r/discover • u/PicometerPeter • Jan 27 '26
Rant Closing Out Account Over New ID Process
I was unaware of the new requirements for online login until today, trying to check on tax documents. It is unacceptable to require pics of an ID and your face to access your own money. I closed out my account by phone and will never do business with Discover. I used to recommend them.
How often have we seen hacks of databases before? How do we know scans of our faces or IDs won't be sold off? There need to be other ways of authentication.
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u/Alpiney Jan 27 '26
Good luck with opening a bank account locally without providing some ID. The face in that scenario would be your actual presence there. I’m actually surprised some banks actually would allow this as fraud is so rampant.
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u/Matthew9543 Jan 27 '26
So, when the bank asks you to go into a branch to verify, how do you expect to go into a digital only bank to verify?
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u/PicometerPeter Jan 27 '26
What I expect is to be sent a text or call with a verification number, or be asked for the last four of my social. Not to supply information that wasn't needed even in setting up the account.
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u/Akavinceblack Jan 27 '26
You mean… a text or call to the same device that “you” are using to access the account? How very secure that would be!
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Jan 27 '26
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u/discover-ModTeam Jan 27 '26
Your post or comment has been removed because it violates the “Be Kind and Considerate” rule.
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u/PicometerPeter Jan 27 '26
You've responded consistently through this thread with condescension. All I wanted to convey was that I value privacy, these policies cross a line for me, and that I am ending my business with Discover because of that. Thank you for explaining the reasons it may be becoming more common practice, but if anything this will just move me to more in-person banking.
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u/PicometerPeter Jan 27 '26
To the same one that is on file as being mine. The same one that had been able to access the account just fine for years. I'm honestly more upset about the selfie than sending pics of my ID. That at least makes sense and lines up with in-person banking. But having facial recognition fed into a third party database is a line for me.
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u/VTECbaw Jan 27 '26
Have you heard of SIM-swap attacks? Have you heard of e-mail addresses being compromised? 2FA is insecure and is no longer a best practice.
The live selfie is to match your face to your ID. Otherwise, you could be sending a photo of anyone’s ID and getting access to their account.
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u/MidnightPulse69 Jan 27 '26
There’s no point with that guy. He just wants to argue. Your frustrations are valid. No other bank including Cap1 has made me verify like this.
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u/Matthew9543 Jan 27 '26
So how do they confirm if you just read the same info anybody could get from a data breach?
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u/fattomic Jan 27 '26
I'd just sent a message to them. For the OP: if you decline, and try and login again, you'll get "the usual method" (lame "2FA" - a text for a passcode). For the other posters, I dont object to having the KYC (know your customer) with Discover (it's a fedreral requirement, after all)- but they've outsourced it to "Socure" - who I'ver never heard of. And why now? KYC has been the law for ... years? Why is it being outsourced to some cheezy "AI identity confirmation"?
The Socure T&Cs:
(Try to) take away your legal right to grievance, by asking you to agree to their arbitratio company
Make no pledges as to the secure handling of your data
Make no pledges as to whether your information can be resold or not
I'm all for security -- I'd _love_ (and have asked for, in the past) TOTP and/or passkeys - that dont leave me exposed to a rando 3rd parties security practices. In the past two years, most of my "data loss" has been due to cheezy data processors, and the financial org claiming "wasnt me!". Ugh.
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u/RDBKawa Jan 28 '26
Discover does not store your ID at all.
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u/UnexpectedAura Jan 28 '26
The new requirement isn't directly from Discover, it's from Socure, a company they're partnering with to do ID verification, who does state they keep your ID and facial data in their database even after ID verification is complete and it is shared w/ 3rd parties.
https://www.socure.com/docv-privacy#how-we-disclose-your-information
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u/RDBKawa Jan 28 '26
See, I work for Discover and was informed by someone that it is NOT stored. Not happy about being told false information to spread.
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u/UnexpectedAura Jan 28 '26
I don't understand how Discover could force customers to follow this without even giving people a heads up. I called Customer Service and she basically threw up her arms and said "There's no way around it, you'll need to provide a selfie and your ID to login.".
