Received email from Etsy telling me Bank Info is incorrect but it is correct

[#1]

I don’t know if I am in the right place or if anyone can help me. I can’t find where I can email Etsy directly to ask this question.

I received the following email from Serge at Etsy (see below) basically telling me that I am non-compliant because my bank account has two names on it but my bank account is a JOINT account so of course there will be two names on it. I have been using it this way for years without any issues and now they are threatening to cancel any pending orders and suspend my shop if I don’t change it within 4 days!!! Is this legit or is this SPAM? I would like to be able to reach Etsy directly to ask them but don’t know how to do that.  Thank you to anyone who can point me in the right direction of what to do with this.

Here is the email I received:

This is Serge from Etsy!
 
For compliance purposes, we require your full legal name on the payment account, as per the name on your photo ID. At the moment you have two names on your bank account information. 
 
To update this, we suggest the following:
 

1. On Etsy.com, click “Shop Manager”
2. Click “Finances”
3. Click “Payment settings"
4. Click “Edit” to re-enter your bank account details.
5. Upload a new document. Please know we require the bank document you upload to include your full name, date, name of banking institution and bank account details.

Make sure that all changes are saved.
 
Please note that failing to respond to this inquiry within 4 days will result in any pending orders you may have being canceled and your shop being suspended.
 
Until we complete your Etsy Payments verification, we will not be able to finish processing any future Etsy Payments purchases made in your shop.
 
Once you have made these changes, please respond to this email to let us know of the updates so we can review it for you again.

[SewYouCanToo]

None of the Etsy emails that I receive from Etsy Support have the “zendesk” in the email address which is what is making me suspicious.

[CraftyCornishMaids]

all of mine do

the - etsy support - , that tells me my funds are on the way , and other info doesn't

but the actual ones, about real problems with my account do

[irmaKdesigns]

@SewYouCanToo if you are on pc, hover over email link (support@etsy.zendesk.com), and the pop up will tell you real sender. It should be Etsy.com. 

(on mobile device, press and hold down on email link).

[CanningCrafts]

The Zendesk email is an actual Etsy support email. But email addresses can be spoofed. You can check the message source code in your email app to see if there is a spoofed address. But the fact that they direct you to Etsy as opposed to clicking a link makes me think it might not be a scam. You can contact Etsy directly to ask them if it is a legit email:

https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/requests/new?segment=selling

If you go to your Payment Settings page or dashboard, do you see any notices from Etsy? A 4 day deadline doesn't seem like much of a heads up!

[SewYouCanToo]

I would have thought that something would have been written on my Finance page but there wasn’t anything asking for this correction of account name.

I guess what concerned me was that even though they direct me to Etsy’s site to make the changes, I still need to reply to their original email once it is done. It is replying to their email that has me questioning whether this is legit or not. 

But that being said, I did reach out to Etsy and basically all they said was to respond to the email that was originally sent to me. 

[CraftyCornishMaids]

if you respond to the e-mail saying - I've uploaded the info now

... it isn't going to do any harm,

you are not giving any details away

[JMOldeVintage]

Just musing here, but is it possible that under your finances section you have the bank details with both your & your husband's name listed? 
Technically there can only be one shop owner - either your or your husband.
The ID required needs to be for the shop owner - which is you.

In which case maybe all you need to do is eliminate his name in those details?
Though yes, you may need to reverify the bank account information & your id again.
Note - depending on when your next deposit is scheduled, you might want to request it 'now' since any actions on the financials of a shop will pause deposits for at least five business days.

I have no idea, just tossing this out there.

[SewYouCanToo]

I do have both my name and my husband’s name on the bank details since it is a joint account. But it has been this way for years and Etsy never had any problems with it. So what changed that this is now a problem? Also, I do not appreciate them threatening me to make the change within 4 days or all pending orders will be cancelled and they will suspend my shop. That part is what made me wonder if this was legit. And the fact that I have to reply to their email to confirm that the change has been done.

But that being said, I contacted Etsy and all they said was they couldn’t tell me why this change was needed and that I was to follow the instructions of the original email.

[givemeacrown]

As others have mentioned, Etsy uses zendesk to handle their support enquiries.  

I'm not sure if this will help but you can try go via the help center in a web browser to see if there's an open support ticket.  To do that, go to: https://help.etsy.com - if there's a "Sign in" button in the top right hand corner, click on that and it should sign you in if you already have a browser tab open that's signed into Etsy.  If it shows your avatar image, then you're already signed in.

You can then either click on the your avatar and select "My Support Requests" or go to: https://help.etsy.com/hc/en-us/requests - that shows all your support tickets. I don't have any open ones at the moment but I'm guessing the one from Etsy might appear in there, and if you click on the title you can reply to it. You will see that the domain in the browser continues to show help.etsy.com to know that it is truly part of Etsy's website.

[TinLizziAntiques]

OP, the reason for the legitimate request from Etsy is new legislation in the United States requiring more financial vetting under the INFORM Act. You can Google for more information. Why not ask for confirmation through the Chat desk?

[SewYouCanToo]

I contacted the Help Center and the person who responded (poorly written response by the way) said they could not divulge why they needed me to change it from two names to one name and that I needed to respond to the first email that I received.

I don't live in the US so not sure if that new legislation would affect me.

I have no clue where to find the live Chat. I don't see it in my shop.

[JMOldeVintage]

@SewYouCanToo  - It may or may not be a change in banking laws in Canada &/or that apply to all shop owners here on Etsy.

But if Etsy insists on the change, possibly think of it this way. With two names on the financial information to an extent Etsy looks at this as there being two owners.

So from a legal standpoint Etsy would then need to do an id confirmation on both you and your husband.

But Etsy only allows one person to be a shop owner. So in their mind, changes need to be made. They want you to choose who the shop owner is.

That there are two names on the bank account you use is quite probably irrelevant. As long as you - your exact name, id#, etc. matches here & on the bank account - and they confirm this, that may be the important thing.

[Amazira]

I am having the same issue, etsy emailed me a month ago to ask me to upload another bank statement (than the one I have been using for the past 5 years), I have uploaded a new bank statement but they can still not verify it.

Etsy has not paid me for 1 month now and I am getting really stressed as you can imagine. I have tried to contact them multiple time over the phone, they escalated the issue each time to a service who sends me the same email saying ''you need to upload another bank statement'' but the payment setting page does not allow me to do so and as soon as I enter my bank details the page keeps jumping back to the payment setting page not letting me upload the bank statement.

I have not heard from them since 5 days even though I called them again today and my financial situation is getting critical as I live solely from etsy and don't have much savings...

If you have any tips on how to resolve this issue I will be forever grateful!