This guide is for individuals going through a Persona-powered identity verification flow. While we’ve included helpful tips, the verification was set up by the business, service, or organization that asked you to verify. They use Persona as a tool, and they ultimately decide what’s required and can assist with your specific situation, if you’re having trouble.
What this screen is
This is a retry screen. The images you sent could not be used, so the verification flow is putting you back at the photo step to take them again.
It reads like a verdict, and people understandably take it as one. It is not. Being sent back to the camera is the clue: the step is asking for another go, not telling you anything has been decided.
It is also about the photos, not about you. A picture that is soft, dark, cropped, or reflecting a light is unusable no matter whose document it is.
Change something before you retake them
Taking the same photo again in the same place usually produces the same screen. Change one thing first:
- Move to better light, ideally daylight from a window, with the light in front of you rather than behind.
- Change the surface. Put the document on something matte and dark instead of a glossy table, your lap, or a patterned surface.
- Wipe the camera lens. A smudge from a pocket softens every photo and is almost invisible in the preview.
- Fill the frame and keep all four corners in, with the phone held flat and parallel to the document.
- Take the document out of a wallet, sleeve, or plastic holder, and take the case off your phone if it overhangs the lens.
How to take a photo the scan can read covers the full list and the order worth trying it in.
Why it does not say which photo or what was wrong with it
The screen is deliberately general. Naming exactly what a check looked at would tell someone attempting fraud what to correct, which would make verification weaker for everyone it protects. So the guidance we give stays on the things you control, such as light, distance, focus, and glare.
The business that asked you to verify can see more than you can here, which is why they are the right people to ask if you get stuck.
If it keeps appearing
- Try the other side of the document, or a different document if the flow offers more than one option.
- Try a different device. A phone camera is usually better for documents than a laptop camera. See Device handoff: continue verification on another device.
- Check the document for wear. A cracked laminate, a worn barcode, or a faded photo holds up a scan whatever the conditions. See My ID or passport is damaged.
If you have changed the light, the surface, the framing, and the device and it still appears, more attempts are unlikely to help. Contact the business that asked you to verify, tell them the step and the exact wording you saw, and ask what else they accept. They set this flow up, so they are the ones who can offer you another way through it.
If you run out of attempts
Businesses set a limit on how many times you can retry. Once you reach it the flow stops offering the camera. See I see a “Too many attempts” message.