Proof of Address: Accepted Documents and Why Exchanges Ask

Proof of address is a recent document from a trusted third party that shows your full name and your current residential address. A utility bill, bank or credit card statement, or a letter from a tax office or other government body, usually dated within the last three months, is the standard example. Crypto exchanges, banks and payment apps ask for it because anti-money-laundering rules require them to know where their customers live, and a document is the most common way to check that.

Below: accepted documents, age limits, common rejections, e-statements, options if you have no bills in your name, and how automated checks work. For the wider identity process, see what KYC means in crypto.

What proof of address is

Proof of address (PoA) is evidence that the address you entered is real and yours. It is separate from your ID: most passports carry no address, and the one on an ID card or driving licence may be out of date. A good PoA document lets a reviewer check four things:

Your name, matching the name on your ID.
Your full residential address, matching the address you entered.
An issuer that is independent of you: a utility, a bank, a government body.
A recent date, so it shows where you live now rather than where you lived once.

Not every platform asks for it at sign-up. Many request it only for higher limits, larger withdrawals or when something in your file needs checking.

Why crypto exchanges and banks ask for it

In the EU, the Anti-Money Laundering Regulation, Regulation (EU) 2024/1624, applies from 10 July 2027. Article 22(1) requires obliged entities to obtain, among other things, "the usual place of residence or, if there is no fixed residential address with legitimate residence in the Union, the postal address at which the natural person can be reached". Article 22(6) says verification uses an identity document "and, where relevant, the acquisition of information from reliable and independent sources", or an eIDAS electronic identification at assurance level substantial or high. Crypto-asset service providers fall within its definition of financial institutions, so they are obliged entities.

In the US, the bank customer identification programme rule, 31 CFR 1020.220, requires a bank to obtain a residential or business street address before opening an account. It lets banks verify identity through documents, through non-documentary methods such as comparing your details with a consumer reporting agency or public database, or both.

Three practical reasons add to the law:

The Travel Rule. Under the EU Transfer of Funds Regulation, Article 14(1), a crypto transfer from one service provider to another must carry the sender's address, official document number and customer number, or alternatively date and place of birth. See the crypto Travel Rule explained.
Where you live decides what you can use. Licensing, sanctions and product limits depend on your country.
Tax reporting. In the EU, platforms now report customer data to tax authorities under DAC8, and residence drives that. See DAC8 crypto reporting explained.

Checks also recur. AMLR Article 26 requires customer information to be updated at least every year for higher-risk customers and every five years for others, and whenever relevant circumstances change, which is why a move can trigger a new request.

Accepted proof of address documents

Each platform publishes its own list, so read it before uploading. The table reflects typical practice, not a legal list.

Document	Usually accepted?	Notes
Electricity, gas or water bill	Yes	The classic example. Must be in your name and recent.
Internet, TV or landline bill	Usually	Some platforms treat these like utilities.
Bank, building society or credit card statement	Yes	Often the easiest option for renters. Card or account numbers can usually be partly hidden, but the name, address, issuer and date must stay visible.
Tax office or government letter	Yes	Tax assessments, benefits letters and local tax bills are strong evidence because the issuer is official.
Mortgage statement or tenancy agreement	Often	Some platforms accept a signed lease, while others only accept it alongside another document.
Mobile phone bill	Varies	Some platforms accept it and others do not, so check the list.
Residence permit or ID card showing an address	Varies	Accepted in some countries and by some platforms. Many still want a separate document.
Payslip or employer letter	Varies	Accepted by some platforms as secondary evidence.

The three-month rule and other requirements

The most common rule is that the document must be dated within the last three months. That is industry practice, not a number written into the EU or US rules quoted above: neither text sets an age limit for address evidence. If your only official document is an annual one, such as a tax assessment, check whether the platform makes an exception before uploading it.

Other requirements you will typically meet:

Name match. The name must match your ID.
Address match. It must match what you entered, including flat or apartment number and postcode.
A residential address. In the EU, the AMLR asks for your usual place of residence and only falls back to a postal address where there is no fixed residential address. The US rule asks for a street address. A PO box is therefore usually rejected as your main address.
The whole page. All four corners visible, readable text, with the issuer's name or logo and the date in view.

What gets rejected

Most failed checks come down to a few mistakes:

a document past the age limit, often by a few days
a cropped, blurred or glare-covered photo
a document in someone else's name
an envelope or marketing letter instead of a bill or statement
an address that differs from the one you entered, or a PO box
an edited document

Never alter a document to change a name, date or address. Verification software looks for exactly this, and an edited document is treated as attempted fraud, not a mistake. If your documents do not fit, ask support what alternatives they accept. Our guide to ID verification tips for crypto exchanges covers photo quality and other common failure reasons.

