Does this match, or who does this SSN belong to?

The Challenge:

Identity and compliance teams can face two different SSN questions during review. Sometimes the business already has a name and SSN and needs to know whether they match. Other times, the SSN is the starting point and the team needs to research the identity information associated with it.

These are different checks with different purposes. A match confirms whether the supplied name and SSN correspond, while an SSN lookup provides broader information associated with the SSN. The right starting point depends on what the record needs to answer.

The Solutions:

Match Name and SSN (api_ssnn) checks a name and SSN pair the business already has, using either a last name with the full 9-digit SSN or a first and last name with the last 4 digits. People Search (api_ppl) takes the SSN as the starting point and returns associated identity and contact information, including names, aliases, date of birth, address history, and phone numbers. Both serve different research needs, so the workflow should use the check that matches the question being asked.