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Manage payment operationsMerchant boardingUnderstanding boarding

Required fields for boarding applications

Learn more about the Know Your Customer (KYC) and Know Your Business (KYB) fields required for merchant boarding

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Applies to:DevelopersPartnersPaypoints

Merchant underwriting is a similar process to applying for a mortgage or car loan. Payabli must gather certain information from merchants to meet federal Know Your Business (KYB) and Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements, and to confirm a merchant’s trustworthiness.

All applicants complete a boarding application that includes the legal details of the business and information about its beneficial owners. Which beneficial owners an application must include varies by application. Other documents may be required if the screening verification doesn’t return any verifiable digital validation.

For how the business, its people, and the application relate, see the boarding overview.

Business information

  • Legal entity name of business registered with the IRS and the state in which the business is incorporated. If Payabli can’t verify the legal name during underwriting, we may request the applicant’s SS-4 (A document from the IRS that confirms the EIN and managing member of the business being underwritten) or articles of incorporation.
  • Federal Tax ID: EIN/TIN. For a sole proprietorship, the sole proprietor may use their Social Security Number (SSN).
  • Applicable “doing business as” (DBA) name or trade names registered to the legal entity that’s applying.
  • Business legal address. This is the principal place of business or a local office. This can’t be a P.O. Box.
  • Business Type and description of product sold and or service provided. This description must be detailed enough for Payabli to determine the merchant’s Merchant Category Code (MCC).
  • Business website URL.

Payment processors don’t accept P.O. Boxes as a primary address for merchants due to:

  • Regulatory Requirements: KYC and anti-money laundering (AML) regulations require verification of physical locations.
  • Fraud Prevention: Physical addresses help verify legitimate business operations.
  • Legal & Compliance: A physical address is needed for notices, investigations, and dispute resolution.
  • Business Verification: Actual locations provide stronger proof of business legitimacy.
  • Card Network Rules: Visa, Mastercard, and other networks require physical address verification.

There are some exceptions to this rule. Some processors may accept P.O. Boxes for mailing purposes if a physical address is also provided. In some cases, virtual office or registered agent addresses may be acceptable alternatives.

Beneficial ownership

For each beneficial owner, Payabli needs the following information:

  • Legal name
  • Date of birth
  • Nationality, which can also mean citizenship, as a two-letter country code. Payabli requires an owner’s nationality to verify them, and it determines which identification number they must provide.
  • Contact information: current residence address, direct phone number, and direct email address
  • Identification number, determined by nationality. For an owner whose nationality is the United States, a Social Security Number (SSN) or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN). For any other nationality, a national identification number and the country that issued it
  • Driver’s license. Depending on the results of identity verification, Payabli may ask some owners to upload one

Payabli uses this information to verify the individual’s identity and their relationship with the business.

A beneficial owner is someone who has significant control over a company or owns a significant part of it. A person can be a beneficial owner through control, through ownership, or both.

Beneficial ownership information is required by authorities in most jurisdictions. This information helps governments fight corruption, money laundering, and tax evasion, and helps maintain integrity and accountability in financial systems worldwide.

The next two sections explain each in more detail.

Control

Someone can be a beneficial owner because of how much they control a company, whatever their ownership stake. That includes people with real influence over the company’s operations, decisions, or finances, through voting rights, a board seat, running the business, or a contract.

People who are beneficial owners through control include:

  • Executive directors of a nonprofit
  • C-suite members of a publicly traded company
  • An entity you’ve ceded management of your business operations to, such as a dental service organization or property management company

Ownership

Someone can also be a beneficial owner because of what they own in a company, directly or indirectly. That depends on things like the percentage of shares they hold, the voting rights that come with those shares, and any arrangement that gives them a share of the company’s assets or profits.

Typically, anyone who owns 25% or more of a company is a beneficial owner.

See these related resources to help you get the most out of Payabli.