In certain countries, Stripe is required to collect, verify, and maintain information on a company’s owners — known as “beneficial owners” — and persons with significant control. Stripe is also required to confirm your company’s beneficial ownership and persons with significant control structures against the national registry of business in the country your account is set up in. These requirements come from the regulators in the country your account is set up in and are intended to promote transparency, prevent individuals from using complex company structures to hide terrorist financing, money laundering, tax evasion, and other financial crimes.
We recommend that you review your national registry of business and the information you submitted on Stripe for correctness and ensure that the information is consistent, especially if there have been any recent changes to the beneficial owners or persons with significant control.
If you sign up for a Stripe account directly, the information required will show in the account activation section of the Dashboard.
For existing Stripe accounts, any required information will show in the Business Details Settings page on the Dashboard.
If you are creating Custom accounts on behalf of your Stripe Connect platform users, you can find the requirements by selecting the relevant country from the required verification information menu.
Country-specific information can be found below for Europe and the United Kingdom. Countries not listed may not require beneficial ownership structure verification at this time.
All businesses with legal entities incorporated in Ireland are required to file data with the Central Register of Beneficial Ownership of Companies and Industrial and Provident Societies (RBO). The requirement to file beneficial ownership data with the RBO is in addition to the requirement to file company details with the Companies Registration Office (CRO) in Ireland.
You are NOT required to file data with the RBO if you are:
An unincorporated business e.g. Sole Trader / Unincorporated Partnership
An unincorporated business that has a registered business name with the CRO
A company listed on a regulated market e.g. Public Limited Company (Plc)
A branch of an entity that is not incorporated in Ireland
Charities / Non-profit organization (NPOs) with no incorporated legal entity
If you qualify as one of the above and Stripe has applied RBO requirements to your account, please update your Type of business selection on the Tax details Settings page of the Dashboard.
Provided your business is in scope based on your Type of business selection, Stripe will check the business name, business number, and beneficial ownership information you have submitted on your account against the information listed on the RBO. This means that we will check your:
Company Registration Number (CRN), as it appears on the RBO
Company Name, as it appears on the RBO
Company status, as it appears on the RBO
The number of Beneficial Owners listed on the RBO
The Name, Date Of Birth (DOB) , and % of Ownership if applicable for each beneficial owner on the RBO
If your business name, business number, and beneficial ownership information submitted with Stripe completely matches the information listed on the RBO, there is no action needed.
If your beneficial ownership information submitted with Stripe does not completely match the information listed on the RBO, then there is a discrepancy e.g. your beneficial owners names do not match the data listed on the RBO. As required by law, discrepancies will be reported to the RBO by Stripe. This does not affect your ability to accept payments or make payouts to your bank account. You can review the information listed on the RBO and the information you submitted on Stripe at any time and make any necessary updates.
If your company number submitted on Stripe cannot be found in the RBO database (i.e. our search returns a ‘Not found’ result), or if your business name submitted on Stripe does not completely match the name listed on the RBO, or if your Business status is inactive on the RBO, Stripe will ask you to upload documentation about your account on the RBO website.
Note: Before uploading any document please review your company number and business name currently saved on Stripe to ensure it is up to date and that matches the information on the RBO. You can review the information on the Dashboard.
The most common reasons why we are unable to find registered businesses in the RBO are:
The company number available on Stripe cannot be found on the RBO database because the number for your business on the RBO is a different one. Update your company number on Stripe to match the RBO one, via the Dashboard.
The company name available on Stripe does not match the company name on the RBO database for the company number that was provided. Update your company name and/or company number on Stripe, via the Dashboard
Your company name and company number are correct on Stripe, but Stripe is requesting you for RBO proof of beneficial ownership. Update your Type of business on Stripe, via the Dashboard as you might NOT be required to file data with the RBO.
Your company name and company number are correct on Stripe, but Stripe is requesting you for RBO proof of beneficial ownership. Verify if your company status is active on the RBO. If this is not the case, please contact the RBO to resolve this issue.
