After the Rip
Identity verification (KYC)
Why we verify your identity the first time a card is shipped out of the vault, how Stripe Identity works, and what we keep.
Before a card leaves the vault for the first time, we ask you to verify your identity. This page explains what that involves, when it happens and what we keep afterwards.
What is KYC?
KYC stands for "know your customer". For us it means one thing: confirming, with a government ID, that the person asking us to ship a graded slab is the real person behind the account. It protects you if someone gets into your account, and it stops stolen payment cards and fake accounts from being used to pull slabs out of the vault.
When is it required?
The first time you request a shipment. When you check out your ship cart, we check whether your identity has been verified. If it has not, you are sent to your Wallet to complete it, and you can come straight back to checkout afterwards.
You do not need to verify to create an account, add funds, buy packs, sell a card back or keep cards in the vault. Verification lasts three years; after that you are asked to renew it the next time you ship.
How does it work?
Verification is handled by Stripe Identity, the same company that processes our payments.
- Read the biometric notice in your Wallet and tick the box to agree to it. Verification does not start without that consent.
- Stripe asks you to photograph a government-issued photo ID (a driver's licence, passport or state ID card).
- Stripe asks for a live selfie and compares it to the photo on the ID.
- Stripe tells us the result, usually within a few minutes.
The photos go directly to Stripe. We never receive or store images of your ID or your selfie. From Stripe we keep only:
- the result — verified or not;
- the first and last name on your ID;
- the date you verified, and when the verification expires.
Stripe keeps the images and the data it extracted under its own privacy policy. Our privacy policy has the full detail, including your rights over this data.
The name on the shipping address must match
Once verification is on, the recipient name on the shipping address you check out with has to match the name on your verified ID. We are forgiving about how it is written — capital letters, accents, punctuation, middle names and a first initial ("J. Smith") are all fine — but the first and last name have to be yours.
If they do not match, checkout stops before you are charged. Edit the recipient name on the address, or contact support if your name has changed or you think the match is wrong.
Why do we do this?
- Security. A stolen password alone is not enough to ship slabs out of someone else's account.
- Fraud prevention. Slabs are physical, valuable and easy to resell. Checking identity at the point they leave the vault is how we keep stolen payment cards from turning into shipped cards.
- Legal compliance. Knowing who we ship to helps us meet our obligations as a business that holds and ships high-value goods.