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What’s the Difference Between Duplicate Detection and Similarity Check in Veryfi?

Duplicate detection vs Similarity check

Updated this week

When processing documents with Veryfi, you may come across two different features: Duplicate Detection and Similarity Check. While both help prevent duplicate or fraudulent submissions, they serve different purposes.

Duplicate Detection

  • Purpose: To identify if a document has already been processed before.

  • How it works: Veryfi compares key fields:

    • Date

    • Vendor Name

    • Total Amount

    • Invoice Number

If all of these match a previously processed document, the new one is flagged as a duplicate.

👉 Example:
You upload the same invoice twice. Since all four fields match, Veryfi will detect it as a duplicate and flag it.



Similarity Check

  • Purpose: To identify documents that are not exactly the same, but highly similar.

  • How it works: Veryfi uses a configurable threshold (e.g., 90%, 95%) to measure how similar a new document is compared to previously processed ones.

  • Use case: Mainly for fraud detection, especially in scenarios like loyalty programs.

👉 Example:
A user submits a receipt to claim a reward. Later, they digitally change the total or the date and resubmit it. Since the values differ, it will not be caught by duplicate detection. However, the Similarity Check will flag it as highly similar to the original, signaling potential fraud.


Quick Comparison

Feature

What it Detects

How it Works

Example Use Case

Duplicate Detection

Exact duplicate documents

Matches Date, Vendor Name, Total, Invoice #

Prevent double uploads

Similarity Check

Near-duplicate / altered documents

Checks similarity based on configurable %

Fraud prevention (e.g., modified receipts)


In summary:

  • Use Duplicate Detection to prevent accidental resubmissions of the same document.

  • Use Similarity Check to catch intentional or unintentional submissions of documents that are nearly identical but not exact.

Just so you know: Similarity Check is part of our Fraud Suite. If you don’t see it in your account, please reach out to [email protected], we’ll be happy to help you get it set up.​

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