Required verification information

Proof of authority verification

Stripe needs to verify that the account representative has sufficient authority to open an account on behalf of the legal entity.

If we can’t verify this programmatically, Stripe returns the verification_failed_representative_authority error code. You must change the representative to a person with sufficient authority.

Alternatively, if a person with sufficient authority can’t be the business representative, you can add them as a person with the authorizer position. The business must then provide a Letter of Authorization signed by the authorizer, which permits the business representative to manage the account. You must provide this as the representative’s company_authorization. You must add the first name and last name of the authorizer to the account, along with a copy of their ID Document.

Additionally, the Letter of Authorization requirement can expose document-related errors such as verification_document_name_mismatch, or verification_document_type_not_supported. Make sure you can handle Document Verification Errors and the New verification error codes.

Legal entity verification

Stripe requires the verification of business name, UEN and legal entity type. If we can’t verify the existence of the company, you must collect a company document.

Stripe also needs to check that the business type and business structure matches the local government records. When a mismatch in business type or business structure occurs, it generates a verification_legal_entity_structure_mismatch error, and you need to update the business type or structure, or provide a company document to verify the legal entity.

UEN information might be verified with the data made available at https://data.gov.sg under the terms of the Singapore Open Data License version 1.0.

Ultimate beneficial ownership verification

The ultimate beneficial ownership verification requirements depend on the user’s business type.

Private Companies

Stripe defines and attempts to identify any individual with 25% or more ownership as the ultimate beneficial owner (UBO). We recommend using Stripe-hosted or Embedded Onboarding to allow your users to preview and confirm the owners. Alternatively, you can collect and add all UBOs to the account using the owner position in the API.

If Stripe can’t determine these individuals, a company must submit a proof of ultimate beneficial ownership document to attest to their ownership structure. This must include proof of ownership documents for any holding companies owning 25% or more shares of the connected account. Stripe-hosted or embedded onboarding automatically seeks to collect these documents, or you can collect and submit them using the v1/accounts API. You must add all UBOs listed on the proof of ultimate beneficial ownership to the account.

Partnerships

Partnerships must verify the relationship between the business and all partners, managers and any other individual with 25% or more ownership. You must add these persons to the account with the owner position in the API.

Exemptions

In certain situations, a business entity might not need to declare its ownership. To qualify for an exemption, you must provide a legitimate reason under the ownership_exemption_reason parameter to the company field. Valid reasons for exemption include:

• qualified_entity_exceeds_ownership_threshold: If a government, publicly listed company, or financial institution owns at least 75% of the business, the business is exempt from providing ownership details.
• qualifies_as_financial_institution: Businesses that are financial institutions regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore are exempt from sharing ownership details.

After submitting an exemption reason, we’ll review the business entity’s details. During this review, the requirement moves to requirements.pending_verification. If Stripe determines that the business entity doesn’t qualify for the exemption, we display an error message, and the ownership requirement will remain:

{
  "id": "{{CONNECTED_ACCOUNT_ID}}",
  "requirements": {
    "past_due": [
      "documents.proof_of_ultimate_beneficial_ownership.files",
    ],
    "alternatives": [
      {
        "original_fields_due": [
          "documents.proof_of_ultimate_beneficial_ownership.files",
        ],
        "alternative_fields_due": [
          "company.ownership_exemption_reason",
        ]
      }
    ],
    "errors": [
      {
        "code": "verification_rejected_ownership_exemption_reason",
        "reason": "The ownership exemption reason was rejected.",
        "requirement": "company.ownership_exemption_reason"
      }
    ],
    ...
  },
  ...
}

Integration details

You must add UBOs and directors to the account with the owner or director position in the API. Private companies, private partnerships, and non-profits require proof of beneficial ownership. When we can’t successfully verify the UBO, you need to collect an ID Document for the unverified UBO.

If Stripe determines that the account is missing owners, directors, or documentation of holding companies, the documents.proof_of_ultimate_beneficial_ownership.files field will be returned in requirements. You can find a complete list of acceptable documents at Acceptable Verification Documents.

Additionally, you could be asked to attest that the list of directors is current and correct by setting the company.directorship_declaration.ip, company.directorship_declaration.date, and optionally the company.directorship_declaration.user_agent fields in the API. If a discrepancy in your list of directors is detected, Stripe might request a new declaration by returning the company.directorship_declaration.ip, company.directorship_declaration.date requirements in the requirements field.

Both Stripe-hosted and embedded onboarding display a list of missing owners and directors, which allows the user to add them to their account by clicking on them. Adding the suggested individuals fulfills the UBO requirement for companies without any holding companies in their ownership structure. For companies with holding companies, Stripe attempts to verify its owners. If we can’t, the user receives a prompt to upload either an ultimate beneficial owner attestation document or relevant ownership documents to determine the account’s ultimate beneficial owners. (This also applies to other business types, such as non-profits.)

Accounts with missing beneficial owners have a verification_missing_owners error code in the errors hash of requirements. Similarly, accounts with missing directors have a verification_document_directors_mismatch error code. Lastly, accounts where Stripe requires additional information regarding their ownership have a verification_requires_additional_proof_of_registration error code.

{
  "id": "{{CONNECTED_ACCOUNT_ID}}",
  "requirements": {
    "past_due": [
      "documents.proof_of_ultimate_beneficial_ownership.files",
    ],
    "errors": [
      {
        "code": "verification_missing_owners",
        "requirement": "documents.proof_of_ultimate_beneficial_ownership.files",
        "reason": "..."
      },
      ...
    ],
    ...
  },
  ...
}