Hosted onboarding is our recommended solution to collect the required information you need to onboard your users as it requires less implementation effort on your side. You can customize a theme for your hosted onboarding page. You then need to create legal entities and account holders for your users and redirect them to your page where they provide their verification information directly to Adyen.
You can change the language of the page and control user settings.
Only use v2 for all Legal Entity Management API requests.
If your users need to sign PCI security questionnaires or accept Adyen's Terms of Service, these steps are included on the hosted onboarding page.
Depending on the type of legal entity, the user sees a list of steps to enter the following required information:
- Company details
- Decision makers
- Payout details: the minimum information needed to process and pay out to the user's bank account.
To see an example of the entire hosted onboarding flow, you can watch a video here:
Hosted onboarding in Germany
Hosted onboarding in the US
Before you begin
Make sure that:
- You have API credentials for the Legal Entity Management API.
- You have the BalancePlatform Manage Hosted onboarding role in your Balance Platform Customer Area. Contact our Support Team to request this role.
Availability
You can onboard the following legal entity types:
Supported countries
You can use hosted onboarding in the following countries where your users are operating.
Australia
Austria
Belgium
Bulgaria
Canada
Croatia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Germany
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Latvia
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Netherlands
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
United Kingdom (including Isle of Man & Jersey)
United States
The default language for the hosted onboarding page is English. You can change the language when creating a hosted onboarding link.
Step 1: Set up webhooks
Before you start collecting the required information from users, we recommend that you configure your system to accept our webhooks. Webhooks keep you updated on the progress of your users' verification process, merchant account and capability status changes, notify you of errors and contain instructions on how resolve them. Webhooks are crucial for a successful integration with Adyen, and the only way you'll receive automatic updates.
For instructions on how to configure webhooks, see Webhooks.
Step 2: Create legal entities
A legal entity resource holds information required for the verification checks. You need to create a legal entity for the user that has a contractual relationship with your platform.
Select a tab below to create a legal entity for an organization or individual:
To create a legal entity for an organization, provide the following information in a POST /legalEntities request. Any additional information you provide will be prefilled for the user in the hosted onboarding page.
| Parameter | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| type |  |
Set to organization. |
| organization | |
Object that contains required information about the organization. The legalName and its country. |
The following is an example of how to create a legal entity for a private company operating in the US.
curl https://kyc-test.adyen.com/lem/v2/legalEntities \
-u "ws123456@Scope.BalancePlatform_YourBalancePlatform":"YourWsPassword" \
-H "content-type: application/json" \
-X POST \
-d '{
"type":"organization",
"organization":{
"legalName":"Example Company",
"registeredAddress":{
"country":"US"
}
}
}'The response returns the legalEntity resource for the organization, identified by its unique id.
Step 3 (Conditional): Associate legal entities
The user that holds a contractual relationship with your platform is the main legal entity. You need to create legal entities for other entities associated with this user. For example, if the main legal entity conducting business with your platform is an sole proprietorship, then the legal entity of the individual owner must be linked to the legal entity of the sole proprietorship. Note that your user can also associate legal entities on the hosted onboarding page.
To associate legal entities, update the main legal entity by making a PATCH /legalEntities/{id} request, specifying the entityAssociations array.
When updating the entityAssociations, note that a PATCH request replaces the whole array. If you only want to update one array item, make sure you include all existing items along with the specific change in your request.
The example below show how you can associate a sole proprietorship to the individual owner.
Update the legal entity of the individual by making a PATCH /legalEntities/{id} request.
The array must include:
- legalEntityId: Unique identifier of the sole proprietorship legal entity being associated.
- type: Set to soleProprietorship.
curl https://kyc-test.adyen.com/lem/v2/legalEntities/LE00000000000000000000001 \
-u "ws123456@Scope.BalancePlatform_YourBalancePlatform":"YourWsPassword" \
-H "content-type: application/json" \
-X PATCH \
-d '{
"entityAssociations": [
{
"legalEntityId": "LE00000000000000000000002",
"type": "soleProprietorship"
}
]
}'The response contains the updated legalEntity resource, identified by its unique id. When you create a hosted onboarding link, use the legal entity ID of the individual owner as a path parameter.
Step 4: Create account holders
An account holder resource holds the capabilities that your user can do in your platform, such as the capability to process split payments and pay out their funds to their bank accounts. Capabilities are requested for them by default. If you want them to have a capability that is not part of the default configuration, you need to request the specific capability. The verification process starts after you create an account holder.
