[Partners]: Helpful Tips to Complete EPCS Identity Proofing (IDP)

This article provides a list of helpful tips to complete your EPCS Identity Proofing (IDP) for providers. 

Tip 1 

The information asked for during EPCS Identity Proofing (IDP) is pulled directly from your Experian credit report. You will need to input an exact match in each field when going through IDP.  To view your credit details, you may request a free credit report, click here. 

DrFirst cannot alter any information that is reported on your credit report.  

Tip 2 

If you believe there is an inaccuracy with your credit report, click here. 

Tip 3

If there is a period in the provider’s name, it will cause automatic failure when the provider attempts Identity proofing (IDP). DrFirst currently uses Experian who doesn’t accept periods. There should not be any periods included when the provider is entering their information.

If the provider has a period in their name like the example: M. Anna Smith. Please have the provider update the NPI registry to remove the period from their name as the will not be able to pass. The provider can put the period back once they have completed the IDP step.  NPI Registry

Tip 4

DrFirst recommends at least two tokens are associated with your EPCS account.  Otherwise, your information and EPCS status will not be saved, and you will have to restart the registration process.  Click here to learn more. 

Tip 5

Depending on your token's brand (e.g., Symantec, Onespan) and whether it's an application or a physical device, you will format the serial number differently when you associate token(s) to your account. 

The Serial Number is found on the back of your physical token.  The Serial Number Format is:

Tip 6

You may attempt to pass IDP 3 times in a 24-hour period. 

• After 3 attempts, your account will be locked for the full 24-hour period. 
• This is an Experian security measure and cannot be unlocked.

Tip 7

When going through the Identity Proofing portion of the EPCS enrollment, we recommend that you only enter the required information plus the optional field for your mobile phone.   

Once you enter these fields, click I Agree, and the process will take you to 3 or 4 financial-based questions pulled from your Experian credit report. You will have 5 minutes to answer; otherwise, your session will time out and the process will fail. 

Tip 8

Fraud Alert does not need to be removed from your account before going through EPCS Identity Proofing (IDP). To complete IDP with a fraud alert in place, complete optional fields as well as required fields. 

Tip 9 

If you do not pass after only entering the fields stated in Tip 5, then try again and fill in these additional fields: 

• Credit Card Number  
  • Visa or Mastercard – only the first 8 digits are required, and it can't be a business credit card or personal debit card. 
• Driver's License State 
• Driver's License Number  
  • Numbers first, class letter capitalized at the end 

Tip 10

If you still cannot pass and are not presented with IDP questions, it could mean a few things: 

• You've moved within the last 6 years, and Experian’s Best on File address isn’t the current address you are living at. You will need to dispute with Experian to update their Best on File address.
• Your address is misspelled. You will need to dispute with Experian to update the information. Ensure entering your address during IDP to leave out any special characters or periods (Ex. 1 E. Main St. Apt. # 204 - enter as 1 E Main St Apt 204).
• Your financials are tied to a PO box rather than your residential address. In this case, you will need to put your address as the PO Box address. PO Box is a valid address for EPCS registration.  
• Your information in Experian is not fully listed (the issue may be that your DOB or Social Security Number is not present on your profile). 

Tip 11

Experian is unable to validate non-US addresses (Canada, outside of the US), therefore all providers must have a US address tied to your financials to go through EPCS IDP.