Verify Business Entities
When a Business Entity is created, you will be requested to provide additional information to verify your business, its controller and beneficial owner(s). The verification process may be instantaneous or take multiple days. To help speed up the process, we recommend collecting business information ahead of time for each of our legal business entities.
When testing onboarding business entities in Sandbox, you are not required to provide real data. Any information provided will be automatically approved.
Preparing for Verification
To help prepare for business verification, we recommend collecting the following information ahead of time for each legal business entity. This will help speed up the verification process and avoid the risk of being rejected.
Personal information is required for the business's acting controller and any owner(s). Click here to learn more why personal information is required by US banking regulations.
Business Information
Legal Name: This name must match the business name used when applying for an EIN (Employer Identification Number).
Business Type: LLC, Corporation, Sole Proprietorship, or Partnership (Note: Trusts should use Sole Proprietorship)
Doing Business As Name (Optional): The preferred business name, also known as fictitious name or assumed name. If your business uses this, additional documentation may be requested in the verification process.
Physical Address: The physical address of your business. PO Boxes and virtual addresses are not allowed. If your business does not have a physical address, the controller's physical address may be used.
Employer Identification Number: The EIN number for your registered business.
Controller Information
Name: The first and last name of your controller. If you do not have a dedicated controller or would prefer to designate another high-level officer (e.g. CEO, CFO, VP, Treasurer) as your acting controller, you choose to proceed with that officer's information.
Title: The title of the acting controller.
Date of Birth: The date of birth of the acting controller.
Physical Address: The personal residential address of your acting controller. PO Boxes and virtual addresses are not allowed.
SSN: The last 4 digits of the acting controller's SSN are required. If additional information is requested, you may be requested to provide their full SSN. If the controller does not have a SSN (non-US person), a passport number will be required.
Owner Information (for each owner that owns 25% or more of the business). This is not needed for sole proprietorships, publicly traded corporations, or non-profits.
Name: The first and last name of the owner.
Date of Birth: The date of birth of the owner.
Physical Address: The personal residential address of the owner. PO Boxes and virtual addresses are not allowed.
SSN: The full SSN of the owner. If the owner does not have a SSN number (non-US person), a passport number will be required.
Step 1: Provide Business Information
After creating a new Business Entity, you will be requested to provide the following information. Use the business information collected in preparation to complete this form:
The following fields were not collected in preparation and must also be provided:
Email: A unique email address associated to your business. This will match the address provided when creating your Business Entity and cannot be changed on this form.
First & Last Name: The first and last name of the person filling out this form. This does not need to be the controller or owner. Do not put your business or team name in these fields, as your submission will be rejected.
After pressing Continue, you will be required to provide additional business information. Use the business information collected in preparation to complete this form:
The Business Classification and Industry are required. If cannot find an exact match, please choose your best judgement to select the most similar classification and industry. This does not directly impact the business verification process, but it is a required field as per US regulations.
If you are the company controller entering this form, check I am also a company controller before pressing Continue.
Once you have completed the form above, press Continue to provide controller information.
Step 2: Provide Controller Information
After business information has been provided, you will be required to provide your acting controller's personal information. Use the controller information collected in preparation to complete this form:
The information provided here must be your acting controller's personal information. Click here to learn more why personal information is required. Sole Proprietorships are not required to provide controller information.
Press Agree and Continue to complete the form.
Step 3: Provide Owner Information
This step is not applicable for Sole Proprietorships
Based on the information submitted in prior steps, you may be requested to provide business documentation (see Step 4) before providing owner information. If this is the case, after providing business documentation and receiving a successful review, you will be directed back to this step to complete owner information.
After competing Step 2, you will be directed back to the business entity page. Press Continue to provider owner information:
After pressing Continue, you will be required to identify if any individuals own more than 25% of the business. Choose the applicable option and press Continue:
You will then be asked to add owners who own more than 25% of the business. Press Add Owner to add your business's owners' information.
Publicly traded corporations and non-profits are not required to add owners.
If adding owners, you will be requested to complete the following form for each owner. Use the owner information collected in preparation to complete this form:
The information provided must be your business owner's personal information. Click here to learn more why personal information is required.
Step 4: Documentation Upload
In many cases, this step is not required and your business will be automatically verified and approved. If this step is required, you will receive an email notifying you that additional documentation is required. We will help direct which documents must be uploaded to complete your business's verification via a follow up email. One or more of the following types of documents may be requested:
Business Documentation
EIN Letter: If our compliance team does not already have an EIN Letter (IRS-issued SS4 confirmation letter) on file, you may be requested to upload additional documentation. This must be a PDF document. EIN letters are not accepted as proof of address.
Proof of Address: If our external sources do not have any record of your legal business entity operating the provided physical address, you may be required to provide proof of address if additional documentation is requested. Proof of address can be any of the following in PDF format: utility bill, financial statement, tax statement or fully executed lease agreement (must be valid for a minimum of 30 days). The document must show the business name and address matching your submitted business name and address.
DBA Document: A DBA (Doing Business As) document should be issued by the government and should include the DBA name along with the state registered business name. The DBA document must be a PDF document. This is not needed if not using a DBA or fictitious name.
Trust Document: Trusts will be requested to upload a signed trust document as a PDF.
Controller and Owner Documentation
Personal Identification for US persons: If requested, a photo of one of the following will be required for your controller and/or owner(s). Click here to learn about how to capture this documentation.
Non-expired State Issued Driver’s License/Identification Card
Non-expired US Passport
Federal Employment Authorization Card
US Visa
Personal Identification for non-US persons: If requested, a photo of the following will be required for your controller and/or owner(s). Click here to learn about how to capture this documentation.
Non-expired Foreign Passport
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do I need to provide personal information for the business's controller and owner(s)?
In order to comply with Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations, you will be required to provide personal information on your business controller and beneficial owner(s). A controller is any natural individual who holds significant responsibilities to control, manage, or direct a company or other corporate entity (i.e. CEO, CFO, General Partner, President, etc). A company may have more than one controller, but only one controller’s information must be collected. A beneficial owner is any natural person who, directly or indirectly, owns 25% or more of the equity interests of the company.
Legal entities, whether domestic or foreign, can be used to facilitate money laundering and other crimes because their true ownership can be concealed. The collection of beneficial ownership information by banks about legal entity customers can provide law enforcement with key details about suspected criminals who use legal entity structures to conceal their illicit activity and assets. Requiring legal entity customers seeking access to banks to disclose identifying information, such as the name, date of birth, and Social Security Number of natural persons who own or control them will make such entities more transparent, and thus less attractive to criminals and those who assist them.
Learn more about the FFIEC BSA/AML Beneficial Ownership Requirements.
What are best practices when capturing personal identification documentation?
To avoid documents being rejected, please review the following best practices when taking photos of personal identification documentation. Personal identification documentation must be taken with a camera (scanners are not allowed):
All 4 Edges of the document should be visible
A dark/high contrast background should be used
At least 90% of the image should be the document
Should be at least 300dpi
Capture image from directly above the document
Make sure that the image is properly aligned, not rotated, tilted or skewed
No flash to reduce glare
No black and white documents
No expired IDs
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