When you open an account with Wealthsimple, we take a few steps to verify your identity. This helps us follow FINTRAC identity verification rules, along with industry best practices.

First, we try to verify your identity automatically. We perform a ‘soft credit check’ with a credit reporting agency to confirm your personal information and make sure the information matches what we have on file. This soft credit check does not allow us to check your credit score.

In some cases, the information we get from the credit reporting agency is insufficient to verify your identity. For example:

• There is a mismatch between the details we have on file and those provided by the credit reporting agency
• You have only been on file with the credit reporting agency for a short amount of time
• You do not have a file with the credit reporting agency

In these cases, we will ask you to verify your identity by submitting a selfie along with a piece of government-issued photo identification.

Using a selfie and government-issued photo identification to verify your identity

FINTRAC outlines a number of different methods to verify the identity of an individual, including the selfie process we use at Wealthsimple. 

In this process, we ask you to take a photo of your government-issued photo identification and then take a photo of yourself. You can see an example of what this would look like below: 

We are able to accept the following forms of government-issued photo identification:

• Driver’s license from any Canadian province/territory
• Canadian passport
• Canadian permanent residence card
• Provincial photo-ID card
• Health card (only for BC and QC)

If you don’t have one of the accepted forms of identification above, tap I don’t have these documents and you will be given the option to upload alternative documents. You can also reach out to our support team for further assistance.

Is this process secure? 

Your safety is our top priority. We leverage a secure, third-party service, Onfido, to collect and review the documents you upload along with your selfie. Onfido then automatically deletes your information after 90 days.

For record-keeping purposes, we keep your documents on file to assist with any future information changes you may need to make. We also have to keep some information as a minimum to comply with our regulatory obligations.

I’m having trouble verifying my identity, what can I do?

If you are having trouble verifying your identity using the selfie method, double-check that —

• Your app is completely up-to-date
• Your ID is not expired. We are unable to accept an expired ID
• All four corners of your ID are visible in the photo you submit
• There is no glare in the picture of your ID