Required documents and acceptability
Required documents and acceptability standards for merchant accounts
Your merchant account application relies on key documents that allow your acquirer to meet their KYC/AML obligations and understand key facts about your business. This section lists the documents they will typically request in support of your application and defines the standards that are expected for documents.
General guidelines for all documents
For all documents, follow these guidelines:
- Text and images should be clearly visible and legible. Can you easily read all numbers and letters?
- In document images, all four corners of the document should be visible. Please do not use close-ups or detailed zoom-ins.
- If you’re taking photos of documents, set them flat and straight so the images don’t appear skewed or tilted.
- Use standard formats such as pdf or jpg.
Stakeholder personal documents
A stakeholder is any individual who, directly or indirectly, holds an ownership interest of at least 25% of the applying entity or exercises management control over its affairs. That includes owners, directors, and key management figures such as legal representatives and authorised signatories.
Each stakeholder must supply a personal identification document, proof of residential address, a contact telephone number, and an email address.
Personal identification documents
When you supply a personal identification document, it must be:
- An official government-issued identification document, such as a passport, national identity card, or driver's licence.
- Valid and current, i.e. not void, cancelled or expired.
Accepted ID documents | Documents that are not accepted |
|---|---|
✅ Passport | ❌ Residence Card or Certificate |
✅ National Identity Card | ❌ Birth Certificate |
✅ Driver's Licence | ❌ Military ID |
❌ Employment ID |
Follow these image guidelines:
- For a passport, include the photo page and overleaf in a single image view.
- For other documents, include images of both the front and back of the document.
Residential address proof
Residential address proofs must be dated and not older than 90 days
- Utility bill or official document for a service directly provided or related to your residence
- On issuer letterhead, listing issuer and contract or service details
- The stakeholder's name and address is clear and correct
Accepted address proofs | Address proofs that are not accepted |
|---|---|
✅ Utility bill (gas, water, or electric) | Anything not specifically listed as accepted, including: |
✅ Telephone landline or internet service bill | ❌ Any document that is not dated or older than 90 days |
✅ Bank statement | ❌ Credit, department store, or other card statements |
✅ Council tax bills | ❌ Mobile phone bills |
Entity registration documents
Entity registration documents vary depending on the entity type and where it is registered.
UK entities
For UK entities we don’t require any of these documents because we will retrieve them directly from Companies House.
We will generally need registration documents for the applying entity and any related entities within the scope of the application (e.g., parent, subsidiary, etc.).
Typically, you should send the complete registration pack that your registrar gave you when you formed your entity, as well as any additional documents that have been issued internally or by your registrar since registration.
We normally expect to receive some version of each item described in the following table.
Document | Information the document provides |
|---|---|
Certificate of Registration (or Incorporation) | ✅ The legal form of the entity ✅ The entity is duly registered with its registering authority (registrar) ✅ Registration details such as name, registration number and legal form |
Memorandum & Articles of Association | ✅ Charter or purpose |
Directors Incumbency Certificate | ✅ Identity of Directors & Legal Representatives |
Register of Shareholders | ✅ Ownership structure and the identity of the owners; holdings and percentages |
Financial Statements (if applicable) | ✅ Operating results and future expectations |
Certificate of Good Standing | ✅ As of the document issue date, the good status of the entity |
These documents may be familiar to you depending on your business type and registered jurisdiction. Consult with our onboarding team if you have any doubts about your organisation's requirements.
Settlement bank account details
You can nominate any bank account issued by an EU or UK bank and registered in your organisation's name as your settlement bank account. You can have one settlement bank account for each settlement currency.
Verify your bank account by providing an official document from your bank showing all account details, such as a current bank statement or a certified bank account confirmation letter from your bank branch.
Bank account verification document requirements
- On official bank letterhead with the bank name and details
- Dated and less than 90 days since document issue date
- Entity name and address
- Bank account number and sort code
- IBAN number
- Bank SWIFT/BIC code
Proof of operating location
You may have to provide additional proof of your organisation’s operating location, which may differ from the registered address.
The operating location is the normal location where ongoing business operations are conducted and management decisions are made.
Proof of operating location address must be for a legally contracted service supplied to the address location, such as a utility bill.
Accepted address proofs | Address proofs that are not accepted |
|---|---|
✅ Utility bill (gas, water, or electric) | Anything not specifically listed as accepted, including: |
✅ Telephone landline or internet service bill | ❌ Any document that is not dated or older than 90 days |
✅ Business bank statement | ❌ Credit, department store, or other card statements |
✅ Bills from local tax authorities | ❌ Mobile phone bills |
✅ Contracts with major service suppliers to your location, such as logistics providers, etc. |
Proof of website URL ownership
Your business may accept payments online through a website URL that your merchant account provider must approve.
You must provide a current document proving that your business URL is owned by and registered in the name of your organisation. This can be:
- An invoice from your domain hosting company for the purchase and/or renewal of the URL
- One or more screenshots from within your domain management portal listing the URL and showing your registrant information. Try to use a wide view that shows the browser URL of the domain hosting company and the current date and time on your computer.
Card processing history
If your business previously or currently accepts card payments through another provider, please supply copies of your monthly processed transactions from that provider to document your processing history for the most recent six—to twelve-month period.
Additional business documents
Depending on the nature of your business, your acquirer may ask you to provide additional documents. The most commonly requested documents are as follows.
- Business Plan or Business Model Overview (if a startup)
- Product certifications
- Licenses, authorisations or registrations
- Proof of professional designations or qualifications
- Legal opinions confirming the legality of your goods or services in your target markets
- Key customer-facing documents, including copies of your terms and conditions, shipping and delivery policies, refund, return and cancellation policies, etc.
- Supply contracts, agreements with fulfilment and logistics providers
- Other key business documents central to discharging your business model
These documents prove the facts of your business. Provide the full range of documents in a clear and legible format so your acquirer can quickly and efficiently complete their assessment of your business and issue your merchant account.
Visit our website and chat to our experts with any questions about your document requirements.
Updated about 1 month ago
Find out more about how your merchant account works