We are required to verify your identity before opening an account. This article explains the details of this process. 

About the Know Your Customer process

We are legally required by the UK banking regulation (specifically the anti money laundering provisions) to verify your identity through the process known as KYC, in order to protect all our customers from identity theft, financial crime, corruption and fraud. All of the information you submit is handled in compliance with current regulations on data privacy and you can find more information by visiting our Privacy Policy.

Which documents can I use to submit my application?

You can submit any of the following documents:

• Passport.
• National identity card (front and back).
• Driver's licence (front and back).

Step-by-step completion

The step-by-step is as follows: 

1. During the account creation process, enter your data (name, residential address) as it appears in your identity documents (including middle names).
2. Select what document you will use for the ID verification.
3. Upload your chosen document, ensuring it's readable and clear.
   
4. Upload your selfie whilst making sure your face is clearly visible.
   
5. Read and agree to the respective user declarations.
6. Wait for the approval of your KYC. This can take up to 4 hours.
7. Confirm your details and order your Plutus Debit Card.

If your KYC is not automatically approved, you will be prompted to reach out to our Customer Service team for manual verification.

Common issues with the KYC verification

Due to the importance of this process, you may see your KYC being rejected if the documents or pictures provided do not have enough clarity or do not match our requirements. Check here the most common list of issues and the solutions to them: 

• To be eligible for opening a Plutus account, you must:
  • Be at least 18 years old.
  • Be a native or legal resident of one of our supported countries.
  • Only have 1 open account at any time.
• Document clarity issues:
  • All documents must be direct photos of the original documents. Photos of scans or of other photos are rejected due to potential tampering. 
  • Provide a clear, in-focus, well-lit image of yourself with your entire face clearly visible and without wearing any accessories (glasses, headbands, etc).
  • Ensure all four corners of your ID documents are clearly visible.
  • Take special consideration of image clarity when taking a photo with flash.
• Document validity issues.
  • Make sure your Plutus account name matches your document's full name, including adding all your middle names. 
  • Make sure your document is valid, not expired, and not damaged.
  • If you are from a non-supported country but are a legal resident in a supported country, provide the residency permit document.

If you having problems passing our onboarding process and have followed all the tips in our guide, please don't hesitate to reach out to our Customer Service team for help.

KYC re-verification

In order to ensure we follow the best practices in the industry, we may ask you to re-do the KYC verification even if you already passed it recently. No worries, you can submit the same documents and it doesn't mean there is an issue with your previous verification, is just to ensure we have updated and valid verifications at all times.

FAQ

I have been asked to verify again my identity, but I just did it recently, is it a bug?

We do re-verifications for security on a periodic basis, to be in Compliance with the industry's best practices. It doesn't mean anything went wrong with your previous verification, it's just to ensure our verifications are updated and in order.

Can I open a Plutus Account without passing identity checks?

No. In order to protect our customers and our company from fraud and other malicious activities, and to ensure complete regulatory compliance, all Plutus Account holders must have passed our identity checks.

I've followed all your advice and my application still got declined. What do I do?

If you're having problems passing our onboarding process and have followed all the tips in our guide, please don't hesitate to reach out to our Customer Service team for help.