What: You can now reopen check requests that were accidentally closed or cancelled — as long as they haven't been fully completed yet.
Why it matters: Mistakes happen. If a check was closed too early or a candidate re-engages after cancellation, you no longer need to create a brand-new request. Reopening restores the original check with a fresh 10-day deadline, reactivates any references that were marked inactive, and automatically re-deducts the appropriate credits. Everything picks up right where it left off.
What: The system now tracks whether candidate and reference email addresses are actually deliverable. If an email bounces (hard or soft), the system automatically marks it as undeliverable and stops attempting future sends to that address.
Why it matters: Bounced emails wastes time and resources. With this update, the platform protects email deliverability by skipping known bad addresses, while still attempting SMS as a fallback.
What: Owners and Administrators can now revoke pending invitations and re-invite users after revocation, all from the User Management page.
Why it matters: No more waiting for expired invitations to time out. If you sent an invite to the wrong email or need to re-invite a teammate, you have full control.
What: Manual credit orders are now excluded from automatic expiration, and issues with payment status automatic updates have been resolved.
Why it matters: Manual orders and retry flows are now more stable, with fewer unexpected cancellations or duplicate charges.
What: Emails sent to candidates and references now include the Check Request ID or Reference ID in the recipient name field.
Why it matters: This makes it easier to track which check an email belongs to — especially helpful when candidates have multiple checks in progress.
Instead of receiving a frustrating, generic "Verification Failed" message, applicants will now see a precise, actionable breakdown of exactly what went wrong. The system will pinpoint the specific issue, such as:
Name Mismatches: The name on the ID does not match the name entered in the profile.
Expiry Issues: The document provided has expired or is nearing its expiration date.
No Birth Date on ID: The document provided doesnt have a birth date, which is required for validation.
No Address on ID: The document provided doesnt have an address, which is required for validation.
Image Quality Problems: The photo was too blurry, suffered from glare, or the edges of the ID were cut off.
This clear feedback gives applicants an immediate roadmap for what they need to correct before hitting re-submit.
Reduces User Frustration: Nothing kills a user's momentum faster than a vague error message. Giving them the exact reason for the failure removes the guesswork and lowers anxiety.
Drives Higher Completion Rates: When users know exactly how to fix a mistake, they are far more likely to retry immediately rather than abandoning the onboarding process entirely.
If an applicant encounters technical glitches with their device's live camera, has restrictive browser permission settings, or is using an older device with a malfunctioning camera, they are no longer stuck. While the secure, live camera flow remains the default experience, applicants can now opt to upload an existing, high-quality photo of their ID directly from their device’s photo library.
Accessibility and Inclusivity: Device hardware and browser permissions shouldn't be a barrier to entry. This fallback option ensures that users on older devices or restrictive browsers can still complete their verification.
Convenience and Flexibility: Users who already have pristine, pre-scanned copies of their documents saved on their devices can bypass the hassle of finding physical cards and lining up the perfect live shot.
Maintains Security with Better UX: By keeping the live camera as the primary route, the system prioritizes anti-fraud measures, while the upload alternative ensures no legitimate user is left behind due to a technicality.
We're excited to announce the release of Smile Checks v2 — a major update to the portal with new workflows, smarter payment handling, improved security, and a significantly more polished experience across the board.
Reopen closed & cancelled requests — Check requests that were closed or cancelled can now be reopened, resuming the verification workflow without creating a duplicate.
Cancel vs. Close distinction — The system now intelligently distinguishes between cancelling a request (no work done) and closing it (partially completed), and routes refunds accordingly.
Reference editing with re-invitation — References can be edited inline. If a reference has an active invitation link, resending is triggered automatically on save.
Add-on checks enriched with pricing — When viewing a check request, add-on checks now display their price list data for full cost transparency.
Contact type now includes Email — Reference invitations can be sent via email, SMS, or both, with an improved contact type selector.
Guard against invalid add-reference flows — The UI now blocks attempts to add references to requests that are in an invalid state.
Reference invitation blocking on terminal checks — Sending new reference invitations is now blocked when the parent check request has already reached a terminal status.
Dynamic report type options — Available report types are now driven by the check types selected on the request, with short name support for cleaner display.
"Other" report type gated on full fulfillment — The catch-all "Other" report type is only available after all required check types have been fulfilled.
Auto-completion on report upload — Uploading the final report now automatically reflects completion across references and triggers a status refresh without a page reload.
Expected reports quantity tracking — The system now tracks the expected number of reports per request, enabling more accurate progress and completion logic.
Atomic credit deduction with rollback — Credit deductions are now performed atomically. If the deduction succeeds but downstream allocation fails, credits are automatically rolled back.
Weighted refunds on cancel/close — Refunds are calculated based on undelivered check types only, capped against actual debits logged — no over-refunding.
Reopen re-deduction — Reopening a closed request re-deducts the appropriate credits symmetrically with the original refund.
Stacked package + referral discounts — Package discounts and referral discounts now stack multiplicatively, with referral taking priority under the exclusive discount rule.
Low credit alerts — Users are now notified when available credits drop to 10 or below after a check request is created.
Credits overview dashboard — A new Credits Overview component gives a clear summary of available, pending, and used credits.
Pre-flight email check on signup — The signup flow now validates email status before account creation, surfacing conflicts or existing accounts early.
