Verifying your Business in the US

Verification, known as KYC or ‘Know your customer’, is a process that is required by regulators to offer financial services to organisations and individuals. It involves reviewing and maintaining information on parties that use our financial services.

Below, we have provided details on the documents that are required for organisations to open an account with Mrkter if your business is registered in the US.

Business Documents

- Supporting Tax ID Documentation
- Certificate of Formation or Incorporation
- Attestation of Beneficial Ownership

Personal Information

- Official Government Issued Photo ID

Additional Supporting Documents

Generally, additional supporting documents are only required for foreign businesses and/or businesses largely run outside of the US: 

- Recent Brick & Mortar US Bank Account Statement (e.g. Bank of America, Chase). Excludes US Neobank Account Statements (e.g. Mercury)
- Contracts between your US entity and established third-party US businesses
- Invoice statements with US-based customers
- Evidence of Employee(s) based in the US
- Service lease with coworking space

Please ensure all images are clear and readable. The file shall not exceed over 10MB, limited to {PDF, Word, JPG, JPEG, PNG, BMP}.  

BUSINESS DOCUMENTS

Tax ID

Please provide a copy of your EIN Letter or a screenshot of your EIN Number on the IRS website.

EIN Letter Sample

Screenshot of EIN Number Sample

Certificate of Formation or Incorporation

Please provide a copy of your business formation documents created with the Secretary of State. If your business is an LLC, it is called a Certificate of Formation. If your business is a corporation, it is called a Certificate of Incorporation.

Certificate of Formation Sample

Certification of Incorporation Sample

Attestation of Beneficial Ownership

We may request a breakdown of Beneficial Ownership if we are unable to identify the ownership structure of the business. Please provide us with a complete shareholding structure or ownership diagram that meets the following requirements:

1. Please provide Full Name, Date of Birth, Nationality and % of Ownership for the Ultimate Beneficial Owner (any individuals with a 25% or more ownership share in the business)

2. If there are no individual with a 25% or more ownership share in the business, then please declare in the shareholding structure.

3. Please provide the registration country and shareholding percentage of each intermediary shareholding entity

4. The Attestation should be on a company letterhead, signed by a director and dated within 6 months.

Download a sample of Attestation of Beneficial Ownership.

PERSONAL INFORMATION

Personal ID 

For each of the below individuals, please provide images for government-issued, official photo ID, such as passport, national ID or driver license (if applicable).

- Authorized Person: the individual signing up for an account
- Control Person: a Senior Managing Official with primary decision-making power within the business (applicable only if Authorized Person is not a Control Person)
- Ultimate Beneficial Owner: any individual(s) who owns or controls, directly or indirectly, including through a trust or bearer shareholding, more than 25% of the issued share capital of the corporation

Sample Driver License

Source: Pennsylvania Department of Motor Vehicles (dmv.pa.gov)

Sample Passport

Source: US Citizenship and Immigration Services (uscis.gov)

ADDITIONAL SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS

If your business is foreign and/or largely run outside of the US, evidence of US Operations are needed by providing 2-3 of the following documents:

- US Bank Account Statement
- Contracts between your US entity and established third-party US businesses
- Invoice statements with US-based customers
- Evidence of Employee(s) based in the US
- Service lease with coworking space

US Bank Account Statement

Please provide copies of a recent Brick & Mortar US Bank Account Statement (e.g. Bank of America, Chase). Excludes US Neobank Account Statements (e.g. Mercury)

Contracts between your US entity and established third-party US businesses

Please provide copies of contracts between your US entity and established third-party US businesses (e.g., logistics providers, contract manufacturers)

Evidence of Employee(s) Based in the US

Please provide evidence of employee(s) based in the US (e.g., full-time employee contracts)

Service lease with co-working space

Please provide evidence of a service lease with a co-working space in the US

New Business Supporting Documents

If your business is just starting out, we understand it can be hard to provide supporting documentation. However, please take a look at the list below and see if there are some documents you can supply.

In addition, if there are any documents you can think of that might help us to verify your business that are not on the below list, feel free to supply them also.

- Contracts for sale;
- Bank statement indicating business operations;
- Copies of sales or purchase invoices;
- Pro forma invoices from suppliers;
- Proof of business insurance;
- Receipts for software subscriptions, such as AWS or Xero;
- Proof of owning a website domain;
- Proof of being registered with an online marketplace (PayPal, Amazon);
- Utility bills issued in the name of the business (not for sole proprietors); or;
- Qualifications, membership in professional organizations, or membership in professional service registers or industry associations.