Handling verification with the API
Platforms with accounts created using the API can provide Stripe with necessary information about their users for Know Your Customer (KYC) purposes. Platforms can use Connect Onboarding to collect KYC information, or use the Accounts and Persons APIs to provide Stripe with required information. We’ll then perform verification, asking for more information when needed.
The rest of this page goes through how platforms:
- Discover verification requirements for a connected account
- Provide the necessary information to Stripe
Platforms that use Custom connected accounts can also read Identity Verification for Custom Accounts to learn about the verification flow options, how the API fields translate to both companies and individuals, and how to localize information requests.
Verification process
Before enabling charges and payouts for a connected account, Stripe needs certain information that varies based on:
- The origin country of the connected accounts
- The service agreement type applicable to the connected accounts
- The capabilities requested for the connected accounts
- The business type (for example, individual or company) and company.structure (for example, public corporation or private partnership)
Platforms need to choose the proper onboarding flow for their business and users to meet the KYC requirements. Broadly speaking, this means providing all the requisite information upfront or incrementally. Either way, you’ll need to be set up to watch for and respond to requests from Stripe.
- Establish a Connect webhook URL in your webhook settings to watch for activity, especially events of the
account.updated
type. When using the Persons API, you should also watch forperson.updated
events. - Immediately after creating an account, check the
Account
object’s requirements.currently_due attribute for any additional requirements. If additional information is required, obtain it from the user and update the connected account. - Continue watching for
account.updated
event notifications to see if therequirements
hash changes, and reach out to your user for additional information as needed.
When you provide additional information, you don’t need to resubmit any previously verified details (for example, if the dob
has already been verified, you don’t need to provide it again in subsequent updates).
Caution
When requirements.currently_due
isn’t empty, additional information is required. Connected accounts may be blocked from creating charges, receiving payouts, or performing certain tasks if you don’t provide this information in a timely manner.
Change information after verification
After an individual or company is verified, you may change some of their information, with limitations. See the Update Account API for limitations based on the configuration of the connected account. Contact support to make changes outside of these limitations.
Determine if verification is needed
When you receive an account.updated
event to your webhook or fetch an account via the API, you receive an Account object. The Account
object’s charges_enabled
and payouts_enabled
attributes indicate whether the account can create charges and accept payouts.
The Account
object has a requirements
hash, representing the requirements needed to verify the account. The requirements
hash has the following arrays:
eventually_due
: Fields that you might need to collect, assuming all thresholds are reached. As they become required, they appear incurrently_due
and set thecurrent_deadline
. All required information starts in this array.currently_due
: Fields that you must collect by thecurrent_deadline
for the connected account to remain enabled.currently_due
is a subset ofeventually_due
.past_due
: Fields you didn’t submit by the deadline, which disabled the connected account.past_due
is a subset ofcurrently_due
.errors
: The list of reasons why a particular field incurrently_due
must be collected again because validation or verification failed.disabled_reason
: Describes why the connected account isn’t enabled.current_deadline
: Date by which the fields incurrently_due
must be collected to keep the account enabled. The account may be disabled sooner if the next threshold is reached before thecurrently_due
fields are collected.pending_verification
: Fields that may become required depending on the results of verification or review. Is an empty array unless a verification is pending. If verification fails, fields inpending_verification
move toeventually_due
,currently_due
, orpast_due
.
The example below shows what the requirements
hash might look like for an account that has some information that’s currently_due
, some information that’s eventually_due
, and some information that’s raising verification errors
.
{ "id":
, "object": "account", "requirements": { "disabled_reason": null, "current_deadline": 1529085600, "past_due": [], "currently_due": [ "external_account", "individual.dob.day", "individual.dob.month", "individual.dob.year", "individual.first_name", "individual.last_name", "tos_acceptance.date", "tos_acceptance.ip" ], "eventually_due": [ "external_account", "individual.address.city", "individual.address.line1", "individual.address.postal_code", "individual.address.state", "individual.dob.day", "individual.dob.month", "individual.dob.year", "individual.first_name", "individual.last_name", "individual.ssn_last_4", "tos_acceptance.date", "tos_acceptance.ip" ], "errors": [ { "requirement": "company.verification.document", "reason": "The company name on the account couldn't be verified. Either update your business name or upload a document containing the business name.", "code": "failed_name_match" }, ] }, ... }"{{CONNECTED_ACCOUNT_ID}}"
If requirements.currently_due
contains entries, check requirements.current_deadline
. The current_deadline
is a Unix timestamp identifying when information is needed. Usually, if Stripe doesn’t receive the information by the current_deadline
, payouts on the account are disabled. However, there can be other consequences in some situations. For example, if payouts are already disabled and the account is unresponsive to our inquiries, Stripe might also disable the ability to process charges.
Separately, the requirements.disabled_reason property can have a value. The value is a string describing the reason why this account is unable to make payouts or charges. In some instances, platforms and connected accounts can submit a form to resolve or appeal the reason.
- Standard connected accounts can access additional information (if available) on their Dashboard.
