Verify your identity

Before Sempo can hold or move money for you, we have to confirm who you are. It is done once, it usually takes minutes, and every screen you might see along the way is explained here.

What we ask for

  • A passport, or a government-issued ID card. It has to be in date.
  • A photo of your face, taken on the spot, on the device you are using.
  • About three minutes.

Have the document to hand before you start, and somewhere with enough light to photograph it. A photo that comes out blurred or with an edge cropped off is the usual reason a check has to be done again.

It opens in a new tab

Press Start verification and the check opens in a new browser tab, run by our verification partner. Work through it there. It ends on a page that says your profile has been verified and that you may close the page. Do that, and come back to the Sempo tab.

The Sempo tab does not need reloading. While the other tab is open it shows Finish in the other tab, and it checks for an answer every few seconds, so by the time you return it has usually moved on already.

What each screen means

The verification page changes as the check moves along. These are the titles it can show, in the order you are likely to meet them.

  • Verify your identity: nothing has started. Press the button.
  • Finish in the other tab: the check is open in another tab. Nothing to do here; if you closed that tab, the button reopens it.
  • Pick up where you left off: you started and did not finish. Your answers are saved, and you go back to the step you stopped on, not the beginning.
  • We’re checking your details: everything is submitted and being reviewed. You can close the tab; we email you when it is done.
  • We need another look: something did not come through clearly enough. See below.
  • You’re verified: approved. Your wallet and bank details are being set up, which takes a few seconds, and then you are in.
  • We couldn’t verify you: see below.

How long it takes

Usually minutes. Some checks are looked at by a person, and those can take up to a working day. You do not have to wait on the page: close it, and we email you at the address on your account once you are verified. Signing in again puts you back on the same screen at whatever point it has reached.

If we need another look

The check could not be completed from what was submitted, most often because a photo was blurred or cropped, or a document has expired. Press Try again and you go through the same steps with a fresh photo or a different document.

If we couldn’t verify you

We are not able to open an account for you at the moment, and the only control on the screen is Sign out. If you think that is wrong, write to hello@sempo.xyz from the address on your account and a person will look.