Watch out for a scam by Stripe.

[easyhostmedia]

So Stripe are saying in then UK photo ID is required to continue using their services otherwise that cannot send any money to you bank account.
Fine, so i tell then i dont have any photo ID and its not a legal requirement in then UK for everyone to have photo ID.
Then told me this

Hi Terry,

We're able to accept a copy of a birth certificate and an official letter showing the user's legal name and home address (e.g. a utility bill or bank statement) over email in lieu of a photo ID.

The reason we require a photo ID is to ensure the highest safety of our users accounts. Stripe is legally required to complete what's called a KYC (Know Your Customer) Survey for every user. This includes completing the identity verification for the representative of a Stripe account.

I hope that this necessity of knowing our users makes sense Terry. Let me know if you have any further questions.

All the best,

Franja

So they want these sent by insecure email. when i queried this all i got back was

Hi Terry,

Thanks for reaching back out. Maria with Stripe Support here, jumping in for Franja. I hope that’s okay with you. I understand the concern with sending personal information via email and I want to try to alleviate some of your worries.

Stripe is certified to PCI Service Provider Level 1. This is the most stringent level of certification available in the payments industry. To accomplish this, we make use of best-in-class security tools and practices to maintain a high level of security at Stripe.

Because of our commitment to our users’ security, Stripe has never had a security breach. I’m attaching a link to our security page here: https://stripe.com/docs/security/stripe.

I hope this helps to provide peace of mind, but please do not hesitate to let me know if it does not and we can look into other options for you to submit your documents.

All the best,

Maria

they still dont understand email is an insecure medium which i told them only to get this back

Hi Terry,

I definitely understand your concern. Unfortunately, we have to adhere to regulations set by our banking partners and verify the identity of our users. Submitting your documents via email is the only option we have available at this time, since you do not have a photo ID and we are providing an alternate option aside from an upload through your dashboard.

More information on our identity requirement here: https://support.stripe.com/questions/passport-id-or-drivers-license-upload-requirement

We cannot payout any funds until your identity is verified. Please keep in mind, we sent an email on January 21st to alert you that your payouts will be paused as of today, January 28th.

I hope this provides clarification, but please write back if you have other questions.

Kind regards,

Maria

so i decided to get an email certificate so i could sent these encrypted ( which i did) and then i got this

Hi Terry,

Thank you for sending over your documents. I will have these uploaded and I or a team member will reach out with more information shortly.

In the meantime, feel free to let me know if you have other questions or concerns.

All the best,

Maria

and now they sent me this

Hi Terry,

Ciara with Stripe Support here, stepping in for Maria.

I would like to apologize as it seems you have been provided with a bit of misinformation. Unfortunately, we are not able to accept your birth certificate and bank statements as a valid form of ID.

I understand that it is not a requirement in the UK to have photo ID, however it is part of Stripe's Services Agreement that a photo ID be supplied to operate an account with us. You can read more about this, here:

https://support.stripe.com/questions/passport-id-or-drivers-license-upload-requirement

Again, I apologize for the confusion on our part and regret that your experience with us has been less than satisfactory. If you have any further questions, please feel free to reach back out.

Best,
Ciara

I will be making sure then FCA are aware of this as it is clear they have no idea what they are doing as i complied with their request which they have had plenty of time to tell me otherwise.

Hopefully then FCA will ban these from operating within the UK as they cannot demand something that is not a legal requirement in then UK to have.


UPDATE:

now i just got this

Hi Terry,

I understand that this is very frustrating.

If you would like to use Stripe for payment processing, you will need to provide photo ID. Again, I understand that it is not required for you to have one in the UK, however it is required for you to operate a Stripe account.

Although we would be very sad to not have you as a user, we are not able to make exceptions to this rule. If you are not able to provide the necessary documentation, you may need to consider a different payment processor who does not have this requirement.

Your account will remain in it's current status until verification can be completed.

Best,
Ciara

 

[easyhostmedia]

I have £300 in my Stripe account that they say i cant have until i provide Photo ID (driving licence or passport only)

 

[easyhostmedia]

It is amazing when you state you will be reporting them to then FCA to have them banned in then UK that you get action and a result

Hi Terry,

My name is Cristina and I got your case escalated. First I want to apologize as this verification process isn't supposed to be complicated.

I investigated the issue and as you indicated you did provide us with the data Stripe requested. We have your name, dob, and home address on file. Unfortunately due to reasons the engineering team is currently investigating we were unable to programmatically check the information you provided. This is why we were asking you to upload certain documents that we were going to manually review so we could get your identity verified.

