>Given that you pay for the server in advance, a VPS is essentially zero risk for them.

It is not zero risk, the risk is quite high. A credit card company may reverse a transaction reported as fraudulent unless they perceived the fraud report was incorrect / steps had not been taken to prevent fraudulent card use. Web servers are good resources for uses which are often funded by fraud.

> Given that you pay for the server in advance, a VPS is essentially zero risk for them. I am also surprised by this requirement.

I am still not fully convinced, but this post makes some good points.

http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3899929

It's definitely not a recent change, they required a copy of a photo ID as early as 2005 when I got my first server there. Don't remember being asked for a credit card scan ever though.

I didn't have to give them anything (I'm in the UK) but a client in Australia did. So maybe there's an EU thing at play (or just a risk assessment based on countries' fraud levels).

I got my server just over two years ago and they requested a copy of photo ID, but not of credit card.