The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) on Wednesday launched the Aadhaar Face Authentication SDK and Aadhaar Face Authentication Sandbox at the Global Fintech Fest 2026, making it easier for banks, fintech companies and other ecosystem partners to integrate and test Aadhaar-based face authentication within their digital applications.
The new tools are expected to simplify the authentication journey for users, particularly in the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector, where Aadhaar Face Authentication can be used as part of multi-factor authentication requirements.
The Aadhaar Face Authentication SDK brings UIDAI’s face authentication capability directly into native Android and iOS applications. This eliminates the need for users to switch between multiple applications and enables authentication to be completed within the banking, insurance, brokerage or fintech app itself.
The ready-to-use SDK is designed to simplify integration for organisations while incorporating AI/ML-based liveness detection and anti-spoofing capabilities. It also supports secure handling and encryption of authentication data and is designed to operate across consumer smartphones.
UIDAI said the SDK will help government departments, banks, fintech companies and other organisations deploy face-authentication-enabled services more efficiently.
Alongside the SDK, UIDAI launched the Aadhaar Face Authentication Sandbox, providing organisations with a secure and controlled environment to integrate, test and validate the complete face authentication process before moving to production.
Developers and quality assurance teams can use the Sandbox to test various stages of the authentication journey, including user provisioning and consent, face capture, liveness checks, authentication, error handling and response validation. The system also allows organisations to test failure scenarios such as invalid digital signatures, network interruptions, timeouts and spoofing attempts without requiring external biometric hardware.
The launch addresses a longstanding requirement of the banking and fintech ecosystem for a simpler and more seamless customer onboarding process.
Earlier, users seeking to complete Aadhaar Face Authentication through a banking or fintech application generally needed the separate FaceRD app to facilitate the process. This meant users had to depend on an additional application during onboarding.
With the new SDK, users can complete Aadhaar Face Authentication directly within the service provider’s application, reducing the need to download and switch between multiple apps.
Over 500 crore face authentication transactions processed
UIDAI’s indigenous AI/ML-powered Face Authentication technology was launched in 2021 and has since processed more than 500 crore transactions.
The technology has been adopted by nearly 200 entities, including Union government ministries and departments, state governments, banks, non-banking financial companies, telecom operators, brokerage firms and certifying authorities.
The solution received the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in Public Administration 2023 in the Innovation category.
Aadhaar Face Authentication is currently used for a range of public and financial services. These include submission of Digital Life Certificates under Jeevan Pramaan, Ayushman Bharat beneficiary onboarding, Direct Benefit Transfer schemes, Aadhaar-enabled payments, SIM activation through e-KYC and beneficiary authentication for schemes such as PM e-Drive, PM Awas Yojana and PM-Kisan.
UIDAI unveils onboarding playbook
UIDAI also unveiled a “Playbook on Ease of Onboarding” at the event. The guide is intended to help BFSI organisations understand and navigate the process of joining the UIDAI authentication ecosystem.
The playbook will serve as a reference for entities seeking to use Aadhaar-based identity verification for customers, employees and other business partners.
The launch of the SDK, Sandbox and onboarding playbook is expected to further strengthen Aadhaar-based digital authentication while making the user experience more seamless for India’s rapidly expanding fintech and financial services ecosystem.
