Cashfree’s Smart OCR (Optical Character Recognition) simplifies document verification by using proprietary computer-vision and AI models to extract and validate data from government ID images or PDFs. It returns structured JSON with key document fields and includes built-in quality, forgery, and rule checks. Smart OCR combines OCR, fraud detection, and data extraction in a single API, enabling merchants to automate KYC, onboarding, and fraud prevention with less effort. Smart OCR supports the following document types:
  • Cancelled cheque
  • Aadhaar card
  • PAN card
  • Invoice
  • Driving license
  • Vehicle RC
  • Passport
  • Voter ID

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Use cases

The following are key use cases for the Smart OCR:
  • KYC verification: Instantly extract and verify customer details from official documents for onboarding or compliance.
  • Loan applications: Validate income and identity documents in real*time during loan processing.
  • eCommerce and fintech platforms: Speed up seller or partner registration by auto filling details from uploaded documents.
  • Gig economy platforms: Automate the document submission and verification flow for contractors or service partners.
  • Travel and hospitality: Document Verification of Passport, VISA OCR for travel bookings.
  • Gaming: Age Verification using PAN, Aadhaar OCR for legal compliance and Regulatory Adherence to meet gaming industry KYC requirements.

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Why choose Cashfree?

Cashfree’s Smart OCR is a single solution that simplifies document verification, improves accuracy, reduces costs, and helps you go live faster.
  • Single integration: Integrate once to handle different document types without managing multiple APIs. Smart OCR detects blurry or glary images, flags partial or obscured IDs, and prompts users to retake poor-quality images with clear feedback. This reduces rejections and lowers drop-offs.
  • Faster time to market: Launch your verification process faster with less development and testing effort.
  • Cost efficiency: Reduce maintenance costs with a single, streamlined API instead of managing multiple integrations.
  • Reliable accuracy: Smart OCR uses industry-grade optical character recognition for high accuracy in text extraction and validation. It achieves over 97% accuracy across supported documents, extracts structured data, and works for all document types through one API.
  • Advanced fraud and quality checks: Smart OCR automatically checks document quality and authenticity to prevent fraud and ensure reliable extraction. It detects blur, glare, partial images, black-and-white scans, and missing facial or QR information. It also flags screenshots and photos of screens to block tampered or fake documents.
    Upcoming Enhancement:
    • Document Auto Classification: Automatically identifies and categorises the document type eliminating the need to manually specify document types.

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Verifying documents with Smart OCR

Follow these steps to verify documents with Smart OCR in the Merchant Dashboard:
  1. Log in to the Merchant Dashboard using your registered credentials.
  2. In the left navigation panel, go to KYC Studio and select Smart OCR.
  3. Select the document type:
    • Open the Document type dropdown.
    • Select the type of document to verify, such as:
      • PAN card
      • Aadhaar card
      • Voter ID
      • Vehicle registration certificate (RC)
      • Driving licence
      • Passport
  4. Select Upload Image and choose the file from your system. Upload guidelines:
    • Maximum file size: 5 MB
    • Supported formats: .png, .jpeg, .jpg
    • Upload the side that contains all critical information, such as the photo and ID number.
  5. Select Verify to start the OCR process. When the process completes, the dashboard displays:
    • Extracted data
    • Validation results
    • Document quality and forgery analysis
Performing Smart OCR
For details on the Smart OCR API and error codes, refer to the Smart OCR API.