- Identity-verification wording during sign-up has been simplified
- Old wording referenced a specific regulatory requirement, which wasn't accurate
- New wording: we confirm who you are before trading starts, to protect your account
During sign-up, the explanation shown next to the identity-verification step has been simplified. Instead of regulatory-sounding wording, CFIN now explains the step plainly: we confirm who you are before trading starts, to protect your account.
Why the old wording had to go
CFIN is not itself a regulated financial firm, so wording that implied a specific regulatory requirement was both inaccurate and unnecessarily intimidating.
A plain explanation of the real reason — protecting your account from someone else opening or accessing it — is clearer and more honest.
What you need to do
Nothing — the verification step itself is unchanged. Only the explanation next to it has changed.
In detail
- The new wording: "We confirm who you are before trading starts, to protect your account."
- This replaces earlier wording that referenced a specific regulatory requirement, which wasn't accurate since CFIN is not itself a regulated financial firm.
- The actual verification step and the information requested during it are unchanged.
- This kind of check protects you specifically from someone else being able to open or take over an account in your name.
A wider plain-language review
Choosing plain, honest language over something that sounds more official was deliberate throughout this redesign — we'd rather explain a step accurately in simple words than reach for wording that sounds more authoritative than it is.
We reviewed every other place in the product that explains a required step the same way, and corrected the clearest examples we found, including this one. If you ever have questions about why a particular document is requested during verification, Support can explain the specific reason for your situation.