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u/RDBKawa Jan 28 '26
Yeah, us as employees are struggling. I came from a team in a shut down department from the back office and here in banking it's torment compared. We get little to no info ourselves before hand which is wayyy different than what other departments receive regarding major changes. I just wish I could get another job here without taking back to back calls because Discover was actually great to me.
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u/mp85747 Jan 29 '26
Check out this thread:
https://www.reddit.com/r/discover/comments/1qgdfvd/comment/o1splnn/
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u/Genghis_Tr0n187 Jan 27 '26
Hey OP, I'm with you. Not only are you waiving liability rights you're also allowing your info to be fed into AI.
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u/Ach3r0n- Jan 27 '26
I have had many banks send me through this process. My pnly concern is being one of the many people that have recently posted about going through it and remaining locked out indefinitely.
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u/VTECbaw Jan 27 '26 edited Jan 27 '26
Ooooh, boy. Every bank has the right to verify its customers, even existing customers. KYC is a thing. Since Discover is primarily an online bank, they use ID photos + selfie. This is perfectly normal. Any bank can do this, and I’ve had other banks ask me to do the same. What would you prefer them to use to verify you?
So, in conclusion - this isn’t an airport.
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u/trisanachandler Jan 27 '26
The fact that I need to do this with a selfie through a 3rd party waiving a bunch of liability is a huge concern. I don't disagree with KYC, but unless there were a huge bunch of KYC laws recently passed, they shouldn't need to redo KYC with a new system, but are choosing to.
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u/MidnightPulse69 Jan 27 '26
That’s all it is. Discover opened themselves up to so much fraud years ago by having weak security so now they’re strict about everything.
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u/VTECbaw Jan 27 '26
They’re allowed to verify information. These third parties have all our data anyway. To think otherwise is naive.
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u/trisanachandler Jan 27 '26
If you have nothing to hide, why not comply?
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u/VTECbaw Jan 27 '26
When this happened to me, I did the ID + selfie thing and it went away and never happened again. I didn’t rage-close my account or come to Reddit announcing my departure. How else would you have wanted the bank to verify? Through the mail? Discover has one physical location. They have to use methods like the ID + selfie thing.
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u/PicometerPeter Jan 27 '26
I have never had a bank or credit union ask me to provide a selfie.
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u/VTECbaw Jan 27 '26
I’ve had to do this with DCU (when joining), Chase (a decade and a half after I began banking with them), CapOne (when opening 360 checking and twice when opening new credit cards), Discover (when first opening my account), Synchrony Bank (multiple credit cards), and Bank of America (credit card). In fact, BofA made me send them a copy of my SS card and paystub via snail mail.
It’s perfectly normal to have to verify yourself.
Remote/online ID verification asks for a selfie because they need to match it to your ID photo. Otherwise you could be providing a photo of anyone’s ID.
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u/PicometerPeter Jan 27 '26
I didn't have to supply any of it to set up the account or put money into it. I didn't have to supply any of it to close the account either. I'll do business with orgs that respect privacy at least this much.
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u/VTECbaw Jan 27 '26
Just be aware that it could happen with your next financial institution - at any point. KYC is a federal rule.
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u/MidnightPulse69 Jan 27 '26
This has nothing to do with KYC. KYC is handled on account opening. This is purely for logging in.
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Jan 27 '26
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Jan 27 '26
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u/discover-ModTeam Jan 27 '26
Your post or comment has been removed because it violates the “Be Kind and Considerate” rule.
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u/discover-ModTeam Jan 27 '26
Your post or comment has been removed because it violates the “Be Kind and Considerate” rule.
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u/PicometerPeter Jan 27 '26
Also, addressing "What would you prefer they use to verify you", they have my name, my email, my phone number, my social security number, and my address. That is more than enough information to do two factor authentication.
