Do You Need an ID to Get a Credit Card? Photo IDs, SSN, and Verification

Yes, you need an ID to get a credit card. Federal anti-money-laundering rules require every bank to verify who you are before opening any account, and in practice that means an unexpired government-issued photo ID along with a handful of personal details. No issuer can skip the identification step, whether you apply online, in a branch, or through an app.

What the Issuer Must Collect Before Opening Your Account

Every bank operates a written Customer Identification Program (CIP). Before it can open a credit card account, it must collect at least four pieces of information from you:¹

Your full legal name, matching the name on your ID.
Your date of birth.
A residential or business street address. A P.O. Box alone is not enough, though an APO/FPO box or the street address of a close relative or contact person can substitute if you don’t have a fixed address.
A taxpayer identification number. For U.S. persons, that is your Social Security Number. Non-U.S. persons can provide an ITIN, passport number, or alien identification card number.

On top of those four data points, you have to report income or assets. A separate federal rule prohibits an issuer from opening a credit card account unless it has considered your ability to make the minimum payments based on your income or assets and your existing debts.² Reporting no income and no assets is a denial in itself.

Photo IDs That Card Issuers Accept

The CIP regulation names a driver’s license or passport as examples but lets each bank decide which documents to accept.¹ The forms almost every issuer will take are:

A state-issued driver’s license.
A state-issued non-driver photo ID card. Every state issues one through its motor vehicle agency.³
A U.S. passport or passport card. The passport card is wallet-sized and has the same validity period as the book.⁴
A military Common Access Card, the standard ID for active-duty service members, Selected Reserve members, DoD civilian employees, and eligible contractors.⁵
A Permanent Resident Card (Form I-551), which establishes both identity and lawful permanent resident status.⁶

Whatever you use, it has to be current. The regulation specifies “unexpired” government-issued identification, so an expired license or passport will not work.¹ If yours is close to expiring, renew before you apply.

What About a Mobile Driver’s License

About 15 states and Puerto Rico now issue mobile driver’s licenses that live on a phone, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology is working with several large U.S. banks on adoption.⁷ Most banks do not yet have the infrastructure to validate a mobile ID, so for now bring a physical one.

Your Social Security Number, and What to Do Without One

For U.S. persons, the Social Security Number is the piece of identification that carries the most weight on the application. CIP rules require the issuer to obtain a taxpayer identification number, and the SSN is what lets the bank pull your credit report, cross-check public databases, and report the account to the bureaus.¹ Enter it only on the issuer’s own site, in its app, or in person at a branch. No legitimate issuer asks for your SSN by email or through an unsolicited call.

If you aren’t eligible for an SSN, you can apply to the IRS for an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number using Form W-7 and documents establishing your foreign status and identity.⁸⁹ Many major issuers accept an ITIN in place of an SSN, but not all do, so confirm with the issuer before you apply. A non-U.S. person without an ITIN can sometimes use a passport number and country of issuance instead, though fewer issuers support that route.¹

If You’re Under 21

You must be at least 18 to apply in your own name. Between 18 and 20, the issuer can only open the account if one of two conditions is met:²

You show income or assets you personally own or control that are enough to cover the minimum payments. A parent’s income you merely expect access to doesn’t count, unless it is regularly deposited into an account in your name.
A cosigner aged 21 or older agrees in writing to be liable for the debt and can afford the minimum payments themselves.

Your credit limit can’t be raised before you turn 21 unless you can independently afford the higher payments or your cosigner agrees to the increase in writing.¹⁰ Qualifying income at this age typically includes wages, regular allowances, and scholarship or grant money, but not student loans, because borrowed money isn’t an ability to repay new debt.

How Verification Actually Happens

Most applications run through an automated check the moment you submit them. The issuer pulls your credit report, cross-references your SSN against public data, and compares what you entered with records it can already see. Many applicants get an instant decision without ever uploading a document, because the CIP rule lets a bank obtain identifying information from a third-party source rather than requiring you to hand it over directly.¹

When the automated check can’t confirm you, the issuer will ask for a clear photo or scan of your government-issued ID. Some issuers now add a biometric step, asking you to take a selfie that is compared against the photo on the ID. Others verify by matching your name and address against an existing bank account you own.

If Your ID Doesn’t Check Out

An issuer that cannot verify you, or otherwise decides not to approve you, has to send written notice of the decision within 30 days of receiving a completed application. That notice must either give the specific reasons or tell you how to request them within 60 days.¹¹ If the denial rested on your credit report, the notice will name the credit bureau that supplied it and remind you of your right to a free copy within 60 days.¹²

ID-related denials usually trace to one of a few problems: a name or address that doesn’t match public records, an SSN the issuer couldn’t confirm, or an ID that had already expired. The notice will tell you which, so you can fix it before reapplying.

Being Added as an Authorized User Instead

If you can’t qualify on your own, you can be added to someone else’s card as an authorized user. The CIP rules focus on the “customer” who opens the account, meaning the primary cardholder.¹ Most issuers ask for the authorized user’s name, date of birth, and sometimes an SSN for credit-reporting purposes, but they typically do not require a separate photo ID or full application. Requirements vary, so the primary cardholder should ask their bank before adding anyone.

Don’t Try to Get Around It

Providing false information on a credit card application is a federal crime. Knowingly making a false statement to influence a lending decision by a federally insured financial institution carries a fine of up to $1,000,000, up to 30 years in prison, or both.¹³ Using another person’s identifying information, including their SSN, is a separate offense carrying up to 15 years in prison when the offender obtains $1,000 or more in value.¹⁴

That includes so-called “Credit Privacy Numbers.” Companies that sell CPNs as a fresh-start alternative to an SSN are usually selling nine-digit numbers stolen from real people, often children, elderly individuals, or incarcerated people. Using one on an application is identity theft, and it exposes you to both sets of penalties above, regardless of how the seller markets it.

1
eCFR. 31 CFR 1020.220 – Customer Identification Program Requirements for Banks
2
eCFR. 12 CFR 1026.51 – Ability to Pay
3
USAGov. State Motor Vehicle Services
4
Travel.State.Gov. Get a Passport Card
5
DoD Common Access Card. Common Access Card (CAC)
6
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. 13.1 List A Documents That Establish Identity and Employment Authorization
7
National Institute of Standards and Technology. Tap for ID – Your Next Drivers License Might Also Live on Your Phone
8
Internal Revenue Service. Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN)
9
Internal Revenue Service. Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TIN)
10
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 12 CFR Part 1026.51 – Truth in Lending (Regulation Z)
11
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. 12 CFR 1002.9 – Notifications
12
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1681m – Requirements on Users of Consumer Reports
13
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 1014 – Loan and Credit Applications Generally
14
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 1028 – Fraud and Related Activity in Connection with Identification Documents, Authentication Features, and Information