Network wants a photo of my passport before it releases $180

Sorry if this is the wrong section, mods move it if so.

Bit of context because I don't know which part matters. I've been running a small content site since spring, joined a network in July, and this month it finally cleared their minimum and there's $180 sitting in the dashboard marked available. First money I've made that wasn't a salary, so I was fairly pleased with myself.

Then I hit the withdrawal screen and it wants a photo of my passport, a selfie holding the passport, and a utility bill with my address on it. For $180. I wasn't expecting that and now I've been staring at it for two days.

Is this just normal and I'm being naive? Or is this a sign I've joined the wrong network? I don't have anything to hide, I genuinely just wasn't expecting to hand a company I found on a forum a photo of my passport in my first three months. Sorry for the length.

it's normal. you're being paid by a company with a bank account, and the bank asks

grindstone is right that it's normal, and I'd add the bit that usually gets left out, which is that it's normal at the point where money leaves them.

Networks don't run this check when you sign up. They run it when you withdraw, because that's the moment they become a business sending money to a person, and their own payment provider requires them to know who that person is. So it isn't about you or your site. It's a requirement inherited from whoever they bank with, which is also why the exact documents differ from network to network — they're passing on someone else's list.

Two practical things. First, if the documents make you uncomfortable, the real question isn't whether to send them, it's which payout method you asked for — the requirements are heavier on bank transfer than on some of the alternatives, and networks rarely tell you that up front. Second, before you pick a method for the next payout, read through the Payments & Processing board here. There's a lot on that board about which payout routes actually ask for what, and it's more current than anything I'd tell you from memory.

For $180 on your first withdrawal, though: send the documents or don't withdraw. There isn't a third option at that network.

One point that nobody enjoys, but it belongs in this thread.

Whatever you do about the documents, that $180 is income. The network will very likely report the payment on their side regardless of what you send them; the identity check and the reporting are separate processes and people conflate them constantly. Declining to verify does not make the money invisible, it just makes it stuck.

I mention it because the first year is when it is easy to set up properly and every year after that it is a chore. Nobody here will thank me for saying so.

The photo is fine. The selfie holding it is the one that ends up in a breach. Assume it will.

Thank you all, genuinely, this is exactly what I needed.

grindstone and hana_v - that makes complete sense and I feel a bit silly for panicking. I've sent the documents.

quietaccountant - noted, and I will sort that out this year rather than next. Thank you for saying it even though I can see nobody wanted you to.

nullroute - I did think about that and I've decided I'd rather have the $180. Ask me again at $1,800.

Going to read the Payments & Processing board before the next one so I'm not surprised twice.