Liquid is supplying chip-and-face identity verification to NTT Docomo shops and authorized retailers across Japan. The gradually deployed service reads information from an identity document’s chip and compares its stored portrait with a face image captured in the shop.
The rollout began on August 20. Covered procedures include new mobile contracts, changes of account ownership, succession and reissuance of SIM or eSIM credentials. Liquid says the method addresses stricter in-person verification rules scheduled to take effect in April 2027 under Japan’s law against unauthorized mobile phone use.
The process also verifies electronic signatures on My Number cards through Cybertrust’s iTrust library. Information read from the chip is passed to the contract system, which Liquid says reduces registration errors from manual data entry and helps standardize verification work across stores.
Liquid’s existing relationship with Docomo includes identity checks for its online shop, d Payment and bike-sharing service. The in-store implementation extends its verification technology to face-to-face mobile account procedures.
The service uses Liquid PAD, the company’s anti-spoofing technology, which is designed to detect presentation attacks involving photos or videos, injected camera imagery and deepfakes. Liquid says the combined checks are intended to deter contracts made with forged identity documents, altered card surfaces or impersonation. It describes the in-store rollout as a response to the 2027 rule change and as an early step ahead of wider industry demand.
Liquid began supplying verification for the Docomo Online Shop in 2021 and added the d Payment service in 2023. In July 2025, it introduced chip-and-face online verification for ahamo, Docomo’s online-only mobile plan. Outside Docomo, its chip-based deployments include identity checks for Japan Post parcel lockers and the Machi Pay app.
The Docomo services previously used a method that compared a photograph of an identity document with the user’s face. That approach, an earlier verification route under the mobile phone fraud law, was abolished by an ordinance revision that took effect on April 1, 2026.
Liquid PAD received an official confirmation letter under the ISO/IEC 30107 presentation attack detection standard in January 2026. ELEMENTS, Liquid’s parent group, says it has carried out 150 million identity verifications and has more than 700 corporate customers. ELEMENTS is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth market.
Sources: Liquid
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By the ID Tech Editorial Team
