As mentioned in previous posts, we had to release a very large update to our platform now that we offer investments in crypto, equity and retirement plans. As much as we hate asking for it, our regulatory obligation requires us to ask investors for additional information to meet new/updated regulatory and compliance requirements.

You can find more information about why here:

Good News, Not so Good News & Great News from our CEO & Co-Founder, Simon Dixon

As an investor, if you want to continue to use our platform, you will need to re-verify your account. If you were already verified on our platform you will not have to upload any new Proof of Address or Proof of Identity documents, however, you will have to provide the following new information:

• Your secondary and tertiary nationalities (if applicable)
• Your place of birth
• Employment status, business name (if applicable), business sector (if applicable) and occupation
• Whether you want to trade, deposit or invest in crypto on our platform
• Expected value and expected frequency of crypto investments per year (if you intend to trade, deposit or invest in crypto on our platform)
• Whether you want to trade, deposit or invest in shares on our platform
• Expected value and expected frequency of investments in shares per year (if you intend to trade, deposit or invest in crypto on our platform)
• Net worth, source of funds and annual income

Again, we would like to reiterate that we don’t like collecting this information as much as you don’t like providing it, but we need to stay one step ahead of regulations at all times. We value your privacy as an investor and want to make sure that we can continue serving you, changing the future of finance one investment at a time. 

Here are some frequently asked questions to help:

FAQ:

Why can’t I change my address?

We have streamlined the reverification process for existing users who had verified accounts. If you happen to have moved to a new address, please first reverify by updating your details. Once this is complete you will be able to start a new verification session and update your address. Initially your address will be greyed out and uneditable while we collect the new required information, but the second time around you can edit your address and provide a new proof of address to update it. 

Why do you need to know my place of birth and what are you doing with this info?

This is a requirement from our regulator to have the information, but it won’t affect your account in any way. We also always process your data in line with our Privacy Policy.

The identity app is asking me to prove my identity through Veriff. Do I have to provide it again if I provided it before?

We use Veriff to help with verifying your identity. If you are a previously verified user who has already proven their identity through Veriff, then this stage will automatically be skipped for you unless your Proof of Identity document (e.g. passport) has expired since we last verified it. You can click next and won’t need to upload your documents again until they expire. 

If possible, we strongly recommend using your passport as your Proof of Identity document through Veriff to prevent longer delays.

None of the sources of funds/wealth/income are relevant to me.

Please use the option “Other” so you can better describe your source of funds/wealth.

What is the difference between source of funds and source of wealth?

Source of wealth refers to the origin of your entire wealth including the volume of wealth you would be expected to have accumulated and how you acquired that wealth.

Source of funds refers to the origin of the particular funds involved in the transactions between you and BnkToTheFuture.

What happens if I select ‘no’ for whether I want to invest, trade or deposit shares/crypto on the platform?

If you answer no, we will automatically restrict these specific features for your account respectively:

Trade Crypto Assets – This means trading in your BF funds section between BTC, ETH and USD*

Invest in Equity – This means investing in pitches on our primary market or trading on our secondary market (buy and sell)

How long does it take to get verified?

We will try our best to make it as quick as possible for all our existing customers. We aim to have reverifications checked within 48 hours, however due to the high level of demand that our updated identity process will put on our compliance department, this may not be possible in all cases. 

As there is no change of proof of ID nor proof of Address, the reverification process is significantly more streamlined than the regular verification process, though this process still requires a human to check all sessions. 

We apologise for any delays which occur at this time and will do our utmost to resolve all verification sessions as quickly as possible.

What will I be able to do, depending on what type of investor I am?

Below are our updated rules for verification and certification, in line with the latest requirements from our regulator.

To make it clearer, we are introducing 4 tiers:

Tier 1 – Verified

Tier 2 – Verified and Self-Certified

Tier 3 – Verified and Fully-Certified Private Client (meaning that your net worth is less than $1M)

Tier 4 – Verified and Fully-certified High Net Worth (meaning that your net worth is $1M or more and that you have provided proof of asset)

The type of Full Certification you will be presented with depends on your latest verification answer to the Net Worth question. It also depends on your jurisdiction. The below diagrams illustrate this in more detail. 

NON-US

US

*US investor can only sell on the secondary market 1 year after the investment

I don’t have $1m of assets. Can I use the platform?

As illustrated in the diagram you won’t be able to invest in shares using our primary and secondary market. If you hold shares and don’t upgrade to high net worth then new investments will remain restricted. We are applying with our regulator to service non-High Net Worth investors, but this is pending regulatory approval that we estimate should be available in 2022. If you are High Net Worth ($1M of assets excluding your primary residence) then certify your account and restrictions will be removed once you have been approved. 

I would like to upgrade my certification to become Fully Certified – High Net Worth

If you already certified in the past by uploading your signed global investor template that we provided to you in BFID version1, then please contact support by sending us a ticket here and selecting the category “certification”.

We will prioritise your request to set-up your account as high net worth so you can recertify and be on the High Net Worth path to unlock restrictions placed upon your account and gain Tier 4 access.

What happens to my investments if I am no longer high net worth?

Your investments will remain in your account as usual, but you won’t be able to buy and sell shares on our primary or secondary market until we are open to non-high net worth investors estimated for 2022 pending regulatory approval. 

I want to build a retirement plan with you and I was waiting for your retirement plan B portfolio builder, but I’m not high net worth. Can I still invest in it?

For now, the Retirement Plan B portfolio builder will only be available to high net worth investors that certify their accounts. You are welcome to join us on the online coaching program while spots are available or wait for us to open up to non-high net worth investors pending regulatory approval. 

I have an error with my phone number.

If you were already verified under BF Identity Version 1, you may experience the following error when re-verifying.

To resolve this, delete one number and type it back in. It will refresh the field and solve the error.

The number field is now numbers only so do not use country code (+44), use the menu to select your country code