Identity verification
What will be asked of you, and when
Verification is the most tedious step of a conversion service. It cannot be removed, but it can be made predictable: knowing what will be asked, when, how long it takes and what makes a file fail avoids most of the bad surprises.
When verification triggers
The trigger is the cumulative amount converted over a rolling 30-day window. You are never verified “for nothing”: while you stay under a threshold, the next tier does not open.
| Tier | Cumulative ceiling | What the tier opens | Usual time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 — Quote only | No deposit possible | Compute a net amount, compare rails, read the limits. No deposit can be received at this tier. | Immediate |
| 1 — Light verification | €1,000 | A first order to a beneficiary in your own name, up to the tier’s rolling 30-day cumulative ceiling. | About 2 minutes |
| 2 — Standard verification | €15,000 | All rails open in your country, up to the tier’s rolling 30-day cumulative ceiling. | About 12 minutes |
| 3 — Enhanced verification | €100,000 | High amounts and deposits coming from a documented third-party counterparty. | 1 business day |
| 4 — Deep review | Case by case | A negotiated, contracted ceiling, with a named compliance point of contact. | Human review, no automation |
The cumulative total is computed over the rolling window, not per order. A EUR 900 order followed by a EUR 300 one the next day triggers the next tier: the total is what counts.
Verification policy: accepted documents, refusals, re-examinationWhat to have to hand
Five minutes of preparation avoids the most frequent refusal, which has nothing to do with your file: capture quality.
- The original document
- The physical document, not a photocopy or a screenshot of a digital version. The security features and the reflections the automated check expects do not exist on a copy.
- A phone rather than a computer
- A recent phone camera produces a far more legible capture than a laptop’s. You can start on a computer and continue on a phone: the flow switches over without starting again.
- Indirect light
- Direct frontal light creates glare on the machine-readable zone, which then becomes unreadable. Side daylight, no flash, gives the best result.
- The exact beneficiary name
- The destination account name must match the identity document. Check it before you start: a mismatch blocks the payout after the fact, which is far more painful.
- A recent proof of address, above the third tier
- Utility bill, tax notice or bank statement less than three months old, in its original format if possible. Amounts can be redacted; the address and the name must stay readable.
The journey, screen by screen
Six steps. None of them asks you to send a document by email: everything goes through the flow’s encrypted channel.
- 01
Declaration
Names, date of birth, nationality and country of residence. This information is screened against sanctions lists before the document is even captured: a file blocked at this stage saves you photographing your document for nothing.
- 02
Choice of document
Passport, national identity card or residence permit, depending on your country of residence. The flow states, for each type, how many sides to capture and what must stay visible.
- 03
Document capture
Framing is guided and a capture is refused immediately if it is blurred, cropped or too dark. That immediate refusal is good news: better to retake a photo than to wait hours for a rejection.
- 04
Liveness check
A short video sequence, a few seconds, to verify that the person in front of the lens is the one on the document. No complex gesture is required and the sequence is not kept beyond the check.
- 05
Decision
The vast majority of files are decided automatically within minutes. A file needing human review is flagged as such, with the expected time, rather than left in silent limbo.
- 06
Tier opened
The matching ceiling takes effect immediately. You do not have to restart an order already created: it resumes at the step where it stopped.
Why a file fails
The real causes, in decreasing order of frequency. None of them is final.
| Cause | What to do |
|---|---|
| Blurred, cropped or too dark photo | Retake with a phone, in side light, document flat on a plain surface. |
| Glare on the machine-readable zone | Move the light source away, tilt the document slightly, do not use the flash. |
| Expired document | Use a valid document. A date exceeded by a few days is enough to fail the automated check. |
| Screenshot of a digital document | Photograph the physical document. A screenshot carries no verifiable security feature. |
| Name different from the destination account | Correct the beneficiary details, or provide the civil status record justifying the name change. |
| Liveness check failed | Remove sunglasses, cap or mask, face a soft light source, avoid backlighting. |
| Homonym with a listed person | Nothing to do on your side: an analyst compares the date of birth and nationality to clear the doubt. You are told how long it should take. |
After verification
What changes, and what may still be asked of you later.
- The tier stays acquired
- You do not start again on every order. Verification applies to the relationship, not to the transaction.
- An expired document restarts verification
- When the verified document expires, an update is requested, even on an old and active account. That is a refresh obligation, not a challenge to you.
- A change of circumstances
- A change of country of residence, of name or of destination account: an additional verification may be requested, limited to the element that changed.
- An atypical operation
- An amount unrelated to your history, or a flagged deposit address, can trigger a source-of-funds request, even at a tier already reached.
- A refusal is not final
- You can ask for a re-examination by providing new material. The re-examination goes to someone other than the person who decided.
What becomes of your documents
The question that should be asked more often: where do the images go, who sees them, and for how long.
Document images and the liveness capture are encrypted at rest and stored separately from account data. They are accessible to compliance staff only, and every access is logged with the agent’s identity and a timestamp.
Retention is five years from the end of the business relationship. That period is imposed by anti-money-laundering rules: we can neither shorten it at your request nor extend it on our own initiative. At term, deletion is automatic.
The verification provider receives the images to run the check. It acts on documented instructions, under a compliant contractual framework, and may make no other use of them. Where that provider operates outside the European Union, the transfer is framed by the safeguards described in the privacy policy.
One last point worth saying plainly: never send an identity document by email, to us or to anyone. Email is not end-to-end encrypted and stays in two mailboxes. The verification flow is the only place to upload a document.
Frequently asked verification questions
Can I sell without verifying my identity?
Below the first tier, verification stays light: email address, phone and declared identity, with no document. Above it, an official document and a liveness check become mandatory. There is no tier at which a payout goes out with no verification at all.
How long does verification take?
The vast majority of files are decided within minutes. A file needing human review usually takes one business day, and you are told the expected time rather than left waiting.
Why ask for proof of address when I already gave my identity document?
The two documents establish different things. The identity document says who you are; the proof of address says where you live, which drives service availability, the rails on offer and the applicable regime. It is only requested from the third tier.
My file was refused. What can I do?
In most cases it comes down to capture quality and a second attempt is enough. You get three automated attempts; beyond that the file goes to human review rather than being blocked. A refusal issued after review is notified with its reason, except where the law forbids us from disclosing it.
Can I verify an account in my company’s name?
Yes. The file includes the registry extract, the articles, the ownership chain down to beneficial owners, and verification of the legal representative. The destination account must be in the company’s name: a payout to a director’s personal account is refused.
Do you use facial recognition?
The liveness check compares the capture with the document portrait to verify it is the same person. That comparison serves identity verification only: no search against a face database, no profiling, no reuse for other purposes.