# What is a bank challenge and why is it required?

### What is a bank challenge?
A bank challenge is an account ownership verification process. You must enter your existing bank account information before you can change the bank account linked to your Stripe account.
### Why is the bank challenge required?
Changing the bank account on a Stripe account means you are changing where funds (Payouts) are sent. As a result, it is important for security purposes that Stripe verifies that you are the account owner before allowing any updates to bank accounts.
### Having trouble?
If you can't pass the bank challenge because you forgot your previous bank account information, [contact Stripe Support](/email) so that Stripe can manually verify you are the account owner.