How verification works
Every account on PocketChange is tied to a real person, a real phone, and a real address in a real neighborhood.
Address & neighborhood
During signup, parents and homeowners enter a full street address. We validate it through Google Maps and match it to a verified neighborhood in our system. If your address doesn't match a known neighborhood, you can request access and our team will review it manually.
- Addresses are validated against Google's authoritative address data.
- Approved users can only see and interact with people in their same verified neighborhood.
- Neighborhoods can't be changed after approval without a support review.
Phone number
Parents and homeowners must verify a mobile phone number by SMS one-time code during signup. This is your safety contact of record.
Parent–young worker linking
Young workers can't take jobs without a linked, approved parent. Linking happens through a one-time secure code that expires in 24 hours and is verified server-side — never shared in plaintext.
Payments
Payouts to workers require a parent to complete Stripe's own identity verification (Stripe Connect Express). PocketChange never touches sensitive personal or banking information directly — Stripe handles KYC and holds the record.
Ongoing trust
Reports of safety concerns, no-shows, or misconduct feed into a per-account trust signal reviewed by our team. Repeated issues can suspend or remove accounts.