Account Requirements
When you are onboarded for payment processing, you undergo underwriting by the processor. As part of this process, you are required to provide key details about your business, ownership, and business model in your merchant application.
This guide outlines the specific information you need to submit to onboard your accounts, and explains how requirements may vary depending on the processor.
Business Details
Your business details help verify the legitimacy of their business and ensure it is in good standing with their state’s Secretary of State.
| REQUIRED INFORMATION | DESCRIPTION |
| Structure | The legal business structure of your business |
| Legal business name | The registered legal business name of your business. The legal business name should be entered exactly as it appears on your IRS-issued documents. |
| Doing business as name | The business name you present to customers, if different from the legal business name. The DBA is optional. |
| Tax ID number | The Tax ID number for your business. In Canada, this is referred to as the Business Number. |
| Address | The address where the business is physically located. For Sole Proprietorships, this can be your home address if your business does not have a physical address. |
| Customer support phone number | The phone number which customers use to get in contact with you. |
| Customer support email address | The email address that customers use to get in contact with you. The customer support email is optional but recommended if you collect payments online. |
| Website | The publicly available website for your business. The website URL is optional but recommended if you collect payments online. Social media sites are not accepted. |
| Date of incorporation | The date when the business was incorporated. |
| Patriot Act details | Business verification information required by the Patriot Act. Only applies to TSYS applications. Details about your Articles of Incorporation or Business License must be provided. The physical document is not required. |
Business Model Details
Your business model details help assess the risk level, considering factors such as industry, fulfillment timeframe, checkout methods, and business-to-business percentage.
| REQUIRED INFORMATION | DESCRIPTION |
| Industry | Merchant category code identifying the industry of the business. |
| Product description | Description of your product or services. |
| Fulfillment timeframe | The number of days billed prior to goods or services being provided. |
| B2B percentage | The percentage of your overall business that is conducted with other businesses. |
| Card checkout methods | The percentage of card volume split between online, MOTO, and in-person payments. The total value must add up to 100%. |
Processing Volumes
The processing volumes provided in your onboarding application determine your initial processing thresholds. To avoid delays in fund disbursement, you should estimate these values as accurately as possible. High monthly processing volumes or average transaction amounts may be required to provide additional documentation, such as processing or bank statements, to support your volume estimates.
| REQUIRED INFORMATION | DESCRIPTION |
| Previous payment processor | The name of your previous payment processor. This information is optional but recommended if you have processed payments before. |
| Statement descriptor | Indicates how your business name should appear on customer credit card statements. |
| Number of terminals | Estimated number of terminals your expect to order. |
| Monthly processing volume | Estimated amount you make in a month from card and bank-to-bank sales. |
| Monthly transaction count | Estimated number of payments you makes in a month from card and bank-to-bank sales. |
| Average card transaction amount | The average amount of a single card payment. This field is required if a card-not-present or card-present pricing template is applied. |
| Average direct debit transaction amount | The average amount of a single bank-to-bank payment. This field is required if a bank-to-bank pricing template is applied. |
Principals
A principal of your business can be the individual applying for the merchant account, an individual with significant operating control, and any individuals with significant ownership in the business. This information is required to comply with anti-money laundering (AML) regulations. Soft credit checks may also be performed on the principals.
| REQUIRED INFORMATION | DESCRIPTION |
| First and last name | The first and last name of the principal. |
| Control prong | Indicates whether the principal is the Control Prong for the merchant account. Control Prong is an individual with significant responsibility for managing the merchant legal entity (e.g., a CEO, CFO, COO, Managing Member, General Partner, President, Vice-President, or Treasurer). For US merchant accounts it is required that exactly one of the principals is specified as the Control Prong. |
| Applicant | Indicates whether this person is the applicant for the merchant account. For US merchant accounts it is required that exactly one of the principals is specified as the applicant. |
| Id number | The individual’s Social Security Number (US) or Social Insurance Number (CA). This field is optional for Canadian merchant accounts. For US merchant accounts, this field is optional when the business structure is government. For other business structures in the US, the SSN is required per US regulations around anti-money laundering. |
| Date of birth | The principal’s date of birth. |
| Job title | The principal’s job title. Selected from an enum list of possible job titles. Select the one that most closely matches the job title for the principal. |
| Percent ownership | The percentage of the principal’s ownership in the company. It is recommended to provide the personal details for any individual who owns 25% or more of the merchant’s business. For North applications, a minimum of 75% ownership is required. Additionally, all owners with more than 25% ownership are required to DocuSign the North merchant agreement. |
| Ownership Disclosure Requirements | If your business is partially or wholly owned by another legal entity, the individual owners with a 25% or more ownership stake must be listed on your merchant application as owners. This applies even if they are not directly involved in day-to-day operations, as they are considered beneficial owners. |
| Phone | The principal’s phone number. |
| The principal’s email address. | |
| Previous address | The previous registered residential address for this principal. This field is required for Canadian principals who have lived at their current address for fewer than 3 years. |
| Address | The principal’s residential address. |
| Years at address | The number of years the principal resided at this address. This field is only required for Canadian applications. |
| Years at previous address | Refers to the number of years the principal resided at their previous address. This field is only required for Canadian applications. |
Bank Account
Your business bank account is used for depositing and debiting funds. It must be registered under the same legal name or DBA as your business and capable of receiving both ACH/EFT credits and debits.
| REQUIRED INFORMATION | DESCRIPTION |
| Bank account | The banking details for the business’ payouts |
Agreements
Each processor has their own Terms and Conditions that you must agree to before submitting your application. You must also agree to the Privacy Policy and Portal Terms of Service.
| PROCESSOR | METHOD TO AGREE | NOTES |
| North | DocuSign | The principal listed as the applicant and any owners with more than 25% ownership are required to digitally sign the North merchant agreement. |
| Paysafe | Click to agree | Terms and conditions are available as a link in the hosted merchant application and the Merchant Onboarding API. |
| TSYS | DocuSign | The principal listed as the applicant is required to digitally sign the TSYS merchant agreement. |
Documents
| REQUIRED INFORMATION | DESCRIPTION |
| 501c3 document | Your 501c3 letter. Documentation is only required for TSYS applications where the MCC is 8398 or 8661. |
| Voided/check bank letter | A voided check or bank letter for the business bank account. |