Today we're introducing (and previewing) some important steps forward for payments, login, and ID verification on BitPay's platform.

User-focused features with the BitPay Dashboard

We now have a dashboard shoppers can use when paying BitPay merchants or accessing other tools BitPay provides for life and work on crypto. The BitPay Dashboard provides users access to transaction history and a personalized home for both their blockchain payments and future BitPay payment features.

Much of the work we're doing to make Bitcoin and other blockchains more useful for payments will have a place in these dashboards. And they're easy to create - you can create the simplest BitPay Dashboard with just an email and a password. If you have an account with BitPay already for our merchant processing or another product, you will now be able to access your own BitPay Dashboard, too.

Simple login and personalized experience with BitPay ID

The BitPay Dashboard is tied to a new login and identification method we're calling BitPay ID, a single-login way to access the BitPay Dashboard and BitPay business accounts. Think of it like Apple ID (Apple's universal login): a simple way to manage your payments information with BitPay and simplify logins for multiple BitPay products.

You can create a BitPay ID and access the BitPay Dashboard now.

Importantly, with verified BitPay IDs (a bit more about that below) we'll also be able to better mitigate risk in line with our identity verification measures here at BitPay.

Verification for refunds, payouts, and high-value payments

We are introducing a new identity verification flow for purchasers requesting refunds of $1,000 or more*1, for people receiving BitPay payouts, or for purchasers paying $3,000*1 or more to BitPay merchants (or loading via a BitPay prepaid product). If you're requesting a refund of $1,000+, receiving a payout from a business using BitPay's payouts API, or making a $3,000+ payment, you will notice one of these screens asking you to verify some details about your identity and location:

This one-time verification will take you through a quick process of providing identity information such as a Social Security number (or passport number for non-US residents) and a picture or scan of a photo ID. This process helps us improve our identity verification efforts and reduce payment risk for BitPay's merchants. It's also a requirement for us to be able to offer verified users future services like Bitcoin payouts, or faster onboarding for people who want to get BitPay prepaid products.

The one-time verification requirement is for people making BitPay merchant or prepaid payments of $3,000+1, initiating refund requests for amounts of $1000+, or receiving BitPay payouts. Business users making purchases, etc. within these thresholds will also complete ID verification as individuals. Person-to-person payments with BitPay's BitPay and Copay apps aren't included and do not require ID verification.

View our guide to completing verification.

BitPay takes user privacy and data security seriously. View our privacy policy for more information about how we and our verification partner(s) will use this data.

The BitPay Dashboard, BitPay ID, and what's next

The new BitPay Dashboard and BitPay ID open up a lot of exciting opportunities for us to continue improving the blockchain payment experience, offer better support to blockchain payment users, and improve our platform's risk mitigation and identity verification efforts. We're excited to use this platform to create more integrations, more tools, and more spending opportunities for the people who pay with Bitcoin and blockchain payment methods every day.

Have questions about onboarding? Reach out to our team.

1 These thresholds for high-value verified payments, refunds, and payouts are subject to change, and we will announce any changes to BitPay Dashboard users. Thresholds for refunds are currently live, with payment and payouts requirements launching in the coming week. *UPDATE, 8/6/19: Thresholds for payments are currently live as of 8/5/19.