AML and KYC Policy
This page explains the verification and anti-money-laundering measures that apply to every Steadfast Cargence account. Verification is not a formality we invented to slow you down: it is how we keep stolen identities, laundered money, and fraudsters away from the platform that handles your funds.
1. Introduction
Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) procedures describe the checks we run to confirm who our users are and to prevent the platform being used to disguise the origin of money. Together they serve three aims: keeping the service compliant with applicable Australian requirements, protecting individual users from identity fraud and account takeover, and preserving the integrity of the financial system. This policy summarises what we collect, what we do with it, how long checks take, and your responsibilities as an account holder.
2. What KYC is
KYC is the process of identifying a customer and confirming that the details they provided are genuine. In practice: your name, date of birth, and address are collected at registration; documents prove them; and automated plus manual checks confirm the documents belong to you. KYC is not a one-off event. Information is refreshed when documents expire, when something material changes on your account, or when a routine review date arrives.
3. What AML involves
AML covers the wider programme around customer identification: assessing the risk each account presents, monitoring activity for patterns associated with disguising the origin of funds, screening names against lists of sanctioned persons and entities, and reporting concerns to the relevant authorities where the law requires. The programme is risk-based: most accounts present low risk and see no friction, while higher-risk situations attract closer attention and, sometimes, questions.
4. Why verification is required
Verification protects you directly. It stops another person from opening an account in your name, blocks withdrawals to accounts that are not yours, and keeps the platform out of reach of proceeds of crime, which in turn keeps it out of reach of the enforcement attention that follows such funds. It is also a legal obligation: financial services operating towards Australian users are required to identify their customers and keep records. There is no paid tier that skips verification, and no staff member who can waive it.
5. Documents we ask for
For identity: a current passport, driver licence, or national proof-of-age card, photographed flat with all four corners visible. For address: a utility bill, bank statement, or official government letter issued within the last three months showing your name and residential address. Where a check requires it, we also ask for a short selfie or liveness video, which compares a live face with the document photo. We never ask for documents by email attachment outside the verified upload flow, and we never ask for your myGov password or anything similar.
6. The verification process, step by step
Step one: you register with your name, email, phone, and password. Step two: the platform requests your documents through the secure upload flow. Step three: automated checks run first, examining document validity, expiry, tampering, and matching the face where a selfie is involved; most files clear in minutes. Step four: cases the automation cannot confidently resolve go to manual review by trained staff. Step five: you receive written confirmation of the outcome, and where something failed, the reason and what to upload instead. Until verification completes, deposits may be limited and withdrawals are held.
7. Enhanced due diligence
Some situations call for enhanced due diligence (EDD): accounts with complex ownership, politically exposed persons, higher-value activity outside the pattern we know, residency or funding sources from higher-risk jurisdictions, or documents that raise specific questions. EDD can mean additional documents, questions about the source of funds for a particular deposit, or a live conversation. It is not an accusation; it is the difference between identifying a customer and understanding one. EDD applies to a small minority of accounts.
8. How long verification takes
Automated checks usually complete within minutes of a clear upload. Manual review is measured in business hours, and most files finish the same business day when submitted during support hours (Monday to Friday, 8:30 to 17:30 AEST). Delays come from three places: unclear photos, name mismatches between documents, and cases needing EDD. If your file has been in review for more than two business days, contact [email protected] and we will tell you exactly where it sits.
9. Why verification can fail
Common reasons: the document is expired, cropped, or unreadable; glare or blur hides the security features; the name on the address document does not match the identity document; the uploaded file looks edited; the selfie cannot be matched with confidence; or screening returned a sanctions or adverse-media match that requires human judgement. A refusal at this stage is not final in most cases: you are told the reason and given the chance to supply better evidence. Where the law prohibits onboarding, the decision is final and funds, if any, are returned to their source.
10. Transaction monitoring
Deposits, withdrawals, and trading activity are monitored against the profile of your account and patterns known from typologies of financial crime: rapid pass-through of funds, structuring deposits just under thresholds, unexpected third-party payments, and sudden changes in behaviour. Monitoring is automated first, human second. Where something needs explanation, we ask; where risk cannot be resolved, functions may be limited pending the answer. Where the law requires a report to authorities, we make it, and the law restricts what we can tell you about it.
11. Your responsibilities
You agree to provide information that is accurate, current, and genuinely yours, and to update it when circumstances change: a new legal name, a new address, a change in tax residency. Using another person's identity, uploading documents you are not entitled to use, or funnel funds through the account that belong to someone else are breaches that end with closure and, where required, a report. You are also responsible for keeping your credentials private, because a verified account in the wrong hands is a laundering tool.
12. Storage and protection of verification data
Verification documents and the records around them are stored encrypted, with access restricted to the compliance and verification staff who need them, every access logged. Retention follows applicable Australian requirements for financial records; when the retention period ends, documents are securely destroyed. The interplay with your wider privacy rights, including access and correction, is set out in the Privacy Policy.
13. Who verification data can reach
Categories of recipients: identity verification providers that check documents and faces; the licensed entity operating the trading service, which needs the customer record; IT providers hosting the encrypted storage; auditors and professional advisers under confidentiality; and regulators, law enforcement, or courts where we are compelled or authorised by law. Every recipient receives only what its role requires, under contractual privacy obligations, and none of them may use your data for their own purposes.
14. Compliance with applicable requirements
Steadfast Cargence applies this programme to comply with applicable Australian requirements for client onboarding, identity verification, record keeping, monitoring, and reporting. The programme is reviewed regularly against changes in those requirements and in the typologies seen in the market. Where this summary and a legal obligation appear to conflict, the obligation prevails, and we would rather explain the conflict than quietly skip a check.
15. Contact and support
Questions about verification status, document requirements, or anything on this page go to [email protected], marked KYC in the subject line for the fastest routing. If a check has failed and you believe the decision is wrong, say so in the same channel: a human reviews every appeal. Verification questions are answered during support hours, Monday to Friday, 8:30 to 17:30 AEST, usually within usually under one business hour.