OTP verification with expired link handling — App-side OTP verification now gracefully handles expired magic links with a clear re-send prompt.
Redirect-based password reset — Password reset now uses a redirect flow instead of a modal, improving reliability across email clients.
Terms & privacy policy acceptance — Users are now required to accept the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy at signup, with consent tracked in the database.
Referral bonus credits on signup — New companies that sign up via a referral link are automatically awarded referral bonus credits.
KYB setup tracking — Company setup start events are now logged for onboarding visibility.
Dynamic company branding in emails — Notification emails now use the sending company's logo and brand name instead of a static template.
Billing emails on manual order events — Billing notification emails are sent automatically when a manual order is cancelled or fulfilled.
Partner assignment emails — An email is now fired when a partner is assigned to a check request.
Hourly reminder cron — Overdue and pending reference invitations are now nudged on an hourly schedule.
SMS support for reference invitations — Reference invitations can now be delivered via SMS in addition to email.
Bulk initiation email/SMS fix — CSV-imported checks now reliably send candidate invitation emails and SMS (a prior silent failure has been resolved).
Partner assignment revocation — Admins can now revoke a partner's assignment to a check request directly from the request view.
Automated account lifecycle transitions — Portal company accounts now transition through statuses automatically based on setup progress and payment state.
Auto-close overdue checks — Check requests that have been open past their deadline are now automatically closed by a scheduled cron job.
Hard batch limit enforcement — CSV imports now enforce a strict row limit with a clear error, replacing the previous silent truncation behavior.
Integration API webhook — A new webhook-check-update endpoint lets third-party systems receive real-time check status updates.
API rate limits — The integration API now enforces per-key rate limits.
Timezone-aware date formatting — All date displays across the portal now respect the user's detected or selected timezone.
Automatic timezone detection — User profiles now auto-detect and pre-select the correct timezone on first login.
This release reflects months of work hardening the platform's correctness, payment safety, and workflow completeness. Thank you to everyone who reported issues and provided feedback — it directly shaped this release.
Smile Checks v2 is a complete reimagination of the platform — rebuilt from the ground up with a new interface, smarter workflows, and the tools growing teams actually need. Here's what's new.
A brand-new interface — light mode and dark mode The entire portal has been redesigned with a clean, modern UI that works the way your team does. Every screen has been rebuilt for clarity and speed, with a consistent design system across all roles and devices. Switch between light and dark mode to suit your environment.
Streamlined check request workflows Creating and managing background checks is faster than ever. A guided 3-step flow takes you from candidate details to check selection to submission — with smarter defaults, inline validation, and improved search and filter controls throughout.
Collect all reports in one place Upload and manage every verification report directly in the portal — identity checks, employment history, reference letters, and more. Reports are attached to the relevant check request, visible to the right people, and tracked automatically against expected completions.
Role-based access control — built for teams Invite your entire team and assign the right level of access to each person. v2 introduces a full multi-user, multi-role system: Admins, Managers, Partners, and more — each with their own permissions, views, and guardrails enforced at every layer.
CSV import — bulk actions in seconds Submit dozens of check requests at once using a CSV upload. Define your candidates, select check types, and initiate the whole batch in a single action. Built-in validation catches errors before submission.
Company setup and onboarding A step-by-step onboarding flow gets new companies live faster, with guided KYB setup, automatic account status transitions, and in-app help via the Zoho ASAP widget. Referral bonuses are applied automatically at signup.
Multi-timezone support Every date and time across the portal is displayed in the viewer's local timezone, auto-detected on first login and adjustable from the user profile. No more mental timezone math.
Easier credit purchasing The credits experience has been completely redesigned. Buy credits in fewer steps, see your balance and transaction history at a glance, and get alerted automatically when your balance runs low.
PHP and USD currency support Purchase credits and pay for checks in Philippine Peso (PHP) or US Dollars (USD) — whichever works for your team and billing setup.
Multiple payment methods Pay via card, bank transfer, or other supported methods depending on your region. Currency mismatch errors are surfaced clearly, and failed payments can be retried without losing your check request.
API access, easy integration, and MCP support Connect Smile Checks to your ATS, HRIS, or internal tools via the REST API. The v2 API includes webhook support for real-time status updates, per-key rate limits, full OpenAPI documentation, and support for MCP — making it easy to integrate with AI-powered hiring workflows.
16+ check types All the verification types your team depends on are available — identity, employment, education, reference, criminal, and more — individually or bundled.
Migration from v1 All your existing data from v1 has been migrated. Your check history, candidate records, company settings, and credit balances carry over automatically.
Automated checks Configure checks to run automatically on key triggers — no manual initiation required once set up.
Automated reminders References and candidates receive automatic follow-up reminders on a scheduled cadence so nothing stalls waiting on a response.
Credit-based usage Pay only for what you use. Credits are deducted atomically at the time of check initiation, with a full audit trail of every transaction.
Transparent pricing See exactly what each check type costs before you submit. No hidden fees, no surprise charges.
Fair refunds for unused credits If a check request is cancelled or closed before completion, unused credits are refunded automatically — calculated precisely against the work that was actually done.
Smile Checks v2 is live now. If you have questions about migrating, pricing, or getting your team set up, reach out to support or visit the help center.