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Why identity documents get requested

A document request tends to arrive at the least convenient moment, often in the middle of a withdrawal, and it reads as if something has gone wrong. Usually nothing has. This page explains what the request is doing, what is normally wanted, and how to answer it once rather than three times.

Why it happens

Checking identity is ordinary practice across online accounts that hold money — banks, payment apps, brokerages and gambling accounts alike. The checks exist to answer a small number of questions, and knowing which question is being asked usually tells you which document will settle it.

  • Is the person using this account the person who opened it? The usual trigger is a sign-in from a new device or country, or a change to a key detail.
  • Does the payment method belong to that same person? This is behind most withdrawal-time requests, and behind almost every one where a name does not match.
  • Is the account holder an adult? Gambling accounts are for adults, and age is confirmed from a document rather than assumed.
  • Do the account’s details still describe reality? An address from four years ago stops matching a bank’s records, and the mismatch surfaces at the worst time.
  • Where do the funds come from? Questions about the source of money used for play are routine in this industry, particularly as amounts grow.

A request is not an accusation and it is not usually aimed at you specifically. The practical thing to do is answer it accurately and quickly, because the account tends to stay paused until it is answered.

What is usually asked for

The exact list comes from the message you received — that is the version to follow. These are the four families most requests fall into.

Photo identity
A passport, a national identity card, or a photocard driving document. All four corners visible, no glare across the photograph or the machine-readable strip, and no part cropped off.
Proof of address
Usually a utility bill or bank statement from the last few months showing your name and address as they appear on the account. Screenshots from a banking app are often accepted if the name, address and date are all visible in the same image; a document with the address blanked out is not.
Proof of the payment method
For a card, an image showing your name, the first six and last four digits, and the expiry — with the middle digits and the security code on the back covered. For a wallet or bank transfer, a statement or account page showing the account holder’s name and the identifier used.
Context about funds
Where asked, a document such as a payslip, a bank statement showing income, or a statement about a one-off source. Send what is asked for and nothing more.
Cover before you send

Cover a card’s middle digits and the three or four digit code on the back before photographing it. On a bank statement, individual transaction lines can be covered unless the request specifically concerns them; the name, the address, the bank and the date need to stay readable.

Sending them sensibly

  1. Use the upload area if there is one

    Where the account offers a document upload, it is the better route: it attaches the file to the right account automatically and keeps it out of a mailbox.

  2. If you send them another way, check first

    Documents are exactly what an impersonator wants. If you were asked to send them outside the account, check any message you are replying to against the email authenticity page. When in doubt, do not reply to the message you received — reach the team from inside your account instead.

  3. Photograph, do not scan through a chat app

    Messaging apps compress images until the small print stops being readable, which is the most common reason a document comes back rejected. Use the camera app, in daylight, flat on a table, with the flash off and the whole document in frame.

  4. Name the files plainly

    passport-front.jpg and bank-statement-march.pdf beat IMG_8842.HEIC. Put the account email address in the message body.

  5. Send everything in one message

    A request answered in one message is checked in one pass. Documents dribbled in over three days get re-queued each time.

What happens next

Documents go into a review queue rather than being checked at the moment they arrive, so a gap between sending and hearing back is normal and is not a sign that anything failed. Three outcomes are possible: the check completes and the account carries on; the same document is asked for again because something was unreadable, cropped or expired; or a different document is asked for because the first one answered a different question than the one being asked.

If a document comes back a second time, read the stated reason literally before resending. “Corners not visible” and “name does not match” are different problems, and sending the same photograph again solves neither.

If it stalls

When a document request has gone quiet and the account is still paused, one message with these five things in it is what moves it:

  • The email address on the account.
  • Which documents were asked for, quoted from the original request.
  • What you sent, and the date and route you sent it by.
  • Any reference number that appeared in the request.
  • What is currently blocked as a result — a withdrawal, sign-in, or the whole account.

Send it from inside your account, as a reply in the existing thread where possible, so the history stays together.