Video KYC and where it fits in the tiers

A tier that catches people by surprise is the one that asks for a live video call rather than an upload. You submit your document, everything appears to be moving, and then the platform asks you to join a video session with an agent at a scheduled time.

This is not a punishment and it does not mean you have been caught doing something. Video verification sits at a higher assurance level than document upload because a trained person can confirm in real time that the document in your hand is physical, that it matches you, and that nobody is coaching you off camera. Several regulators explicitly recognise supervised video processes as a valid way to establish identity remotely, which is why it appears as a formal step rather than an ad hoc request.

You will typically encounter it in one of three situations. Your automated attempts failed and the platform is routing you to a human rather than closing the door. Your requested limits are high enough that the tier requires it. Or the regulator in your jurisdiction requires supervised verification for the product you are opening.

Treat it as the best outcome available after a failed automated run, because a person can resolve ambiguity that software cannot. Prepare properly: have the original physical document with you rather than a copy or a photograph, sit facing a window with even light on your face and nothing bright behind you, use a phone rather than a laptop webcam if you have the option, test your connection beforehand, and be somewhere quiet where you can hold the document steady for the camera.

Expect to be asked to hold the document next to your face, to tilt it so the agent can see security features catch the light, and to confirm details verbally. Answer plainly and do not read from notes, because hesitation and scripted answers are among the things the agent is trained to notice.

What actually moves you between tiers

Most people never read the tier documentation and only discover a threshold exists when they cross it. The triggers are reasonably consistent across the industry even though the numbers differ.

• Cumulative volume. Deposits, withdrawals or trades passing a running total over a rolling period.
• A single large transaction that sits well outside your established pattern.
• Product access. Enabling margin, derivatives, card issuance, fiat withdrawal or business features frequently carries its own tier requirement independent of volume.
• Geography. Your country of residence, the issuing country of your document, and any mismatch between the two.
• Time. Some platforms re verify periodically, so an account verified three years ago can be asked to refresh even with no change in behaviour.
• Risk signals. Device changes, address changes, or activity the model considers unusual can push a review regardless of volume.

The important consequence is that a request for more documents is usually a threshold event rather than an accusation. Something about your account crossed a line that creates a documentation obligation for the firm, and the obligation has to be satisfied before the account continues.

Enhanced due diligence, and what satisfies it

The highest commonly encountered tier asks not who you are but where your money came from. People find this stage genuinely alarming and a significant number abandon their accounts at exactly this point, which is unfortunate because it is usually the most straightforward stage to clear.

What satisfies it is evidence connecting your funds to a lawful origin, issued by somebody other than you. Payslips or an employment contract. A statement from the account the money arrived from. Completion documents from a property sale. A dividend or investment statement. A letter covering an inheritance or a gift. The common requirements are that the document comes from a third party, carries a date, shows your name, and is captured in full including any letterhead.

There is a distinction worth understanding here that trips people up. Source of funds means where this particular money came from. Source of wealth means how you accumulated your overall assets. A request for the second is broader and usually applies to larger balances or to politically exposed persons.

Two practical notes. Respond rather than ignore, because unanswered requests commonly end in restriction. And send precisely what was asked for, since a large bundle of unrelated documents slows the review down by giving a human more to read.

Why your tier can differ from someone else's on the same platform

Two people signing up for the same service on the same day can face visibly different requirements, which feels arbitrary until you know why.

Part of it is legal. Different regulators impose different obligations, so the baseline in one market is heavier than in another for reasons that have nothing to do with either customer. Part of it is infrastructure. In some countries a platform can query a government or credit database directly and confirm identity electronically in seconds without a document at all, while in others everything falls back to document capture. And part of it is vendor routing, since a platform may send different users to different verification providers based on country, product and risk score, and those providers do not apply identical thresholds.

This is also why comparing your experience to a friend's is rarely informative. You may not have been assessed by the same system. Our guide to who actually checks your ID explains how to work out which one is looking at you.

Planning around tiers instead of colliding with them

The most common way people lose access is by hitting a threshold at the worst possible moment, typically mid withdrawal, with a balance stuck behind a verification request they were not expecting.

Avoiding that is simple in principle. Complete the highest tier you can before you need it rather than when you need it. Read the limits page for your specific country before funding an account meaningfully. Keep a current proof of address, dated within three months, ready in advance. Make sure the name on your profile, your document and any linked bank account all agree exactly, because a payout name mismatch will surface precisely when you try to take money out. And keep your document valid, since expiry inside a review is a needless way to restart the whole process.