When starting the verification process, you must collect and submit the required verification information from your user. These requirements depend on:
- The country your users are operating in
- The legal entity of your user
- The financial products you are offering to your user
This page helps you determine what verification requirements apply to your users based on these factors.
Country of operation
Verification requirements vary based on the regulations in the country where your user is operating in. For example, in Belgium, a sole proprietorship is required to have a registration number, while this is not required in the United Kingdom.
See minimum required information for more details on the requirements for specific countries and legal entities.
Legal entity type
Verification requirements vary based on your user's legal entity type. A legal entity can be a person or an entity that represents your user's business, such as a public company or a nonprofit organization.
The user that holds a contractual relationship with your marketplace is the main legal entity. You must collect information about the main legal entity, and about other entities that are associated with this user. For example, if your user is a private company, you must also collect information about the owners of the company. You must create individual legal entities for each owner and link them to the company, which is the main legal entity that is conducting business with your marketplace.
The following tabs show the legal entity types and describe the general requirements for the data that you need to collect from them.
The entity is an organization registered in the country they are operating in.
An organization is further classified into one the following types:
- Private company: the organization is in the private sector and is owned and run by directors.
- Listed public company: the organization is listed publicly and run by directors.
- Nonprofit or charitable organization: the organization has an official status as not-for-profit or tax-exempt, sometimes called a non-governmental organization (NGO).
- Incorporated association: the organization is a registered entity without profit that is organized around a purpose such as recreation, culture, or charity.
- Incorporated partnership: the organization is formed through an agreement between two or more members.
- Governmental organization: the organization is owned by the government or state.
In general, to onboard an organization, you must collect:
- The legal name of the organization
- The registration number
- The registered address and the principal place of business, if different from their registered address
- The ultimate beneficial owners, controllers, and signatories
- The bank account for payouts
Ultimate beneficial owners, controlling persons, and signatories
As part of the checks for an organization, Adyen also verifies the identity of all individuals that are associated with the organization. We refer to these individuals as ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs) through ownership or control, directors, and signatories.
Organizations with UBOs, signatories, and directors that reside outside of the current supported countries and regions may require additional due diligence. Reach out to your Adyen contact to confirm if these individuals can be accepted.
The table below describes the criteria for identifying them, and the minimum required number for each.
| Who | Criteria | Required number of individuals |
|---|---|---|
| UBOs through ownership | Individuals who directly or indirectly own 25% or more of the total shares, voting rights or other equity in the organization. | Between zero to four. Adyen requires information about all individuals that fit the criteria. If no one owns 25% or more of the organization, then information must be provided about UBOs through control. |
| UBOs through control | Any individuals who exercise ultimate effective control in making decisions for the whole organization. If such an individual cannot be identified, then members of senior management must be identified as UBOs through control. | At least one. Required if no one fits the criteria of UBO through ownership, or if the organization is operating in the United States. |
| Signatories | Officers or representatives who legally represent the organization towards Adyen and are authorised to enter a binding agreement with Adyen on behalf of their organization. | At least one. |
| Directors | Only applicable if the legal entity of the organization is located in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand, or Singapore. A natural person responsible, individually or collectively as part of a board, for the overall governance and strategic direction of an organization. | Every director of the company. |
Financial products
Verification requirements vary based on the additional financial products that you offer to your users. Processing payments and payouts are included by default. Adding more financial products, such as business accounts or card issuing, requires more verification checks.
Each financial product includes specific capabilities that are available for your users. Different financial products might have overlapping capabilities. For some financial products, such as card issuing, capabilities might also have different levels.
The following tabs show the financial products and the general requirements for the data that you need to collect from them.
Availability
Countries: BE, DE, ES, FR, GB, NL and US for both the user's legal entity and all individuals associated with the user's legal entity.
Legal entity types: Organizations and sole proprietorships
With Adyen for Platforms, you can create a business account, which you can use to send and receive funds from third-party bank accounts. Business accounts require additional verification checks.
In addition to the minimum required information based on the country and legal entity type, you must also collect the following:
- Industry in which the user is registered based on their local chamber of commerce
- URL of the user's website if they have an online presence
- The user's source of funds
- For organizations, their Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)/Common Reporting Standard (CRS) classification, which includes their business type and their main source of income.
- Tax residence country and ID number. This is required for both organizations and the individuals associated with the organization, or the sole proprietorship owner.
- The user's source of wealth (conditional). Adyen determines if your user needs to provide data about their source of wealth and/or of the owners or controllers of the organization. If the source of wealth is required, Adyen will inform you.
Additional requirements for US business accounts
To create business accounts for your users in the US, you must include the following requirements in your onboarding flow. Adyen will check your onboarding flow to ensure that it meets the guidelines.
Business accounts are not available for governmental organizations in the US, including SOEs.
| Requirement | Overview | Copy | Timing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Patriot Act / Customer Identification Program (CIP) disclosure | The disclosure and the reason for collecting the information must be shown to the account holder. | Important Information You Need to Know About Opening an Account. To help the government fight the funding of terrorism and money laundering activities, Federal law requires financial institutions to obtain, verify, and record information that identifies each person (individual or entity) who opens an account and certain individuals who are associated with an account. When you open an account, we will ask for your name, address, taxpayer identification number and other information that will allow us to identify you. What this means: When you open an account, we will ask for your name, address, taxpayer identification number and other information that will allow us to identify you. | Must be shown before any personal information is collected from the user. For example, as the first part of your onboarding form. |
| Adyen Business Account Terms of Service | Every account holder must accept Adyen's Terms of Service before the business account can be opened. A copy of the Terms of Service needs to be provided alongside the acceptance. See copy guidelines. | I have read and I accept these terms and confirm that I am a legal representative authorized to accept these terms on behalf of the company. I have taken notice of the privacy statement (www.adyen.com/privacy) and I consent to my (personal) data being used for the purposes described therein. | |
| Regulation GG - Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act - Certification | Every account holder must be certified under the Regulation GG - Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act before the business account can be opened. A copy of Adyen's Terms of Service needs to be provided alongside the acceptance. See copy. | Is the legal entity opening the business account engaged in internet gambling? [Yes/No] | This certification must be performed when the Adyen Terms of Service are accepted. |