What a business needs to provide before it can take card payments

What is asked for about the business itself

• Registered legal name and company number, as they appear at Companies House. Not the trading name, unless the business is a sole trader with no separate registration.
• Registered address, and the trading address if different.
• Legal structure: limited company, sole trader, partnership, charity, school, trust or community interest company. Each has different verification requirements.
• VAT number, where the business is registered.
• A description of what the business sells, used to classify the business for card scheme purposes and to assess risk. Vague descriptions cause queries.
• Expected card turnover and average transaction value. An estimate is fine. A business that immediately processes far more than it declared will be asked about it.

The people behind it

• Details of directors or partners: full name, date of birth, residential address.
• Ultimate beneficial owners: anyone holding 25 per cent or more of the business, directly or indirectly.
• Identity verification for those individuals, usually passport or driving licence.
• Address verification, usually a recent utility bill or bank statement.

The money

Business bank account details in the name of the business, plus proof of that account, normally a bank statement or a letter from the bank showing the account name, sort code and number.

The account has to belong to the business. Settlement cannot be paid into a personal account for a limited company, or into an account in a different name, because the whole point of the verification is that money reaches the entity that earned it.

Ultimate beneficial ownership, which causes most of the confusion

An ultimate beneficial owner is any individual who ultimately owns or controls 25 per cent or more of the business. The word "ultimately" is doing the work. If a company is owned by another company, the chain has to be followed until it reaches actual people.

• Ownership through a holding company. Naming the parent company is not sufficient. The individuals who own the parent have to be identified.
• Control without ownership. Someone who does not hold shares but exercises significant control over the business may still need to be declared.

If no individual meets the 25 per cent threshold, which happens in businesses with widely distributed ownership, the senior person responsible for managing the business is named instead.

This is not a payments-specific requirement inserted to be difficult. It applies across regulated financial services and originates in anti-money-laundering law.

What actually slows applications down

In order of frequency:

• Name mismatches: the trading name on the application, the registered name at Companies House and the name on the bank account are three different things. Use the registered legal name everywhere, and record the trading name separately.
• Out-of-date Companies House records: a director who left, an address that changed, an ownership change never filed. Check the public record before applying, not after the query arrives.
• Incomplete ownership chain: a parent company named without the individuals behind it. Trace the chain to real people before starting.
• Unreadable documents: photographs taken at an angle, corners cut off, glare. Scan or photograph flat, in full, in good light.
• Expired identification: a passport that ran out last year. Check dates before uploading.
• Vague business description: "services" or "retail" with no further detail. Describe what is actually sold and how.
• Bank account in the wrong name: a personal account for a limited company. Use the business account, and supply proof showing the name.

Almost every one of these is a consistency problem rather than a missing document. The verification process is comparing what the business says about itself against independent records, and any gap between the two generates a question.

What happens after the documents are in

• The business supplies the information through its software provider.
• The payment facilitator verifies it: company records, individuals, ownership, bank account.
• The verified file goes to the acquirer to open the merchant account, which produces the merchant account identifier used for processing and settlement.
• The merchant, the payment facilitator and the acquirer enter a tri-party agreement setting out each party's responsibilities.
• The merchant account is configured against the software and payments can begin.

Because the facilitator runs this process repeatedly across many businesses, it is normally faster than a business approaching an acquirer independently, where each application is handled individually. How long it takes in any specific case depends on how complete and consistent the submitted information is, and on the complexity of the business structure.

Frequently asked questions

How long does onboarding take? It depends on the completeness of the documentation and the complexity of the ownership structure. A straightforward limited company with one or two directors and clean Companies House records moves quickly. A business with a layered ownership chain or records that need correcting takes longer. Your software provider can tell you where an application currently sits.

Why do you need my personal details if it is a company? Because the verification requirements apply to the individuals who own and control the business, not only to the registered entity. This comes from anti-money-laundering obligations that apply across regulated financial services.

Can I use my personal bank account? Not for a limited company. Settlement is paid to an account in the name of the legal entity that holds the merchant account. A sole trader's position can differ and is worth confirming.

What if our ownership changes after we are set up? It needs to be notified. The verification is not a one-off, and the records held have to stay accurate. Tell your software provider when directors or owners change.

Do we need to do this again if we add another site? Usually not a full re-verification, but an additional merchant account may be needed so that transactions and settlements are reportable by site. Your software provider can advise.

What happens if something does not verify? You will be asked for clarification or an additional document. It is rarely a refusal, and it is usually the name and record consistency issues listed above.

Most onboarding delays come from a mismatch between what the application says and what the public record shows, which means most of them can be avoided before the application is submitted.

Your software provider is the best first point of contact for questions about your own application and its current status. VestaOne is the payments engine behind the platform.

VestaOne is a trading brand of Vesta Merchant Services Limited, registered in England and Wales, company number 07108015. Vesta Merchant Services Limited is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority as a payment institution, firm reference number 784165. Part of Vesta Software Group.

This article is provided for general information only. It is not financial, legal or regulatory advice, and it does not take account of any particular business's circumstances.