- Checked and legitimate individuals and organisations
- No access to financial administration
- Country specific verification questions
- Security embedded in the front-end
- Security embedded in the backoffice
- Extra check by the platform manager before payout
Checked and legitimate individuals and organisations
To adhere to PSD2 regulations, GoodUp works together with Stripe, a Global online payment service provider specialised in fundraising platforms.
Stripe’s Know Your Customer (KYC) verification form and payout service will be integrated into the platform, so that the entire financial flow can be executed by them. Stripe has a PCI DSS Level 1 certification and is compliant for PSD2 and GDPR.
“Know Your Customer” (KYC) is the process whereby businesses verify the clients they are about to work with. This process includes a number of steps to obtain and check the identity of an individual or an organisation, and to establish whether there are potential risks for fraud or illegal intentions.
Because Stripe employs the KYC flow, you can be sure that the individuals or organisations involved in the fundraising projects are properly checked and legitimate.
No access to your financial administration
All financial administration will be handled and verified by Stripe, meaning that GoodUp and the Platform Managers have no access to that information. And because Stripe uses a strict verification method to ensure that everything is in order, it also means that changing financial details is more difficult.
Country specific verification questions
When creating a new crowdfunding campaign, initiators are required to fill out the bank details of either their own or another organisation, depending on the platform settings.
Based on the bank account that an initiator fills out, the form will automatically know what country that bank account belongs to and will ask a number of verification questions accordingly.
Thus, for example in the Netherlands, the form will require a Chamber of Commerce number, but for Canada, it will also require a BIC/SWIFT account.
Security embedded in the front-end
Upon creating a campaign, the identity (document) of the campaigner is used by Stripe for verification.
- A campaign cannot go online until Stripe has verified the initiator's identity in the KYC process.
- If the bank account details do not match or aren't valid, Stripe will not verify the account.
This means that it is not possible for payments to bounce. So, if everything checks out, the payment will be successful too. - Once the campaign is running and available for donations, it is no longer possible to edit the bank account details. The money raised will be paid out to that account.
- If an initiator wishes to change the bank account details before the project goes online, they can do so themselves. The Platform manager can change the status to 'Needs Work', so that the initiator can make the changes. Please note that for every change made in bank account details, Stripe will need to start the verification process again. The platform will also give a friendly warning to initiators who are planning to do so to ensure they are aware of their action.
Security embedded in the backoffice
In the backoffice, there is no option to view the bank account details. Under the tab 'Amount' by the initiative, you will see a field labelled 'payout account'.
If you click on this link you will be taken to the overview of those details.
The page only shows:
- The account holder name;
- (Bank) country;
- Currency;
- The final 4 digits of the bank account number;
- Whether or not Stripe has verified these details;
- And if not, why they haven't been verified.
Therefore it is not necessary for the Platform manager to verify the identity of an initiator or organisation with the help of a legal document.
Extra check by the platform manager before payout
Whenever the payout has ended, the Platform manager still needs to approve the payout before it is scheduled.