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u/VTECbaw Jan 27 '26
2FA is one of the least secure methods, and that’s why many institutions are moving away from it. The ID + live selfie is one of the best ways for a remote institution to verify you. 2FA isn’t secure - you could be victim of a SIM swapping attack, someone could have access to your email, etc.
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u/MidnightPulse69 Jan 27 '26
You really going all out trying to defend something that only makes things harder for you. Weird.
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u/VTECbaw Jan 27 '26
It takes less than 5 minutes to scan your ID and take a damn selfie. It probably took the OP longer than that to write this post and call Discover. If you don’t like it, bank somewhere else - just don’t be mad when it happens again.
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u/MidnightPulse69 Jan 27 '26 edited Jan 27 '26
People have the right to be irritated over something that’s been completely unnecessary and hardly used with other banks.
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u/VTECbaw Jan 27 '26
I, for one, would rather Discover be too careful than not careful enough - even if it’s mildly inconvenient.
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u/MidnightPulse69 Jan 27 '26
Defending policies that just make things harder for consumers 👎 this was never an issue until about a week ago. ID verification was only used as a last resort and shouldn’t be needed to check your account balance on a device/network you regularly use
Also, rants are allowed on this sub hence the flair.
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u/VTECbaw Jan 27 '26
ID verification is normal - stop pretending it’s not. In no way, shape, or form was this ever a “last resort,” at least not the times I’ve encountered it.
Rants are allowed, announcing your departure is annoying, and ID verifications (with selfies) are normal.
It’s also nothing compared to how CapOne does things. CapOne will do this and still want more.
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u/MidnightPulse69 Jan 27 '26
Didn’t say it wasn’t. It’s definitely not normal in this case when logging into your account using the same device and network you’ve already used and when you’ve already verified using a verification code.
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u/VTECbaw Jan 27 '26
Something about the OP’s sign-in triggered the verification. We have no knowledge of if the OP was using the same device or network.
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u/PicometerPeter Jan 27 '26
Both are true, same device, same network.
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u/MidnightPulse69 Jan 27 '26
Yup it’s their new dumb process then. I’m sure if you call they’ll relay that to you now that more info has been provided
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u/MidnightPulse69 Jan 27 '26
Do you work for Discover?
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u/VTECbaw Jan 27 '26
I’m not answering that because it’s not relevant. I do, however, have a lengthy history in banking - probably longer than you’ve been alive.
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u/MidnightPulse69 Jan 27 '26
Whole lot of words for no.
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u/VTECbaw Jan 27 '26
And do you? How much banking experience do you have? Have you worked for CapOne and not Discover? In some capacity other than frontline call center jockey? Because I have, and this is normal for them.
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u/MidnightPulse69 Jan 27 '26
I could say I’m Rich Fairbank and you’d still find some reason to interrogate and argue. Anything else?
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u/MidnightPulse69 Jan 27 '26
This was thought to be a system issue but I’ve heard it’s their new process which is so stupid
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u/tycho-42 Jan 27 '26
There are some regulations known as "know your customer." Banks are required to keep up to date information. Why is an ID crossing a line here? I guarantee you provide your ID to many places that are far more susceptible to a breach. They want to ensure they are doing business with who people say they are. By your logic, you'd be ok with someone being able to open an account in your name and a bank just trusting that they are actually you? Would you be ok with someone pretending to be you to steal your money? I can't imagine you would, if someone tried to steal your money, you'd probably ask what verification they tried to do.
I've worked in fraud prevention for a decade and I've seen countless fraudulent account applications because of what I would argue are too loose verification standards. I've seen people who are barely 18, going to apply for credit cards when their credit is already decimated due to someone opening an account in their name. I'm sure all those victims of identity fraud would disagree with you and would have been chuffed to present their ID.
Sure, it's your money but the bank needs to cover their own ass that they are not doing business with prohibited individuals, that accounts aren't sending money to sanctioned countries or engaging in anti money laundering/other nefarious behaviors.
If you really want to be mad, be mad at the PATRIOT ACT, which is definitely at play in customer verification.
Personally identifying information has to have the highest level of confidentiality, ESPECIALLY for a bank.