Digital and e-statements

Most platforms accept documents that were never printed. A PDF statement downloaded from online banking or a utility account usually works if it shows your name, address, issuer and date, and the original PDF tends to work better than a photo of a printout.

A screenshot of a banking app is different: it often lacks the issuer, date or address, so many platforms reject it. Use a downloadable monthly statement instead. Expect PDFs to be checked for editing too. Systems compare fonts, layouts and metadata with known templates, so a file that has been through an editor can fail even for an innocent change such as merging pages.

If you do not have a utility bill in your name

Students, people living with family, shared-house tenants and recent movers often have no bills in their own name. Routes to try:

A bank or card statement. Most people have one, and it usually counts.
An official letter. Tax, benefits, voter registration or local authority correspondence addressed to you.
A residence certificate or register extract, where your country issues one.
Ask support. Platforms often have alternatives that are not on their public list.

Regulators expect flexibility for people who genuinely cannot provide a standard document. The European Banking Authority's guidelines on ML/TF risk management and access to financial services (EBA/GL/2023/04, published 31 March 2023) tell credit and financial institutions to set out which alternative, independent documentation they will accept from vulnerable customers who cannot provide traditional identification or an address, for example refugees or people without a fixed address. That can include documents from social services or a recognised not-for-profit working on the authorities' behalf. In the US, the CIP rule allows an individual without a street address to give an APO or FPO box number, or the street address of next of kin or another contact person.

How automated proof of address checks work

Bills and statements come in thousands of formats, so most platforms use a vendor to automate the first pass. A typical flow:

Capture. A guided upload rejects blurry or cropped images on the spot.
Extraction. OCR reads the name, address, issuer and date.
Matching. The extracted data is compared with the name on the verified ID and the address the user entered.
Rules. The document type is checked against an accepted list and its date against the platform's age limit.
Tamper detection. Fonts, layout, metadata and image artefacts are examined for signs of editing.
Review. Clear passes are approved automatically, and edge cases go to a human analyst.

Vendors such as iDenfy combine automated document checks with a manual review step that accepts only pre-approved documents no older than three months. Some flows skip the upload entirely and check the address against databases, the non-documentary route the US CIP rule describes, with documents kept for cases the database cannot confirm.

For compliance teams, publishing the accepted list before the upload step, accepting original PDFs and recording why each document passed or failed cut drop-off and help with audits. Address checks sit alongside other controls, including liveness detection and face verification and, for higher-risk customers, the measures in our guide to customer due diligence vs enhanced due diligence. Address mismatches are also one of the signals used to spot synthetic identity fraud.

Non-custodial DeFi apps, JewelSwap among them, do not collect proof of address because no account is opened and no funds are held. See KYC in DeFi explained.

Frequently asked questions

What counts as proof of address?

A recent document from an independent issuer that shows your full name and current residential address. Common examples are a utility bill, a bank or credit card statement, and a letter from a tax office or other government body. Each platform publishes its own list of accepted documents.

How old can a proof of address document be?

Most platforms require it to be dated within the last three months. That limit is industry practice rather than a legal requirement, so check the platform's own rules before uploading.

Is a bank statement valid proof of address?

Usually yes, as long as it shows your name, your full address, the bank's details and a recent date. A downloaded PDF statement normally works better than a screenshot of a banking app.

Why do crypto exchanges ask for proof of address?

Anti-money-laundering rules require regulated platforms to collect and verify customer information, including where you live. Your address also travels with crypto transfers under the EU Transfer of Funds Regulation, and your country of residence decides which products, licences and tax reporting apply to you.

Can I use a mobile phone bill as proof of address?

It depends on the platform. Some accept mobile phone bills and others do not, so check the accepted list or use a bank statement or utility bill instead.

What if I do not have any bills in my name?

Try a bank or card statement, a tax or government letter, or an official residence certificate. If none of these work, ask support what alternatives they accept. EU banking guidelines expect institutions to accept alternative documentation from vulnerable customers without a fixed address.

Keep reading

This article is educational and is not legal or financial advice. Legal references are to Regulation (EU) 2024/1624, Regulation (EU) 2023/1113, 31 CFR 1020.220 and EBA/GL/2023/04 as published, checked on 8 October 2026. Document rules vary by platform and country, so always follow your platform's own list.

Viktor Vostrikov

Co-Founder

About the author.

Co-Founder at JewelSwap & Chief Strategy Officer at iDenfy. Viktor brings his successful track record of superb development & project management.