To create an account holder, make a POST /accountHolders request specifying:
| Parameter | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| legalEntityId | |
The unique identifier of the account holder's corresponding legal entity. |
| balancePlatform | The unique identifier of the balance platform. Required only if your API credentials has access to multiple balance platforms. | |
| description | A human-readable description for the account holder, which can be useful for your staff and support agents. |
Here is an example of how you can create an account holder.
curl https://balanceplatform-api-test.adyen.com/bcl/v2/accountHolders \
-H "x-api-key: YOUR_BALANCE_PLATFORM_API_KEY" \
-H "content-type: application/json" \
-d '{
"{hint:Required if you have multiple balance platforms}balancePlatform{/hint}": "YOUR_BALANCE_PLATFORM_ACCOUNT",
"{hint:Free-text field}description{/hint}":"Test Account holder",
"{hint:Unique legal entity ID}legalEntityId{/hint}":"LE00000000000000000000001"
}'The response returns the new accountHolder resource, identified by its unique id. The response also includes a capabilities array. In most cases, default capabilities are configured for your platform during the design phase. To add a specific capability for an account holder, you need to request it.
{
"balancePlatform":"YOUR_BALANCE_PLATFORM_ACCOUNT",
"capabilities":{
"receiveFromBalanceAccount":{
"allowed": false,
"enabled": true,
"requested": true,
"verificationStatus":"pending"
},
"receiveFromPlatformPayments":{
"allowed": false,
"enabled": true,
"requested": true,
"verificationStatus": "pending"
},
"sendToBalanceAccount":{
"allowed": false,
"enabled": true,
"requested": true,
"verificationStatus":"pending"
},
"sendToTransferInstrument":{
"allowed": false,
"enabled": true,
"requested": true,
"verificationStatus":"pending"
}
},
"description":"Test Account holder",
"id":"AH00000000000000000000001",
"legalEntityId":"LE00000000000000000000001",
"reference":"YOUR_INTERNAL_IDENTIFIER",
"status":"active"
}Step 5 (Conditional): Create business lines
To configure a platform setup, Adyen also requires information about the legal entity's line of business, such as their industry, source of funds, and sales channels.
To submit your user's business line information for a platform setup, make a POST /businessLines request specifying the following:
| Parameter | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| capability | |
The capability for which you are creating the business line. |
| industryCode | |
The industry code. |
| legalEntityId | |
The unique identifier of the legal entity that has a contractual relationship with your platform. For example, for an individual who has a sole proprietorship business, this must be the legal entity ID of the individual. |
| salesChannels | |
Array of channels in which your user sells goods or services. Possible values: eCommerce, ecomMoto, pos, posMoto, and payByLink. Sales channels may have different PCI DSS requirements. We recommend that you be familiar with these requirements before creating business lines for your user. |
| webData | Required when salesChannel is eCommerce. The user's web address or the app store URL. |
curl https://kyc-test.adyen.com/lem/v2/businessLines \
-u "ws123456@Scope.BalancePlatform_YourBalancePlatform":"YourWsPassword" \
-H "content-type: application/json" \
-X POST \
-d '{
"capability": "receivePayments",
"industryCode": "339E",
"salesChannels": [
"eCommerce",
"ecomMoto"
],
"legalEntityId": "LE322JV223222D5FZ9N74BSGM",
"webData": [
{
"webAddress": "https://yoururl.com"
}
]
}'In the response, you receive the id of the business line. You will use this ID to create stores and add payment methods.
Step 6: Create hosted onboarding link
If you have a platform setup, you must create a store and add payment methods before you create a hosted onboarding link for your user.
Create your link in your Balance Platform Customer Area or by making a POST /legalEntities/{id}/onboardingLinks request.
Make a POST /legalEntities/{id}/onboardingLinks request using the legal entity ID as a path parameter. You can customize your page by optionally including the following parameters in the request body. If you only send {} and do not include any parameters in your request, the default Adyen page is shown to the user.
| Parameter | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|
| themeId | The unique identifier of the theme. | |
| redirectUrl | The link to your platform where the user is redirected after completing hosted onboarding by clicking the button on the screen. | |
| locale | The language that will be used for the page. | |
| settings | An array containing configuration options for the hosted onboarding page. |
The following example shows how you can create a hosted onboarding link. The page will appear in Dutch and the user will not able to change the legal entity type that they signed up with to your platform.
curl https://kyc-test.adyen.com/lem/v2/legalEntities/{id}/onboardingLinks \
-u "ws123456@Scope.BalancePlatform_YourBalancePlatform":"YourWsPassword" \
-H "content-type: application/json" \
-X POST \
-d '{
"themeId":"YOUR_THEME",
"redirectUrl":"https://your.return-url.com/",
"locale":"nl-NL",
"settings":{
"changeLegalEntityType":false
}
}'Step 7: Handle the redirect
Provide the link to the user. For example, in your UI, show them a link or button. When they select it, get the hosted onboarding link and redirect them to the page. You have 4 minutes to redirect them before the link expires. If the link expires, you must generate a new link. The link also expires if the user refreshes the page and their session will end.
Reduce security risks
Follow these best practices to reduce risks:
- Make the link available only from your own secure environment and only to the user. For example, show the link or button inside their account overview or another page in your UI that is only accessible to them. Note that embedding Hosted Onboarding as an iframe in your environment is not a supported option.
