Lopay Account Verification and KYC
Lopay utilises Stripe’s “Managed Accounts” onboarding process to verify ownership and conduct checks, such as sanctions screening and verification of details against the National Registry of Businesses (NRB). Stripe also conducts identity document verification before a Lopay account is activated.
The verification requirements vary by account, depending on:
- Country
- 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 (Determined by Stripe). This includes a check for Restricted Businesses that are not supported by Stripe.
Terminology
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Charge | The charge of a card, such as a Visa or Mastercard to process and accept a payment |
| Payout | The remittance of funds to an external account |
| External Account | Transfer destinations of a Payout. All External accounts are Bank accounts |
Sanctions
Lopay, via Stripe, complies with all sanctions programs administered by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), along with a number of other national and international sanctions regimes. This includes both prohibitions against interactions with certain individuals and entities as well as comprehensive bans on business dealings involving certain countries or regions that are targeted by sanctions regimes.
Lopay, via Stripe, screens all accounts, in compliance with our own obligations under these sanctions regimes. If a connected account is flagged as a possible sanctions concern, Stripe will pause payouts from the connected account and contact the platform by email to request additional information.
Payouts from the connected account will remain paused until the review has been cleared. Disregarding or violating sanctions can lead to fines, regulatory action, and loss of licensing for both Stripe and our users.
UK Verification Information
Onboarding accounts to the Stripe Connect platform requires that we collect certain information for each account (which Stripe verifies). The collection of information is managed by Stripe via a URL (website) hosted by Stripe.
Stripe’s verification differs based on the business type (for example, individual, company) and structure (for example, public corporation, private partnership). The document outlines which documents are collected for verification for both individuals and private companies.
UK Verification Information: Private Corporation (Company)
Below is a table listing the information gathered by Stripe's onboarding flow for private companies:
| ACCOUNT INFORMATION | REQUIRE BEFORE | DATA (API) PARAMETER |
|---|---|---|
| Business type | Company | business_type=company |
| Business structure | Private Corporation | company.structure=private_corporation |
| Merchant category code | First charge & payout | business_profile.mcc |
| Business website URL | First charge & payout | business_profile.url |
| Terms of service | First charge | tos_acceptance.itos_acceptance.date |
| External account (Bank account) | First payout | external_account |
| COMPANY | ||
| Company name | First charge & payout | company.name |
| Company address | First charge & payout | company.address.line1company.address.postal_codecompany.address.city |
| Company phone | First charge & payout | company.phone |
| Company tax ID | First charge & payout | company.tax_id |
| Executives provided | First charge & payout | company.executives_provided |
| Owners provided | First charge & payout | company.owners_provided |
| REPRESENTATIVE | ||
| Name | First charge & payout | representative.first_namerepresentative.last_name |
| Date of birth | First charge & payout | representative.dob.dayrepresentative.dob.monthrepresentative.dob.year |
| Address | First charge & payout | representative.address.line1representative.address.postal_coderepresentative.address.city |
| First charge & payout | representative.email | |
| Phone | First charge & payout | representative.phone |
| Relationship with company | First charge & payout | representative.relationship.executiverepresentative.relationship.title |
| DIRECTOR | ||
| Name | First charge & payout | directors.first_namedirectors.last_name |
| Date of birth | First charge & payout | directors.dob.daydirectors.dob.monthdirectors.dob.year |
| First charge & payout | directors.email | |
| Relationship with company | First charge & payout | directors.relationship.title |
| OWNER | ||
| Name | First charge & payout | owners.first_nameowners.last_name |
| Date of birth | First charge & payout | owners.dob.dayowners.dob.monthowners.dob.year |
| Address | First charge & payout | owners.address.line1owners.address.postal_codeowners.address.city |
| First charge & payout | owners.email | |
| EXECUTIVE | ||
| Name | First charge & payout | executives.first_nameexecutives.last_name |
| Date of birth | First charge & payout | executives.dob.dayexecutives.dob.monthexecutives.dob.year |
| Address | First charge & payout | executives.address.line1executives.address.postal_codeexecutives.address.city |
| First charge & payout | executives.email |
If Stripe is unable to verify the company or if there are possible concerns about sanctions, we collect a proof-of-entity document to enable payouts.
