How a Company in New York Solved Manual ID Verification Taking 14+ Hours Weekly Using n8n

Handling identity verification manually is a time-consuming and error-prone process for many companies. 📋 A fast-growing fintech startup based in New York faced this exact challenge, spending over 14 hours each week processing ID verifications manually. This case study reveals how leveraging n8n workflows significantly streamlined their operations, reduced human error, and improved overall efficiency.

In this article, you will learn the step-by-step approach RestFlow took to analyze the client’s operations, design an automation workflow, integrate multiple services, and deliver measurable business impact. We also cover technical details, error handling, security, scalability, and monitoring best practices.

Whether you are a startup CTO, automation engineer, or operations specialist, this case study offers practical insights and real examples for building ID verification automations using modern tools like n8n. Explore the Automation Template Marketplace to jumpstart your own projects.

The Problem: Manual ID Verification Consuming 14+ Hours Weekly

The client is a New York-based fintech startup specializing in online lending solutions. Their Operations team handled identity verification for all new loan applicants to meet regulatory compliance requirements.

Before automation, their verification process was entirely manual: team members would download ID documents from email, cross-check details against various databases, update Google Sheets records, and notify other teams via Slack. This repetitive work consumed around 14 hours each week.

Major pain points included:

• High manual workload: Staff spent valuable time on repetitive copy-paste activities rather than higher-value tasks.
• Errors and omissions: Manual entry led to data inconsistencies, increasing risk of compliance issues.
• Visibility gaps: Management lacked real-time insights into verification status.
• Slow turnaround: Customer onboarding delays affected satisfaction and revenue.

Eliminating these inefficiencies was critical for scaling securely and improving operational excellence.

Our Approach: Discovering and Designing the Automation Solution

RestFlow began by conducting detailed process mapping workshops with the client’s operations and compliance teams. We visualized every step from document receipt to verification approval.

Key systems identified included:

• Gmail for receiving ID document attachments.
• Google Sheets as the central tracking database.
• Slack for internal notifications.
• Third-party API services for ID data validation.

After evaluating options like Zapier, Make, and n8n, we chose n8n for its open-source flexibility, customization capacity, and native support for conditional logic.

We proposed an end-to-end automated workflow with a webhook trigger for incoming emails, data validation steps, update actions to Google Sheets, and Slack alerts.

The architecture emphasized modularity, error handling, and extensibility to allow future integrations and scalability.

The Solution: Architecture & Workflow

Global Architecture Overview

The core components of the automation include:

• Trigger: Incoming emails to a designated mailbox monitored via Gmail API with webhook support.
• Orchestrator: n8n workflow running on RestFlow’s managed cloud platform.
• External services integrated:
  • Gmail API for email retrieval.
  • Google Sheets for data storage and updates.
  • Slack API for notification messages.
  • ID verification third-party API for validation and enrichment.
• Outputs: Updated tracking spreadsheets, Slack alerts to compliance teams, and laporan (reports) for management dashboards.

End-to-End Workflow Walkthrough

The workflow operates as follows:

1. Email Trigger: New incoming email on the verification inbox triggers n8n webhook.
2. Attachment Extraction: Parse email body and extract attached ID documents (PDF, JPG).
3. Data Validation: Send extracted data/images to an ID verification API for automated validation.
4. Google Sheets Update: Append verification results and metadata to a centralized sheet tracking applicant statuses.
5. Slack Notification: Send detailed messages with verification outcome to the compliance team Slack channel.
6. Decision Logic: If verification fails or requires manual review, trigger alternative workflows or escalate.

Step-By-Step Node Breakdown 🚀

1. Gmail New Email Trigger Node

This node uses the Gmail trigger to listen for new mail in the verification inbox.
Key configuration: Filter to only process emails with attachment types PDF, JPG, PNG.
Output: JSON email metadata and attachment data passed to next node.

2. Attachment Parser Node 📄

Extracts ID document files from the email payload.
Details: Stores decoded base64 files to temporary storage.
Output: File URLs sent to the verification API call.

3. ID Verification API Call Node

Calls the third-party ID verification service REST API.
Input: File URLs of ID document.
Headers: API key with limited scopes.
Output: JSON response with verification status, confidence scores, and extracted metadata.

4. Google Sheets Node 🗂️

Updates the tracking sheet with applicant info and verification results.
Fields: Applicant name, email, verification status, timestamp.
Logic: Adds new rows or updates existing entries based on unique application ID.

