Kamer van Koophandel (KvK)

The Dutch Chamber of Commerce (KvK, from Dutch “Kamer van Koophandel”) offers a lookup service that makes it possible to check if a specific natural person has a legal mandate that allows them to represent a specific organization in the Netherlands. Through Signicat, this service is provided as a plugin and in combination with iDIN, an eID method which is used to authenticate the person’s identity in the first place. KvK lookups can be used to expand the functionality of iDIN in a variety of situations; for instance, if a merchant needs to close a contract with another company, KvK can be used to verify that the person signing the contract has the legal right to do so.

One of the advantages of using KvK through Signicat is that, by integrating towards the Signicat Identity Platform, you will be able to use not just KvK, but also all the other lookups, eID methods and other services offered by Signicat. Additionally, since KvK is used in combination with iDIN, the likelihood of errors being introduced during the identity verification process is lowered. However, the main advantage of using KvK through Signicat is that all the necessary verifications that must normally be done manually are automated. Since there are a lot of variables that can affect the outcome of the verification, automating this process is a great step towards improved efficiency.

KvK lookups can be very useful in B2B contexts. For instance, when a company is hired by another company to conduct accounting-related activities. In this sort of scenario, where contracts need to be signed, it is important to ensure that the person who signs has a relevant legal mandate. Using KvK through Signicat makes this process convenient for both parties, especially considering the complexity of the validation that must be carried out.