A person known as a representative must activate this connected account. This person must be a beneficial owner who is authorized to sign for the company.
Information on all beneficial owners must be collected. Beneficial owners are persons who exercise significant management control over the company (executives) or who own 25% or more of the company (owners).
For companies (excluding partnerships), information on all directors must be collected. Directors are members of the governing board of the company.
Universal Beneficial Ownership Verification
After supplying the beneficial owner information, it is checked against the National Registry of Businesses (NRB). Depending on the results of this check, there are three outcomes:
- The business is found in the NRB, and the information matches. The account is fully onboarded, and no additional action is required.
- The business is found in the NRB, but the information doesn't match. The account is fully onboarded, and no additional action is required. A discrepancy report is sent to the NRB.
- The business isn't found in the NRB. An attestation consisting of an IP address, date, and user agent of the person submitting the information must be provided. The person is attesting that the business is registered with the NRB, and the information given to Stripe matches.
UK Verification Information (Individual)
Below is a table listing the information gathered by Stripes onboarding flow for individuals:
| ACCOUNT INFORMATION | REQUIRED BEFORE | PARAMETER |
|---|---|---|
| Business type | Individual | business_type=individual |
| Merchant category code | First charge & payout | business_profile.mcc |
| URL | First charge & payout | business_profile.url |
| Terms of service | First charge & payout | tos_acceptance.iptos_acceptance.date |
| External account | First charge & payout | external_account |
| INDIVIDUAL | ||
| Name | First charge & payout | individual.first_name |
| individual.last_name | ||
| Date of birth | First charge & payout | individual.dob.dayindividual.dob.monthindividual.dob.year |
| Address | First charge & payout | individual.address.line1individual.address.postal_codeindividual.address.city |
| First charge & payout | individual.email | |
| Phone | First charge & payout | individual.phone |
For each individual Identity and address documents are scanned and verified.
Acceptable verification documents
We additionally collect a scan of an ID document to enable each new Lopay account.
Below is a list of documents that Stripe can accept as proof of identity, address, and entities based in the UK. Some forms of documentation require scans of both the front and back of the document.
| Identity Documents | Address Documents | Company/Entity Documents |
|---|---|---|
| Passport | Driver licence | VAT Registration |
| Driver licence | Utility Bill | Certificate of Incorporation |
| Resident permit | Statement from a financial institution | Companies House Document |
| Citizen Card | Government issued letter | HM Revenue and Customs: VAT Certificate |
| Electoral ID | Solicitors letter | HM Revenue and Customs: Account Statement |
| Council or housing association documentation | Charity Commission Document | |
| Benefits Agency documentation | OSCR Scottish Charity Regulator | |
| Electoral Register entry | ||
| NHS Medical Card | ||
| GP letter of registration with the surgery |
Verification can take Lopay from a few minutes to a couple of business days to complete, depending on how readable the provided image is.
Document checks verify the authenticity of government-issued identity documents. Stripe uses a combination of machine learning models, automated heuristic analysis and manual reviewers to verify the authenticity of hundreds of different document types.
Machine learning models are used to capture high-definition pictures of the fronts and backs of documents. The document images are analyzed in real-time to check for legibility and warn the user if the document is expired or unlikely to be verified. Stripe checks the images against a database of fraudulent document templates. This database is updated frequently, so that Stripe can detect new fake document templates and automatically block them.
Wherever available, barcodes and other machine-readable features of the document are decoded and consistency checks are performed to ensure that the text document data matches the machine-readable data.
Enhanced Digital Identity Measures
To prevent "presentation attacks" — fraudsters using pictures of stolen documents or someone else's face - Lopay utilises Stripe's "selfie" checks, which look for distinguishing biological traits, such as face geometry, from a photo ID and a picture of your user's face. Stripe then uses advanced machine learning algorithms to ensure the face pictures belong to the same person.