How to Create Account Requirements For Traders
If you want to trade stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), bonds or other securities, a trading account is necessary.
Establishing a trading account necessitates providing certain minimum personal details.
Your broker firm may require additional documents such as a Social Security number, address proofs and tax information.
Personal Information
The initial step in opening a trading account is ensuring you possess all necessary personal information. This data allows for identification as an investor and safeguards funds.
Security can help you avoid losing money due to security breaches. Create a strong password and use it regularly in order to safeguard your investment account. Furthermore, never share your password with anyone or give it out to strangers.
Personal information refers to any data that uniquely identifies an individual, such as their name, email address or social security number. It could also include medical records, internet browsing history or device identifiers.
Basic details, such as a person's first and last names, can be easily identified as belonging to that individual; however, more specific data may be harder to ascertain due to it usually being combined with other pieces of information like an address or phone number.
Particularly true is digital data such as images or videos that can be used to identify someone, such as through facial recognition software. Personal information still qualifies if it can be stored in this form.
Another example of personal information is a photograph tagged on social media sites. While this may not be sufficient to identify the individual, its close enough connection could potentially be considered personal.
There are various laws that control how personal information is collected, handled, and used. As such, you must be aware of these standards before storing or distributing any data. Assessing internal policies and procedures within your company as well as looking into how third parties handle information for you is necessary for accurate handling.
As a starting point, the OIC's What is Personal Information checklist can be beneficial. It explains how to recognize information that is personal and provides some examples of what to consider when determining whether or not something is 'about' someone.
It is not uncommon for information to be classified as 'personal data' even if it does not pertain directly to an individual. This can occur when combined with other pieces of data like credit card or insurance policy numbers, or when an opinion or belief about someone has been formed.
Social Security Number
The Social Security Number is an identification number used to confirm a person's identity. It's essential information for traders, since it enables them to open an account with any bank or brokerage firm.
Although there is no law that forbids a company from asking for your Social Security number, it's wise to request another form of identification before providing them with your SSN. Doing this helps avoid being turned down by a business.
Without a valid Social Security Number (SSN), you may face service denial or being barred from opening an account altogether. Furthermore, hackers could potentially steal your SSN to gain access to personal and financial data.
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has taken several steps to safeguard the public from fraudulent SSNs. It also implemented systems that enable authorized users to check if an SSN matches up with a number stored in its master database.
One of the most common methods for people to obtain a fake Social Security Number (SSN) is through online scams. These schemes often employ fraudulent websites which collect SSN numbers and sell them on to criminals.
In some instances, people can purchase an SSN from someone who already owns one and then claim it as their own. Examples include an individual adopting a fake Social Security number shown on a facsimile card or a company using made-up SSNs to promote its wallets.
Since the start of the SSN program, SSA has strived to ensure its integrity by including quality checks in every assignment process. Furthermore, SSA created a file called Numident that unifies numeric and alphabetic characters into one unique identifier.
Numident is an index by name linked to SSA's Alpha Index File (Alphident), which helps employees locate applicants for Social Security Numbers. Prior to 2010, SSA's Alphident was a separate file indexed by the first letter of each applicant's last name.
Address
To open a trading account with OANDA, you need to provide an address that matches the one on your application. This must be a residential address in your name that was issued within three months. You can provide this information using either paper or online forms; alternatively, send us a copy of your current residential bill in an envelope sealed with no address indication (ie: not addressed as 'c/o' or 'care of') that includes your name, date of birth and contact info.