Ask any hotelier to describe the guest experience, and you will hear the same themes: personalisation, seamless reservation, loyalty, guest satisfaction. All these moments will be enhanced by technology. Identity verification is a step that’s often overlooked, but it’s crucial to the guest experience.
The journey is not glamorous. It’s not a part of glossy marketing campaigns, or in brand storytelling. It’s the moment when guest and brand meet face to face. In an age of fraud, compliance demands, and digital expectation, getting the identity right isn’t just about security. It gives you a competitive advantage.
Identity: A poorly managed touchpoint
Let’s look at the reality of hotel operations in general today. The identity is handled either manually (scanning a passport at front desk) of partially digitalised by fragmented systems. The process can be slow and cause friction in the best case scenario. In the worst case scenario, the process is inconsistent, vulnerable, and can lead to fraud. It damages trust even before guests reach their rooms.
Even those who have embraced remote or mobile check-in often rely on on-device biometrics or centralised databases — approaches that are increasingly showing their limitations. A system which works perfectly on an iPhone could fail at a hotel kiosk. A database that contains guest credentials can become a liability quickly if breached.
When something goes wrong, guests do not care how complex the system is. When things go wrong, guests don’t care about the complexity of the backend. They only remember when your hotel did not recognise them, did not trust them, and made them jump through hoop.
Trust has always been the foundation of hospitality. Trust is being tested now in new and different ways. Fraud is not limited to credit card fraud. The sophistication of fraud is increasing, as fake IDs and synthetic identities are increasingly used to target hotel systems. The front-desk staff is rarely trained to identify these threats.
Poor identity flows also frustrate loyal customers and add to operational costs. The friction may be subtle: an extra form, a longer wait at the front desk, or being asked to show ID twice during the same stay — but it adds up. The guest does not differentiate between “security” and “bad service”.
Hoteliers pay a price for a failing identity system in three areas: fraud, guest satisfaction and operation efficiency. For years, the industry has worked to improve revenue management, CRM and PMS tools. If identity is compromised, then everything downstream will suffer.
Building trust at the first contact point
What’s the alternative to this? Decentralised identities are one solution that is emerging. Decentralised identities are a great alternative to centralised models, which store and control guest data by the hotel.
A guest holds a digital identity on their device — verified and cryptographically secured. Guests agree to only share the information they need when booking or checking-in (for instance, if their age and facial features match but not a full ID). The hotel confirms the identity in the moment, but doesn’t store data. The process is seamless while respecting privacy and preventing fraud.
This model, when combined with advanced facial-biometrics (ideally certified liveness detection, anti-spoofing, and anti fraud to combat sophisticated identity thefts), offers something unique in hospitality technology: a win for safety, guest experience, as well as compliance.
Benefits go beyond checking in. With a verified identity, hotels can personalise service across stays, recognise guests even on third-party channels, and create secure, passwordless access to loyalty platforms and digital room keys — all without hadling guest’s IDs to third parties and therefore without compromising their own security.
It’s not just about fraud. Identity is about redefining it as a part of the customer experience. Hotels that continue to treat identity as back-office will struggle with friction and drop-off. Fraud will also increase. Hotels that invest in it and recognise its importance as a part of the guest’s trust will be better placed to meet modern traveller demands.
Over the past decade, the hospitality industry has seen a huge transformation in terms of digital technology. We’re on shaky grounds if we can’t solve our identity problem.
Identities are the foundation of the guest experience. It’s about time we give it the focus it deserves.
Pedro Torres
CEO and cofounder
Youverse
