Identity verification for connected accounts

Use identity verification to reduce risk on your platform when using Connect.

Every country has its own requirements that accounts must meet so that Stripe can pay out funds to individuals and companies. These are typically known as Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements. Regardless of the country, broadly speaking, the requirements Stripe must meet are:

Collecting information about the individual or company receiving funds
Verifying information to establish that we know who our customers are

Connect platforms collect the required information from users and provide it to Stripe. This can include information about the legal entity and personal information about the representative of the business, and those who own or control the business. Stripe then attempts verification. In some cases, Stripe might be able to verify an account by confirming some or all of the keyed-in data provided. In other cases, Stripe might require additional information, including, for example, a scan of a valid government-issued ID, a proof of address document, or both.

This page explains the verification flow options to meet Stripe KYC requirements, but the recommended way to manage verification is to integrate Connect Onboarding, which lets Stripe take care of the complexity around the basic KYC obligations. Handling the details of account verification is initially complex and requires vigilance to keep up with the constantly evolving regulatory changes around the world.

If you decide to handle account verification yourself, continue reading to learn about the verification flow options, how API fields translate to companies and individuals, and how to localize information requests. Also, read Handling Identity Verification with the API to learn how to programmatically provide information and handle requests.

Even after Stripe verifies a connected account, platforms still must monitor for and prevent fraud. Don’t rely on Stripe’s verification to meet any independent legal KYC or verification requirements.

Verification requirements

Verification requirements for connected accounts vary by account, depending on:

Country
Capabilities
Business type (for example, individual, company)
Business structure (for example, public corporation, private partnership)
The service agreement type between Stripe and the connected account
The risk level

You must collect and verify specific information to enable charges and payouts. For example, for a company in the US, you might need to collect:

Information about the business (for example, name, address, tax ID number).
Information about the person opening the Stripe account (for example, name, date of birth).
Information about beneficial owners (for example, name, email).

At certain variable thresholds—usually when a specified amount of time has passed or volume of charges have been made—you might need to collect and verify additional information. Stripe temporarily pauses charges or payouts if the information isn’t provided or verified according to the thresholds for required information. For example, additional information might include verification of the company tax ID number.

Onboarding flows

As the platform, you must decide if you want to collect the required information from your connected accounts up front or incrementally. Up-front onboarding collects the eventually_due requirements for the account, while incremental onboarding only collects the currently_due requirements.

Onboarding type	Advantages
Up-front	Normally requires only one request for all information Avoids the possibility of payout and processing issues due to missed deadlines Exposes potential risk early when accounts refuse to provide information
Incremental	Accounts can onboard quickly because they don’t have to provide as much information

To determine whether to use up-front or incremental onboarding, review the requirements for your connected accounts’ locations and capabilities. While Stripe tries to minimize any impact to connected accounts, requirements might change over time.

For connected accounts where you’re responsible for requirement collection, you can customize the behavior of future requirements using the collection_options parameter. To collect the account’s future requirements, set collection_options.future_requirements to include.

Business type

The specific KYC information depends on the type of business entity. They’re:

individual: Collect information about the person.
company: Collect information about the company. Depending on the countries your connected accounts are in, you might also have to collect information about beneficial owners.
non_profit: Collect information about the non-profit organization.
government_entity (available for US connected accounts only): Collect information about the government entity.

If you or your users are unsure of their entity type, the information might be in the business formation documents or tax documents for that entity.

See the list of requirements for different business types by country. When you know what information to collect, you can read more about handling identity verification with the API.

Business structure

For all business types other than individual, you can further classify your user’s business by identifying its legal (business) structure. A business structure describes the details of a business entity such as day-to-day operations, tax burdens, liability, and organizational schema. You can classify it by using company[structure] in the Accounts object.

Providing this information to Stripe gets you the most accurate business classification for compliance purposes. While it isn’t required, it can reduce onboarding requirements. For example, you’re required to provide owner information for private companies, but not for public companies. If you don’t provide information on the structure, Stripe defaults to classifying the company as private and requires you to provide owner information. See the list of requirements for the supported business structures in all countries.

Country:

Companies

See the table below for descriptions of the different business structures that you can use to classify a company. Refer to the US required verification information section for more details on requirements.

If you or your users think the entity type should be company but are unsure, the information might be in the business formation documents or tax documents for that entity.

Business structure	Description
`multi_member_llc`	A business with multiple owners or members that’s registered in a US state as a Limited Liability Company (LLC).
`private_corporation`	A business incorporated in a US state that’s privately owned. It doesn’t have shares that are traded on a public stock exchange. It’s also called a closely-held corporation. If you’re a single-member LLC that has elected to be treated as a corporation for tax purposes, use this classification.
`private_partnership`	A business jointly owned by two or more people that’s created through a partnership agreement.
`public_corporation`	A business incorporated under the laws of a US state. Ownership shares of this corporation are traded on a public stock exchange.
`public_partnership`	A business formed by a partnership agreement with one or more people, but has shares that are publicly traded on a stock exchange.
`single_member_llc`	A business entity registered with a US state as a limited liability company (LLC) and that has only one member or owner.
`sole_proprietorship`	A business that isn’t a separate legal entity from its individual owner.
`unincorporated_association`	A business venture of two or more people that doesn’t have a formal corporate or entity structure.

Non-profits

See the table below for descriptions of the different business structures that you can use to classify a non_profit with. Refer to the US required verification information section for more details on requirements.

Business structure	Description
`incorporated_non_profit`	An organization incorporated under the laws of a US state that has obtained tax-exempt status as a non-profit entity under either state or federal law (for example, 501(c)(3)).
`unincorporated_non_profit`	An organization that’s pursuing an objective other than profits, such as a social cause, and has obtained tax-exempt status in the US under either state or federal law (for example, 501(c)(3)) but hasn’t formally incorporated.

Government entities

See the table below for descriptions of the different business structures that you can use to classify a government_entity with. Refer to the US required verification information section for more details on requirements.

Business structure	Description
`government_instrumentality`	An organization formed by a government statute or body based in the US to perform a certain function, but not the actual government body itself.
`governmental_unit`	A branch of the state, local, or federal government of the US
`tax_exempt_government_instrumentality`	An organization created by or pursuant to government statute and operated for public purposes. It has obtained federal tax-exempt status under state or federal law (for example, 501(c)(3)).

Internationalization and localization

If you support users in multiple countries, consider internationalization and localization when asking for information. Creating an interface that uses not only the user’s preferred language but also the proper localized terminology results in a smoother onboarding experience.

For example, instead of requesting a business tax ID from your users, regardless of country, request:

EIN, US
Business Number, Canada
Company Number, UK

You can find recommended country-specific labels along with the other required verification information.