Submitting a document electronically

You can submit identity verification files to us securely. Your file(s) will be encrypted during transmission and then unencrypted and stored at BullionVault. You must be logged into your account to use this service as your login creates the secure encrypted connection between your computer and BullionVault. The files you send are not subsequently available to you, so you should not treat BullionVault as a secure vault for your data files.

File types: BullionVault can interpret most common image file types. If we cannot interpret your file(s) we will contact you.
Viruses: You are responsible for ensuring that you do not send us a file infected with a virus. If we detect a virus in your submitted file we will notify you and we may charge your BullionVault account a maximum of $10 for the cleaning up and clerical work resulting.
Compressed Archives: Uploaded documents may not exceed 3 megabytes each. You may upload as many documents as you like, up to a total limit of 12 megabytes.

An evaluation copy of the popular winzip compression utility can be obtained from the winzip site. You can use this to reduce large files and also to place multiple files into a single archive file (which saves you submitting several files and waiting for each to transmit).
A zipped archive must still be less than 3 megabytes.

Winzip may not provide the best results for compressing images.
Scanning (size): The file format of your scans can make a huge difference to the size of each file. If you're using bitmap files (.bmp), try using JPEGs (.jpg) instead. They can easily be 10 times smaller for the same quality of image.
Scanning (quality): Please ensure your scans are high enough quality that we can clearly read the all the text in the image.

Shrinking image files

Scanners and digital cameras often produce very large, high-quality image files. You can reduce the size of these image files greatly by saving them in JPEG format (.JPG), and reducing the image quality and dimensions. Most paint packages - such as Microsoft Paint - can do this using their Image Stretch/Skew functions. These free tools may also be of use:

Please do not reduce your image size too much - or they will become illegible and unusable.

Transfer times

Please be aware of the time your transmission may take, and the impact of your type of connection. Here are some indications.

Connection	Max effective kilobytes per second	File size	Minimum time
Dial up 52kbps	3 Kb per second	1 meg	5 to 6 minutes
Broadband	30 Kb per second	1 meg	30 seconds

You should not interrupt a file upload by carrying on browsing, either on the BullionVault site or anywhere else. If you click on something during a file upload your browser will break the connection to our server and your upload will fail.

The procedure

Step 1.	Scan or digitally photograph the document(s) you wish to send us. If your scans or photographs are large, use a graphics tool to reduce their dimensions and quality. If you are familiar with how to do it use winzip or some similar utility to arrange multiple files in a single zipped archive file.
Step 2.	Log in, press ACCOUNT then the DOCUMENTS sub-menu option.
Step 3.	Click on the Browse button. Find and select your file(s).
Step 4.	When your file name is displayed press SUBMIT.
Warning	Don't interrupt the transfer - If you click on something during a file upload your browser will break the connection to our server and your upload will fail.
Step 5.	When your upload has completed, you'll see a receipt under the heading, "Documents successfully received".

More help

If you have any difficulties with this process please contact BullionVault support for assistance.