When you open a bank account, you usually need to take some ID into the bank branch. Wise is no different. We’re a financial institution, so we need to know who’s using our service. It helps us combat money laundering, and keep everyone’s money safe.
So depending on where you’re sending money from, and how much you send, we’ll ask for you to verify your identity.
Types of identification
We accept these documents to verify your identity:
Passport (photo page only)
We don’t accept Russian or Ukrainian internal passports, so you’ll need to use a driving licence or international passport instead
National ID card (we only accept the most recent version of the Nigerian national ID card)
Photo driver’s licence
However, there are a few exceptions:
Sending NZD: if you live in New Zealand and send from NZD, we need to verify your identity and address. We don’t accept Kiwi Access Card as identity documents.
Sending JPY: you will need to confirm your My Number along with your ID. Accepted documents are: My Number Card (both sides), My Number notification slip, or Jūminhyō with My Number on it.
Sending from BRL: we can only verify your documents that are issued in Brazil. This can be your driving licence (front and back), passport, or Brazilian issued ID card (RG).
For the Brazilian issued ID card: Although this card may not have an expiry date, we can only accept it if it’s been issued in the past 15 years. We’ll also need to see the front and back.
If you’re a refugee: depending on which country you’re in, we can accept more documents than the ones listed above. Learn about verification for refugees
Sending from AED: we can only accept your valid Emirates ID card or passport. In some cases, we’ll need both — be sure to have both documents ready.
What do you do with my information?
Protecting your information is very important to us. All data, financial details, or documents you give us are stored securely, encrypted, and kept private as per our privacy policy.
Troubleshooting verification
We hope you don’t have any issues with verification. But here are a few tips in case you do.
If we don’t accept your document:
It may have some of the information covered. We need to see the full document photo page.
It may be expired. Please check that your document is still valid before you upload it.
Your details may not match. Please check that you have entered your name and date of birth correctly on the website.
We may also need to see the back of the document. If there is information on both sides, please make sure you upload both for us.
It may be a document type that we can’t accept.
It may be in a format we can’t accept, like a PDF. If you only have a PDF of your ID document, try taking a screenshot of it and uploading it.
If you haven’t heard from our team within 5 working days:
Check that you’ve set up and paid for your transfer — we can’t start verifying you until we get this.
We’ll email you once we’ve verified you. So be sure to check the email you use to log in to Wise first. And if you have a transfer already in progress, we’ll automatically resume it.
Verification for refugees
We know that it can be difficult for people with refugee status to open a bank account in their new country. So, here’s a list of the documents we can accept to verify your identity if you’re a refugee. This is either for the country you’ve settled in, or your place of origin.
US
Passport
State identification card/driver’s license
Permanent resident card, also called a green card
Form I-766 Employment Authorization Document (EAD), also called a work permit
We can’t accept green cards or work permits if your address is in Nevada, Hawaii, Mariana Islands, or the Virgin Islands.
Canada
Passport
Canadian refugee travel document
Permanent resident card
Europe
Alien’s passport (Stateless Person, NY Convention of 28th September 1954)
Travel document (Refugees, Geneva Convention 28th July 1951)
Any ID document from an EEA member country — like a passport or ID card — that clearly confirms refugee status
We can’t accept paper based documents like those issued by Spain and Italy.