- If you are using a redirectUrl to redirect your user back to your environment, make sure that this URL cannot be easily tampered with. For example, do not use a URL on a system that is publicly accessible. Automatically validate the host part of the URL before including it in your API request.
Step 8: Get the verification results
To get updates about the verification status and results, you can:
- Listen to balancePlatform.accountHolder.updated webhooks.
- Make a GET /accountHolders/{id} request.
If you are using a staggered verification process, Adyen informs you when an account holder is moved to a higher tier and what data they need to provide. After the data is verified by Adyen, their payouts are enabled again.
The webhook provides the status of the verification: valid, invalid, or rejected.
Verification valid
When the checks are completed successfully, Adyen sends a balancePlatform.accountHolder.updated webhook with:
- verificationStatus: Set to valid.
- allowed: Set to true.
{
"data":{
"accountHolder":{
"capabilities":{
"sendToTransferInstrument":{
"allowed":"true",
"enabled":"true",
"requested":"true",
"verificationStatus":"valid"
}
},
"description":"Test Account holder",
"id":"AH00000000000000000000001",
"legalEntityId":"LE00000000000000000000001",
"reference":"YOUR_INTERNAL_IDENTIFIER",
"status":"active"
},
"balancePlatform":"YOUR_BALANCE_PLATFORM"
},
"environment":"test",
"type":"balancePlatform.accountHolder.updated"
}Verification invalid
When there are problems with the verification, Adyen sends a balancePlatform.accountHolder.updated webhook.
This section is for platforms that have completed their integration.
The webhook contains the following information:
- verificationStatus: Set to invalid.
- allowed: Set to false.
- problems: Contains
verificationErrors,subErrors, andremediatingActionsarrays returned on the linked legal entity. If there are verification errors, you must resolve them.
To see any problems also returned on the transfer instrument resource, reach out to your Adyen contact to enable the feature. For example, if your users have multiple transfer instruments, this can help them more easily see the errors and on which transfer instrument they need to be resolved.
{
"data":{
"accountHolder":{
"capabilities":{
"sendToTransferInstrument":{
"allowed":"false",
"enabled":"true",
"problems":[
{
"entity":{
"id":"LE00000000000000000000001",
"type":"LegalEntity"
},
"verificationErrors":[
{
"code":"2_8037",
"message":"bankStatement was missing.",
"remediatingActions":[
{
"code":"1_703",
"message":"Upload a bank statement"
}
],
"type":"dataMissing"
}
]
}
],
"requested":"true",
"verificationStatus":"invalid"
}
},
"description":"Test Account holder",
"reference":"YOUR_INTERNAL_IDENTIFIER",
"id":"AH00000000000000000000001",
"legalEntityId":"LE00000000000000000000001",
"status":"Active"
},
"balancePlatform":"YOUR_BALANCE_PLATFORM"
},
"environment":"test",
"type":"balancePlatform.accountHolder.updated"
}Verification rejected
When the verification is unsuccessful and the capability is rejected, for example due to fraudulent activity, Adyen sends a balancePlatform.accountHolder.updated webhook containing the following information:
- verificationStatus: Set to rejected.
- allowed: Set to false.
- problems: Contains
verificationErrors,subErrors, andremediatingActionsarrays.
{
"data":{
"accountHolder":{
"capabilities":{
"sendToTransferInstrument":{
"enabled":"true",
"requested":"true",
"allowed":"false",
"problems":[
{
"entity":{
"id":"LE00000000000000000000001",
"type":"LegalEntity"
},
"verificationErrors":[
{
"code":"1_12",
"message":"Legal entity declined",
"remediatingActions":[
{
"code":"1_101",
"message":"Contact Support"
}
],
"subErrors":[
{
"code":"1_1000",
"message":"Verification failed. Legal entity declined",
"remediatingActions":[
{
"code":"1_101",
"message":"Contact Support"
}
],
"type":"invalidInput"
}
],
"type":"invalidInput"
}
]
}
],
"verificationStatus":"rejected"
}
},
"description":"Test Account holder",
"reference":"YOUR_INTERNAL_IDENTIFIER",
"id":"AH00000000000000000000001",
"status":"Active"
}
},
"environment":"test",
"type":"balancePlatform.accountHolder.updated"
}If the capability is rejected, any errors cannot be resolved by updating data or uploading documents.
Step 9 (Conditional): Resolve verification errors
When the information provided by the user cannot be verified, they are prompted to correct their information or upload a document. If their session expires, you may need to generate a new hosted onboarding link and redirect the user to resolve the errors.
If you are using a staggered verification process, create a hosted onboarding link. When the account holder is redirected to the link, they are presented with a summary page where they can update their data. After the data is verified by Adyen, their payouts are enabled again.
