The online dating market may be facing a new, higher standard for user trust. The dating app Smitten has announced a partnership with digital identity firm Signicat. The collaboration will make Smitten the first dating app to introduce user verification via a national electronic identity (eID).
The move is a direct response to the fake profiles, scams and catfishing that plague the industry, a problem now exacerbated by the rise of sophisticated deception from generative AI. The partnership will integrate Swedish BankID into the Smitten app, a high-trust, bank-grade eID used by 99.9 percent of the adult population in Sweden. This will allow users to verify both their legal identity and their age.
This integration fundamentally redefines “verification” in the dating space. The current industry standard, such as biometric liveness checks, only proves a user is a real person who looks like their photos; it does not stop a “real” person who is a scammer. Smitten’s use of BankID, however, provides true, legal identity verification, proving “you are who you say you are”. This will create a two-tiered system where verified users can opt to interact only with other verified profiles, creating a trusted, bank-grade ecosystem. Smitten is betting that this high level of safety is a primary feature that will differentiate it from its competitors.
Sources: Signicat, Global Dating Insights
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