I was able to re-start a programmatic check a few minutes ago with the info available in your account and the data verified. Your account is now verified and we do not need any document. You can check the updated state on your Dashboard by accessing the following link:

https://dashboard.stripe.com/account/verifications

I'm also raising the feedback you shared with us about these document requests so the appropriate team can review the information in detail and make any necessary updates to the process. Even if you don't have any of the listed documents available we are here to find other ways of working this out with you as we want to make sure you can continue using your Stripe account without any interruptions.

Please let me know if you have any feedback or questions. We hope you can reconsider your position and continue using our product.

Best,

Cristina
Stripe

I think they knew they would not have a leg to stand on as

1) They demand ID they is not a legal requirement in then UK for a person to have.
2) Demanding i send sensitive documents using an insecure medium ( leaving me open to possible ID theft).

I may still pass my finding onto the FCA

 

[zomex]

Not too sure what to make of this other than it's out of Stripe's control and not something they are requesting because they want to. It's probably new regulations regarding KYC.

When I submit my document to Stripe it was done via a form on their website rather than email. Did they specifically ask you to provide it via email?

 

[easyhostmedia]

Not too sure what to make of this other than it's out of Stripe's control and not something they are requesting because they want to. It's probably new regulations regarding KYC.

When I submit my document to Stripe it was done via a form on their website rather than email. Did they specifically ask you to provide it via email?

Yes they asked me to send them via email as i dont have any photo ID which would be done via online form.

i understand the security behind it, but they should know in then UK photo ID is not a legal requirement, so some people will not have photo ID. their banking partners would have told them of other forms of ID that would be acceptable. but the fact is them wanting these sent via an insecure medium.

The banks use this list of acceptable IDs
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/proof-of-identity-checklist/proof-of-identity-checklist

 

[Alex - A2 Hosting]

I wouldn't call them a scam. It just seems like Ciara was potentially misinformed/confused on what is and what is not acceptable forms of verification. No one is perfect.

 

[easyhostmedia]

I wouldn't call them a scam. It just seems like Ciara was potentially misinformed/confused on what is and what is not acceptable forms of verification. No one is perfect.

Apparently they have been told about this several times by the FCA, so are well aware.

They asked me for alternative ID which was provided and then they told me these could not be accepted.

So you provide them your ID that they requested by an insecure method and they then tell you after you sent it this cannot by used then what would you call it as you have no idea who has the ID.

 

[ughosting]

Terry, do you not own a passport?

 

[HostOX]

Listen, their system has had some MAJOR bugs the last few weeks - I uploaded a passport about 30 times for a second business of ours.

It took me a week yes a week whilst processing 10k+ in transactions in the meantime, their support is a joke.

However I uploaded via their website and never had been asked to send via email?
I had to in the end zoom in on the image, screen shot it and then reupload

 

[easyhostmedia]

Listen, their system has had some MAJOR bugs the last few weeks - I uploaded a passport about 30 times for a second business of ours.

It took me a week yes a week whilst processing 10k+ in transactions in the meantime, their support is a joke.

However I uploaded via their website and never had been asked to send via email?
I had to in the end zoom in on the image, screen shot it and then reupload

The issue is that they like several companies cant understand that not everyone in the UK has photo ID as its not a legal requirement in the UK.

 

[HostOX]

The issue is that they like several companies cant understand that not everyone in the UK has photo ID as its not a legal requirement in the UK.

I agree, we have options to just use Birth Certificates if really required, but I can see their reason behind it.

This is why Crypto currency will change the world :devil:

 

[easyhostmedia]

I agree, we have options to just use Birth Certificates if really required, but I can see their reason behind it.

This is why Crypto currency will change the world :devil:

Yes i can understand the reason behind it, but if they plan to operate within other countries then they should note a countries laws and processes and adapt their processes for that country as all that will happen is a countries authorities will step in and place restrictions or even black the company from operating within their country.

A prime example is Paypal when they were forced to relocate to Luxembourg from the UK when they refused to change their non tangible protection to comply with UK legislation.

 

[hostkoala]

Yes i can understand the reason behind it, but if they plan to operate within other countries then they should note a countries laws and processes and adapt their processes for that country as all that will happen is a countries authorities will step in and place restrictions or even black the company from operating within their country.

A prime example is Paypal when they were forced to relocate to Luxembourg from the UK when they refused to change their non tangible protection to comply with UK legislation.

In my experience paypal is still the smoothest experience as a merchant