You are a newly established business and your company’s incorporation and/or beneficial ownership details have yet to be filed. If this is the case, please complete your beneficial ownership registration with the RBO and submit proof to Stripe, via the Dashboard.
If you cannot provide proof that your company has in fact registered with the RBO, then your ability to accept payments and get payouts to your bank account will be paused. We are also required to notify the Registrar that your legal entity does not match the information in the RBO.
Accepted Evidence of RBO Registration
Your RBO Proof of Beneficial Ownership document must be successfully reviewed and matched to the information on your Stripe account before your beneficial ownership structure can be verified. Reviews can take up to 24 hours for our team to complete.
You can obtain the beneficial ownership information currently listed for your company by going to the Central Register of Beneficial Ownership (https://rbo.gov.ie/), logging into your business RBO account, and providing a screenshot of the data to Stripe, via the Dashboard. For step-by-step instructions on how to find the RBO Proof of Beneficial Ownership document and on how to use the RBO website, please refer to Irish-registered businesses: how to collect Beneficial Ownership Information from the Register of Beneficial Ownership (RBO).
For more information on RBO requirements, please check the FAQ section on the RBO website.
We will compare the business and beneficial ownership or persons with significant control information you have submitted with Stripe with the information listed on Companies House (https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/companies-house).
If your business and beneficial ownership and/or persons with significant control information submitted with Stripe completely matches the information listed on Companies House, there is no action needed.
If your beneficial ownership and/or persons with significant control information submitted with Stripe does not completely match the information listed on Companies House, then there is a discrepancy. Stripe is required to report discrepancies to Companies House. This doesn’t affect your ability to accept payments or make payouts to your bank account. You can review the information listed on Companies House and the information you submitted on Stripe at any time and make any necessary updates. For more details about this reporting, please review the Companies House Guidance and Support page.
If your business information submitted on Stripe cannot be found in Companies House, we will ask you to submit a confirmation of your registration, and business ownership and/or persons with significant control information, on your Dashboard. Your ability to receive payouts to your bank account will be paused if you are unable to submit this confirmation. We are also required to notify Companies House that your legal entity is not registered on Companies House. For more details about this reporting, please review the Companies House Guidance and Support page.
We will compare the business and beneficial ownership and persons with significant control information you have submitted with Stripe with the information listed on your national registry of business:
Czech Republic: https://wwwinfo.mfcr.cz/ares/ares.html.en
Estonia: https://www.rik.ee/en
Latvia: https://www.ur.gov.lv/lv/
If your business and beneficial ownership and persons with significant control information submitted with Stripe completely matches the information listed on your national registry of business, there is no action needed.
If your beneficial ownership and persons with significant control information submitted with Stripe does not completely match the information listed on your national registry of business, then there is a discrepancy. Discrepancies may be reported to your national registry of business. You can always review the information listed on your registry and the information you submitted on Stripe and make any necessary updates.
If your business information submitted on Stripe cannot be found in your national registry of business, then we will ask you to submit a confirmation of your business ownership information on your Dashboard. Your ability to receive payouts to your bank account will be paused if you are unable to submit this confirmation on your Dashboard. The information you submitted with Stripe on beneficial ownership and persons with significant control may be reported to your national registry of business.
We will compare the business and beneficial ownership and persons with significant control information you have submitted with Stripe with the information listed on your national registry of business.
If your business and beneficial ownership and persons with significant control information submitted with Stripe completely matches the information listed on your national registry of business, there is no action needed.
If your business and/or beneficial ownership information submitted on Stripe cannot be found or does not completely match the information listed on your national registry of business, we will notify you. This doesn’t affect your ability to accept payments or make payouts to your bank account. You can always review the information listed on your registry and the information you submitted on Stripe and make any necessary updates.
If you do not have all of the ownership information needed to complete the application, see: Missing beneficial owner or director information.
Beneficial ownership requirements for nonprofit organizations
Beneficial ownership requirements for publicly traded companies
Ownership by a trust, holding company, or other legal entity