take a selfie.
• Once your check is approved, the Identity Verified badge appears on your profile and home listing.

All you need is your phone and an ID card, passport or driver’s license.

Why a selfie?

Checking an ID document alone isn’t enough: anyone can hold up someone else’s. So Didit also compares your selfie with the photo on your ID, and checks that a real person is in front of the camera, not a photo or a screen. That makes it harder to pretend to be someone else.

Why we work with Didit

You might wonder: why trust Didit with your ID, and not just us?

Checking whether an ID is real takes more than a quick look. Didit is a company that specialises in exactly this. Its technology checks ID documents, compares your selfie with the photo on your ID, and looks for signs that it’s a photo or screen instead of a live person. That’s something we couldn’t build or do reliably ourselves. According to Didit, its platform is used by more than 2,000 businesses worldwide, and its security has been independently audited, including ISO 27001 certification and a SOC 2 Type II audit.

It also means we don’t need to keep copies of passports we don’t need. We only receive the result of your check. We never see your ID or selfie, and neither do other members. Didit deletes them after one month.

A signal, not a guarantee

We want the badge to stay useful, so we’re clear about what it means. It shows that someone passed an ID and selfie check. It doesn’t tell you how they’ll behave, who else will stay, or how a swap will go. It’s one more signal alongside the things that matter most: reviews, a good conversation, a video call and clear agreements.

How to get the badge

Look for “Verify your identity” in your profile. We’re making it available gradually, so you might not see it yet. In that case, ask Swaphouse Support and we’ll switch it on for you.

The full guide: how Identity Verification works

What Didit checks, what the badge does and doesn’t tell you, what happens with your data, and answers to common questions.

Want to build trust another way?

Identity Verification is about you. If you’d like a signal about your home too, read about Address Verification, our optional letter-by-mail check. We’d love to hear what you think of both, so send us your feedback any time.