Credas tests first wallet for property compliance checks

Credas has completed its first live identity verification and compliance check for a real estate transaction through a digital identity wallet. The UK-based identity verification company, which was recently acquired by SmartSearch, is also celebrating processing five million people a year.

Credas’ Compliance Wallet holds verified consumer identities and compliance credentials and shares them with real estate agents and conveyancers. The first transaction was conducted in partnership with residential property conveyancing firm Dezrez.

While the tool is rolling out in the property market, it is designed to be used across regulated industries, while Credas is also planning to integrate it with the forthcoming UK digital driver’s license and the GOV.UK Wallet.

“This first live use with Dezrez demonstrates exactly how the Credas Compliance Wallet will transform the way our industry manages trust, identity, and compliance going forward,” says Credas CEO Tim Barnett.

Credas says that the wallet is the first of its kind in the world and is designed to both speed up property transactions and prevent fraud. Currently, property buyers and vendors need to perform the same compliance checks 5.4 times on average for a single transaction. The reusable identity within the wallet cuts that to just one check, according to the firm.

Compliance checks include Political Exposed Persons (PEPs), sanctions screening, Anti-Money Laundering (AML) checks, digital address verification and ongoing monitoring.

The company’s new product comes on the heels of a surge in ID verification. During 2025, Credas increased its customer base by over 40 percent, according to figures released in December.

The rise was boosted by last year’s increase in  regulation related to identity verification, which will continue throughout 2026.

One of these regulations is mandatory identity verification for company directors and people with significant control (PSCs). Last year, Credas launched the Director ID wallet to help directors and PSCs to verify their identity with Companies House.

The product was integrated by Bright, an accounting and bookkeeping software maker with 500,000 customers.

​“With reforms on the horizon, Credas is well-positioned to help the market adapt with confidence,” says Barnett.

The company also released a payments feature that can be integrated directly into the AML and ID verification process and an identity and compliance workflow for letting agents. The workflow was created to help agents screen all tenants and landlords for potential sanction breaches, which was also made mandatory last year.

Credas is part of a group of lending, conveyancing and real estate agent firms working on digitizing the UK property market as part of the Open Property Data Association (OPDA) and the Future Property Transaction Group. The firm is certified as a “very high-level” Identity Service Provider under the UK Government Trust Framework.

Article Topics

Credas  |  digital ID  |  digital wallets  |  identity verification  |  real estate  |  SmartSearch  |  UK digital ID