- Platforms in any Connect configuration can navigate to Accounts to review to understand an account’s
disabled_reason
. You might be able to provide additional information on behalf of your connected accounts. If the disabled reason is associated with an appeal, you can generate a link to a form for the account to resolve the appeal.
Reason | Meaning |
---|---|
action_required.requested_capabilities | You need to request capabilities for the connected account. For details, see Request and unrequest capabilities. |
listed | Account might be on a prohibited persons or companies list (Stripe will investigate and either reject or reinstate the account appropriately). |
rejected.fraud | Account is rejected due to suspected fraud or illegal activity. |
rejected.incomplete_verification | The account is rejected from incomplete verification requirements within the required threshold. |
rejected.listed | Account is rejected because it’s on a third-party prohibited persons or companies list (such as financial services provider or government). |
rejected.other | Account is rejected for another reason. |
rejected.terms_of_service | Account is rejected due to suspected terms of service violations. |
requirements.past_due | Additional verification information is required to enable capabilities on this account. |
requirements.pending_verification | Stripe is currently verifying information on the connected account. No action is required. Inspect the requirements.pending_verification array to see the information being verified. |
under_review | The account is under review by Stripe. |
Validation and verification errors
The Account object includes a requirements.errors array that explains why the validation or verification requirements haven’t been met, which are needed to enable your account and capabilities. The errors
array has the following attributes:
requirement
: Specifies which information from thecurrently_due
array is needed.code
: Indicates the type of error that occurred. See the API reference for all possible error codes.reason
: Explains why the error occurred and how to resolve the error.
Below is an example that shows what the errors
array might look like for an account with requirements that are currently_due
. The example shows the reason why the submitted information can’t be used to enable the account, and how to resolve the error. If verification or validation is unsuccessful, requirements can reappear in currently_due
with error information. Set a Connect webhook to receive the account.updated
event to receive these updates.
{ "id":
, "object": "account", "requirements": { "current_deadline": 1234567800, "currently_due": [ "company.address.line1", "{{PERSON_ID}}.verification.document", ], "errors": [ { "requirement": "company.address.line1", "code": "invalid_street_address", "reason": "The provided street address cannot be found. Please verify the street name and number are correct in \"10 Downing Street\"", }, { "requirement": "{{PERSON_ID}}.verification.document", "code": "verification_document_failed_greyscale", "reason": "Greyscale documents cannot be read. Please upload a color copy of the document.", } ] }, ... }"{{CONNECTED_ACCOUNT_ID}}"
If verification or validation is unsuccessful but no requirements are currently due, a webhook triggers indicating that required information is eventually due.
Business information
When information about a business is submitted, Stripe verifies the new information. For example, Stripe may verify that the provided business URL is valid, reachable, and includes information about the business. To retrieve the status of verification information regarding a business, utilize the requirements
on the Account object.
Below is a list of errors related to business information verification:
Error | Resolution |
---|---|
invalid_business_profile_name | Business names must be easy for people to understand and must consist of recognizable words. |
invalid_business_profile_name_denylisted | Generic or well-known business names aren’t supported. Make sure the provided business name matches the account’s business. |
invalid_product_description_length | A product description must be at least 10 characters. |
invalid_product_description_url_match | A product description must be different from the URL of the business. |
| See handling URL verification errors below. |
Statement descriptors
Stripe validates the statement descriptor and statement descriptor prefix when set on an account. For example, Stripe might verify that the provided statement descriptor matches the description of the business. When validating the statement descriptor matches the business description, Stripe uses the first 22 characters of the statement descriptor, representing the part that is provided to the card networks. A business description is a close match of the account’s business_profile.name
, business_profile.url
, or the name of the company or individual.
To retrieve the status of verification information regarding statement descriptors, review the requirements
on the Account object. Below is a list of errors related to statement descriptor verification:
Error | Resolution |
---|---|
invalid_statement_descriptor_length | A statement descriptor must be at least 5 characters. |
invalid_statement_descriptor_business_mismatch | A statement descriptor must be similar to the business name, legal entity name, or URL of the account. |
| Generic or well-known statement descriptors aren’t supported. |
invalid_statement_descriptor_prefix_mismatch | The statement descriptor prefix must be similar to the full statement descriptor. |
Person information
During the verification process, information about the persons associated with an account needs to be collected. If you onboard:
- Only companies, use the Persons API to collect this information.
- Only individuals, you can use the Persons API or the individual hash on the Account object.
- A combination of individuals and companies, use the Persons API to collect this information. This way you collect information in the same manner regardless of business type.
To retrieve the status of verification information regarding a person, utilize the Person object’s verification subhash:
{ "id":
, "object": "person", ... "verification": { "document": null } ... }"{{PERSON_ID}}"
You can look up the definition for each verification attribute on the Person object. The two attributes worth noting are status
and details
.
status
indicates the state of verification for the person:
pending
: Stripe is currently trying to verify this entity.unverified
: Stripe isn’t able to verify this entity right now, either because verification has failed or because we don’t have enough information to attempt verification.verified
: Stripe has successfully verified this entity.
Note that an unverified
status isn’t necessarily an urgent issue, but it does mean that Stripe might request more information soon.
The details
attribute provides an explanation for the current status
.
