Can a bank ask for a copy of my ID? Yes, a full one
Can a bank ask for a copy of my ID? Yes, and it can ask for all of it. Banks and other businesses bound by anti-money-laundering rules must keep a copy of the documents they use to check who you are. A copy with fields covered doesn’t serve that check, so don’t redact it. Here’s who must keep a full copy, which other checks work the same way, and how to handle everyone else. It’s the exception to sending only what they need.
Can a bank ask for a copy of your ID? Who must keep one
In the UK, the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, regulation 40, require the businesses they cover to keep “a copy of any documents and information obtained … to satisfy the customer due diligence requirements”. Banks are the everyday case. They keep the records for five years after the business relationship ends (reg. 40(3)). Then they must delete the personal data, unless another law, court proceedings or your consent requires keeping it (reg. 40(5)).
Other countries have the same rule in their own law. In Germany, § 8(2) of the Geldwäschegesetz gives obliged businesses the right and the duty to copy the ID documents they check. In the EU, the rule comes from Directive (EU) 2015/849, Article 40(1)(a).
Why a redacted copy fails their check
These rules ask for a copy of the document that was checked, not of the parts you chose to show. Covered fields make it a different document. The data protection authority of Rhineland-Palatinate, in Germany, spells out what complete means for a bank: both sides of an ID card captured in full, with the photo and every detail clearly legible (LfDI Rheinland-Pfalz, in German). Expect a redacted copy to be refused.
Other full-copy checks: right to rent and right to work (UK)
Two UK checks also end with a full copy. Both are the checker’s own copy, not one you redact and send.
- Right to rent (England). Landlords must check every adult tenant before a new tenancy. They check the original documents with the tenant present, or use the online check, then make a copy that can’t be changed. They keep it for the tenancy and one year after (gov.uk, right to rent).
- Right to work. Employers must check that an applicant may work for them before employing them. They keep copies during the employment and for 2 years after (gov.uk, right to work).
How Dress Docs warns you
The ID-copy preset in Dress Docs guides you through what to cover on an ID. When the copy is for a bank or another anti-money-laundering check, it warns you that the check needs the full copy. Don’t cover anything for those.
Ask before adding a watermark
A watermark covers nothing, but it does lay text across the copy, and a full-copy check needs every detail legible. Ask the bank whether it accepts a watermarked copy before you add one. If it does, the Dress Docs watermark is translucent, so keep it light enough that every field stays readable. How to word it: watermark an ID copy.
Everyone else: ask what they need
If the request isn’t one of these checks, ask why they want your ID and which details they need. Then send only those: what to redact on an ID card copy.
If you’re the one receiving IDs, the same logic runs the other way: should you keep a copy of customer ID? Our request kit for receivers covers the full-copy exception in “When a law requires a full copy”.
This article is not legal advice. Check what the law requires of the person asking, and of you.