Introducing Knowledge Based Authentication

What KBA actually does

KBA presents the signer with a short set of single-choice questions drawn from public-record data before they can sign and complete the document. The questions cover things like previous addresses, phone numbers associated with their name, or other details that only the real person would reasonably know.

Common scenarios include:

• IRS Form 8879 and other tax filings that explicitly require identity verification beyond email.
• Financial agreements where impersonation could lead to material loss.
• Real estate disclosures signed remotely by parties who may never meet in person.

How it works inside DocuSeal

Once the add-on is enabled on your account, drag and drop the KBA field type onto the document page in the template editor. From that point, every signer on that template goes through verification before they can sign and complete the document.

The flow looks like this:

1. A signer opens the signing link and fills in the document fields as usual.
2. Before completing the submission, a KBA challenge appears with knowledge-based single-choice questions.
3. 90 seconds are given to answer the questions. If the answers are incorrect, up to 3 attempts are allowed before the submission is canceled.

The entire verification typically takes under a minute.

Pricing

KBA is available as a Pro plan add-on at $2 per verification attempt. There is no monthly minimum and no commitment. You pay for each attempt, so if a signer retries, each attempt is billed separately.

Getting started

KBA is available now for DocuSeal Pro accounts. To enable it, reach out to support@docuseal.com and we will switch it on for your account.

Once it is active, open any template, go to preferences, and turn on the KBA toggle. Your next signing request on that template will include the verification step automatically.

If you want a more detailed walkthrough, including screenshots of every step, check out the KBA setup guide.