5. Slack Notification Node 💬

Sends alert messages to the compliance Slack channel.
Message content: Applicant details and verification outcome.
Conditional: Includes additional text for flagged cases needing review.

6. Conditional Branching Node

Checks the verification API response.
Criteria: status equals ‘approved’ or ‘rejected’.
Action: Approved results proceed to update sheets, rejections notify manual review queue.

Error Handling, Robustness & Security

Error Handling and Retries

The workflow uses n8n’s built-in retry on failure settings with exponential backoff for API calls.

Failures are logged to a dedicated Google Sheet “Error Log” with detailed error messages.

Slack alerts notify ops teams if errors exceed thresholds.

Logging and Observability

Every workflow run logs metadata including timestamps, duration, and outcomes.

Run history is monitored daily to identify patterns or bottlenecks.

Idempotency and Deduplication

Using unique IDs from emails and application forms, the workflow avoids duplicate processing by querying Google Sheets before inserts.

This ensures data integrity and prevents repeated notifications.

Security and Data Protection

API keys and tokens are secured using n8n’s credential store with environment variable encryption.

Access to the workflow and its nodes is role-restricted.

All Personally Identifiable Information (PII) is handled in compliance with GDPR and industry best practices.

Only the necessary API scopes are granted to minimize risk.

Performance, Scaling & Extensibility

The architected solution supports scaling to hundreds of verification requests per day.

Scaling techniques include:

• Using webhooks over polling for near real-time triggers reducing latency.
• Batch processing and concurrency settings to handle high volume.
• Modular workflow splitting for independent updates and testing.
• Adding new tools (e.g., CRM integrations) seamlessly via additional nodes.

RestFlow’s managed hosting ensures stable uptime and load balancing for peak periods.

Comparison Tables

n8n vs Make vs Zapier for ID Verification Automation

Platform	Cost	Pros	Cons
n8n	Open source, free tier; paid managed plans	Highly customizable UI, self-host option, strong API integration	Requires technical setup, less marketplace apps than others
Make	Starts from $9/month	Visual building, advanced scenario tools, large app connector library	Complexity grows with volume, advanced pricing tiers
Zapier	Starts from $19.99/month	Wide app support, simple UI, popular for small automations	Limited conditional logic, higher cost for complex tasks

Webhook vs Polling for Email Triggers

Method	Latency	Resource Usage	Pros	Cons
Webhook	Near real-time	Low	Efficient, event driven, instant processing	Setup complexity, supported only by some services
Polling	Depends on poll interval (e.g. 1 min)	Higher	Simple to implement	Latency, unnecessary API calls

Google Sheets vs Database for Tracking Verification

Option	Setup Complexity	Cost	Pros	Cons
Google Sheets	Low	Free/Low cost	Easy collaboration, familiar UI	Limited scalability, concurrency issues
Cloud Database (e.g. PostgreSQL)	Medium	Varies based on usage	Scalable, ACID compliant, supports complex queries	Requires DB management skills

Results and Business Impact

Following implementation, the client saw significant improvements:

• Time reduction: Manual ID verification time dropped from 14+ hours to under 2 hours per week. An 85% reduction in manual effort. [Source: to be added]
• Error rate: Data inconsistencies caused by manual entry fell by over 75%.
• Faster SLAs: Verification completion times improved from 24 hours to under 4 hours on average.
• Visibility: Real-time Slack alerts and Google Sheets dashboards offered transparency to managers.
• Employee experience: Operations team shifted focus to exception handling and customer communication rather than repetitive tasks.

The automation freed resources for strategic priorities and lowered compliance risk.

Pilot Phase & Ongoing Maintenance Disclaimer

To ensure reliability, RestFlow conducted an extensive pilot phase running the automation alongside manual checks using controlled real data.

During the pilot, minor bugs, edge cases, and workflow tweaks were addressed to improve robustness.

After successful validation, we transitioned to full production with managed hosting, continuous monitoring, alerts, and maintenance handled by RestFlow.

This stable long-term partnership ensures high uptime, security updates, and adaptability to evolving client needs.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Automating manual ID verification that consumed over 14 hours weekly transformed this New York fintech startup’s operations. Using n8n orchestrated workflows, the client achieved faster processing, error reduction, and better team productivity.

RestFlow’s end-to-end Automation-as-a-Service approach—from design and implementation to hosting and maintenance—enabled a smooth transition to scalable, secure automation.

If your team faces similar manual bottlenecks, consider leveraging automation to unlock efficiency and compliance benefits. Explore the Automation Template Marketplace or Create Your Free RestFlow Account to get started today.