We understand that some of you may have felt uncomfortable with providing some of the information requested during the sign-up process for Metal Pay. Here’s why that information is required.

Why we ask for your SSN and government-issued photo ID.

Through an agreement with our banking partner, we are able to offer something that other payment apps on the market do not offer: FDIC-insurance for your Cash balance. That’s right, your Cash balance inside of Metal Pay is secured in an FDIC-insured bank account in your name. But like all bank accounts, we need to implement anti-fraud measures to protect our users. This means collecting SSN and government-issued photo ID to verify that you’re you.

Why Plaid asks for your bank login credentials.

When you are asked to enter your bank credentials on Metal Pay, you are actually doing so on a form provided by third-party bank data aggregator Plaid. Plaid employs state-of-the-art security technology to protect users and is used by many industry leaders in finance such as Citi, American Express, Venmo, Robinhood, Acorns, and Coinbase — just to name a few. Metal does not and cannot see your banking credentials.

We hope this clears up some of your concerns!