When you open an account with us, we are required to verify that you are who you say you are. We do this in two ways:

First, we use an identity verification service called Cloudcheck* to check that the information you give us from your driver licence or passport is the same information held in New Zealand government records.

We then need to check if you are the person opening the account, not someone using your ID fraudulently. To do this we check that we can see the first deposit into your wallet comes from a New Zealand bank account in your name.

Sometimes this is not possible.

We then need another way to check that it really is you opening an account with us. In this case, Kernel will send you a unique link to Cloudcheck to make a “live” check of your identity by taking a selfie with your driver licence or passport. Cloudcheck will check that your ID hasn’t been tampered with and that your selfie matches the photo on your ID.

Your identity information is kept briefly by Cloudcheck for audit and error-checking purposes for up to seven days and then deleted.

At Kernel, we have a legal responsibility to keep your identity information on file. This is stored securely between our servers and on the servers of our independent custodian (Adminis) who holds your money in trust.

For more details about how we collect, use and store your personal information, please see our Privacy Policy or talk to one of our team.

Cloudcheck is a tool created by a New Zealand electronic identity verification provider, Verifi Identity Services Limited. Click here for more information about Verifi’s data retention and privacy policies.