Fifth attempt to verify identity failed (in switching to Trader account)

[Mike Hart]

Hello, I'm posting here as a last resort. I've already been in email correspondance with support since last week, but it's now been 78 hours since I've received a reply from them. They were replying fairly promptly before that. 

First, they suggested I retake my id and submit again - that failed

Then, they suggested I edit my address temporarily to match the address on my ID (I moved since getting this ID) - that failed as well, but it's not flagging my address anymore

It's now saying my name doesn't exactly match my ID. My ID says "Michael Ryan Hart," and my profile says "Michael Hart." I tried to change my name to match my ID but it says I can't change my name unless I have a valid court case and court documents showing I legally changed my name

I replied to the support person directly in our ongoing correspondance telling them exactly this information. I provided them with my ID and asked if a manual override could be executed. I sent that message at 10:44am on August 16 - three days ago. I figured I'd give them a few days before posting here, so here I am. 

Thank you in advance for any assistance you can provide

P.S. I suspect that I selected the wrong google payments profile when verifying my ID - I didn't realize only one was associated with Chrome Web Store, so I selected the profile that seemed more current - so it's stuck identifying for the wrong account and I can't reset it. I told the support person this and they said it should automatically verify the correct account when I re-verify, so maybe someone can inform on this. 

[PION ACTIVIST]

The 78-hour silence usually means your ticket was escalated out of frontline tier-1 support to the specialized Google Payments / Trust & Safety engineering team, where manual overrides actually happen. That queue takes anywhere from 3 to 7 business days.

Why It Is Stuck

• Automated OCR Mismatch: Automated verification requires a 100% strict character match. Missing a middle name ("Michael Ryan Hart" vs. "Michael Hart") triggers an automated fraud lock that frontline reps cannot manually bypass without backend escalation.
• Name Change Lockdown: Once identity verification fails multiple times, the Payments Profile locks the name field to prevent identity swapping, requiring legal proof if edited manually.
• Mismatched Payments Profile: Chrome Web Store developer accounts link to a specific payments.google.com profile ID (tied to your original developer registration fee). Verifying a secondary profile leaves the primary developer profile in a permanent "unverified" state.

Actionable Steps To Fix It

• Do Not Open New Tickets: Submitting duplicate requests will merge or reset your queue position. Keep replying only to your existing email thread if 5 business days pass without a word.
• Fix the Payments Profile Link:
  1. Head directly to payments.google.com and sign in.
  2. Click the gear icon (Settings) in the top right.
  3. Look at Payments profile to see if you have multiple profiles in the dropdown.
  4. Ensure the profile selected matches the Merchant/Developer ID tied to your Chrome Web Store account.
• Request a Verification Reset via the Payments Form: If the Chrome Web Store support agent drops the ball, use the direct Google Pay Identity Verification form to bypass store-level support and reach the compliance team directly:
  1. Go to the Google Pay Help Center.
  2. Search for "Verify your identity" and submit the direct appeal form.
  3. Attach high-resolution uncropped scans of your ID alongside proof of address (utility bill or bank statement showing your current residential address).
  4. Explicitly state: "Requesting manual profile name correction to match Government ID (Michael Ryan Hart) to clear automated verification loop on Developer Payments Profile."

Wait out the current ticket until the 5-business-day mark before sending a single, concise follow-up to the existing email thread asking for an update on the backend escalation.

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[Patrick Kettner]

Hey Mike

If you are just wanting to change the payments profile, you can restart the verification process at any time by changing from a Trader, to a Non-Trader, and then back to a Trader.

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[Mike Hart]

Thanks for the replies. I've gone to payments profiles and confirmed that the wrong account is stuck in the verifying process. So looks like the support person was wrong about that being automatic. The profile that explicity lists "Chrome Web Store" in the subheading is not the profile that is currently frozen. I would let the support person know but I don't want to reset the wait time. I already told them I suspected this was part of the problem

As for going back to non-Trader, then back to Trader - is that advisable while a current ticket is open, and was most likely just escalated?

[Patrick Kettner]

Yep. You can do it literally any time.