Why Does PayPal Want Your Identity?

PayPal is the most secure and safe online banking platform in the world. In Australia alone there are about 7 million PayPal users.  To ensure PayPal remains a safe place to transact, and to comply with Australian Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing laws, PayPal collects certain information to confirm your identity.  In many cases Paypal ask users to submit supporting documentation to verify the information that they have provided.

Until Paypal are able to verify your identity, Australian Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing laws do not permit Paypal to conduct certain transactions on your behalf. That’s the reason PayPal want your identity.

How can you submit your identity for verification to Paypal?

This is done by Paypal electronically. But sometimes customers’ identities are unable to be verified electronically. In such cases Paypal  will perform one or more alternative verification processes which may require you to provide additional documentation to them. You will be prompted with an alert in your account profile to fulfill this request.

 PayPal may require all or a combination of the following documents:

• Proof of Identity (POI)
• Driver licence (Australian or foreign, front and back)
• Passport 
• Australian proof of age card issued by an Australian State or Territory
• National identity card issued by a foreign government, the UN or an agency of the UN, that contains the photograph and signature of the person
• Birth certificate
• Australian Centrelink Pension card
• Australian Department of Veterans’ Affairs pension card
• Citizenship certificate.

The document must show your full name and date of birth, and these must match the information you provided when opening your PayPal account.

If the document is not in English, it must be accompanied by an English translation prepared by an accredited translator.

 Also if you’ve recently changed your name and the information on your identity document doesn’t match the information on your account, you may have to provide additional documentation to show the name has changed.

 You can upload your documents to your account through the PayPal website quickly and easily in their Resolution Centre, or fax them also.

• Proof of residential address (Proof of Address)
• Driver licence (Australian or foreign). This document can be accepted to confirm your address if issued within the past 12 months
• Utility bill issued within the past 3 months. We can accept electricity, gas, water or landline phone bill
• Bank statement issued within the past 3 months
• Notice of council rates issued within the past 3 months
• Notice of tax assessment by the Australian Taxation Office issued within the past 12 months
• Centrelink statement, recording a financial benefit paid to you, issued within the past 12 months.

The document must show your full name and residential address, and these must match the information entered in your PayPal account.

Note that paypal can only verify physical addresses, not P.O. Box addresses.

PayPal will make every attempt to review the documents you’ve provided within 2 business days, but in some cases it may take longer.

If you do not complete the identity confirmation process, some functionality on your PayPal account could be limited, and you may be prevented from sending or receiving payments.

Also your each Paypal account must undergo its own verification.  Once you have completed these steps and provided any additional information that paypal have requested, paypal will review your account and send you an email with the outcome.