What documents do I need to provide?

With some instant merchant account providers, you can create your account and start taking payments immediately. However, this can lead to trouble, especially if your business involves complexity or has a higher risk profile.

Opening a merchant account is similar to opening a bank account in that your acquirer must perform basic KYC (Know Your Client)/AML (Anti-money laundering) checks to approve your account.

🧨 If your acquirer skips these checks and validations when they activate your account, they must do them later. Your account could be frozen or even terminated outright at the wrong moment, like when you've just spent big on a marketing campaign.

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Durable merchant account

We help you satisfy all requirements as part of your merchant account approval process and select the best match from our trusted acquirers, so that your account is robust and durable for the success of your business.

We also ensure that your merchant account is correctly configured and provide documentation and support for your payments integration.

And our merchant hub saves you time with full authorisation visibility from the gateway in realtime and

Merchant documentation

To get started, each merchant must provide the following.

• A corporate extract from your country's business register, which confirms the details of your company or business entity, its directors, and its ownership structure.
  • If your business entity is over one year old, obtain an updated corporate extract generated within the last year to prove its current good standing with the registrar in your country.
• A bank document confirming details of the bank account where proceeds from card payments will be settled. This must be an official document on bank letterhead (such as a bank statement) issued within the last 90 days.
• Your audited financial statements for the past two years.
  • If you don't have audited financial statements, for example, because you are a new business, provide a business plan and 12-month cash flow projection.
• Your processing history as monthly statements or screenshots from your acquirer's reporting platform detailing your transactions for the past six months. This should present counts and values of all transaction types, including purchases, refunds, and chargebacks.
  • If you don't have any processing history, you can still apply. However, your application will be considered as a startup, which may exclude you from consideration if you operate a high-risk business model.
• Proof of domain ownership for your webshop URLs. This can be an invoice for purchase or renewal or a screenshot from your domain management account showing your business entity in the Registrant Details view.

Director and owner documentation

Each director and each UBO (owner of 25%) must provide:

• A government ID such as a passport, national identity document, or driver's licence.
• A proof of residential address such as a gas, water or electricity bill, a fixed landline or broadband internet bill or a personal bank statement issued within the last 90 days. Credit card account statements and mobile phone bills are not accepted.
• A contact phone number
• An email address.

Additional Requirements

Depending on your business model, the acquirer may require additional documents confirming operational or regulatory details specific to your business, such as licenses or authorisations, certifications, or other documentation, such as supplier agreements.

Want to learn more about the merchant account application process and requirements?

Recommended Reading

• For a general overview of the application process, see What is underwriting and why is it done?
• See also Card scheme website requirements.
• For information about timelines and other considerations before you start processing payments once your merchant account is activated, see How long before I can accept payments?