Below is a list of errors related to person verification:
Error | Resolution |
---|---|
invalid_address_city_state_postal_code | Stripe couldn’t validate the combination of the city, state, and postal code in the provided address. |
invalid_address_highway_contract_box | The address of the person must be a valid physical address from which the account conducts business and cannot be an Highway Contract Box. |
invalid_address_private_mailbox | The address of the person must be a valid physical address from which the account conducts business and cannot be a private mailbox. |
invalid_dob_age_under_minimum | The person must be at least 13 years old. |
invalid_dob_age_over_maximum | The person’s date of birth must be within the past 120 years. |
invalid_phone_number | Stripe couldn’t validate the phone number on the account. Make sure the formatting matches the country of the person. |
invalid_street_address | Stripe couldn’t validate the street name and/or number for the provided address. |
| Tax IDs must be a unique set of 9 numbers without dashes or other special characters. |
Acceptable verification documents by country
Below is a listing of documents that Stripe can accept as proof of identity, address, and entity for each country Stripe supports.
Some forms of documentation require scans of both the front and back of the document. For these, use the document_back
parameter to provide the back of the document. Unless explicitly noted, only a scan of the front of the document is required.
Company information
During the verification process, you might need to collect information about the company for an account.
To retrieve the status of verification information regarding an account’s company, utilize the Account’s company[verification] subhash:
{ "id":
, "object": "account", ... "company": { "verification": { "document": null }, ... }, ... }"{{CONNECTED_ACCOUNT_ID}}"
You can look up the definition for each verification attribute on the Account object.
Handle document verification problems
Many complications with the verification process involve the uploaded document itself. To help you recognize and handle the most common problems, the table below lists possible values for the error code
(in the requirements.errors
array) and the likely resolutions for each error.
Below is a list of errors related to document upload:
Error | Resolution |
---|---|
| The upload failed due to a problem with the file itself. Ask your user to provide a new file that meets these requirements:
|
| The provided file is not an acceptable form of ID from a supported country, or is not a type of legal entity document that is expected. Ask your user to provide a new file that meets that requirement. For a list, see Acceptable ID types by country. |
| Your team may contact Stripe to learn more about why identity verification failed. |
| The issue or expiry date is missing on the document, or the document is expired. If it’s an identity document, its expiration date must be after the date the document was submitted. If it’s an address document, the issue date must be within the last six months. |
Below is a list of errors related to identity verification:
Error | Resolution |
---|---|
verification_failed_keyed_identity | The name on the account couldn’t be verified. Ask your user to verify that they have provided their full legal name and to also provide a photo ID matching that name. |
| The information on the ID document doesn’t match the information provided by the user. Ask your user to verify and correct the provided information on the account. |
| The document might have been altered so it could not be verified. Your team may contact Stripe to learn more. |
Below is a list of errors related to business verification:
Error | Resolution |
---|---|
| The information on the account couldn’t be verified. Your user can either upload a document to confirm their account details, or update their information on their account. |
| The information that your user provided couldn’t be verified with the IRS. Ask your user to correct any possible errors in the company name or tax ID, or upload a document that contains those fields. (US only) |
| The information on the document doesn’t match the information provided by the user. Ask your user to verify and correct the provided information on the account, or upload a document with information that matches the account. |
| The uploaded document is missing a required field. Ask your user to upload another document that contains the missing field. |
Caution
Don’t resubmit a file that previously failed. Duplicate uploads immediately trigger an error and aren’t rechecked.
Handle URL verification errors
URLs for e-commerce businesses need to conform to certain card network standards. See the website checklist for best practices for URLs and common elements for e-commerce businesses. Stripe conducts a number of verifications for URL integrity. There are two methods to resolve URL integrity errors:
- Using the API - Use the error code to handle the URL issue. If you need to update the URL, use the Update Account API, which also causes Stripe to verify the updated URL. If you don’t have to update the URL, Stripe still needs to clear the error by verifying the URL again. After you make any other required updates, trigger reverification by using the API to change the URL to any other value and then change it back.
- Using the Dashboard - Platforms can use the Accounts to review page in the Stripe Dashboard to understand the impact to their connected accounts and what actions to take.
Not all URL-related issues can be resolved using the API. Certain types of URL integrity errors require additional information on how to access the connected account’s webpage or to attest that the account is exempt from URL requirements. These types of issues require that you or your connected account provide supplemental information. Visit your Accounts to review page to resolve the error, or direct your connected account to contact Stripe Support.
Note
Stripe’s Terms of Service requires all e-commerce businesses to provide a working URL of their business website when activating an account with the card_payments
capability. An account is considered an e-commerce business if it promotes or sells any products or services through an online website, social media profile, or mobile application. If the account doesn’t operate a website to promote their business, sell products, or accept payments, they’re required to provide a product description instead. A product description needs to detail the type of products being sold as well as the manner in which the account’s customers are being charged (i.e. in person transactions).
To help you handle the most common errors associated with the business_profile.url
field, the following table lists the related error codes (in the requirements.errors
array) and possible resolutions.
Error | Resolution |
---|---|
invalid_url_denylisted | The URL provided for the account matches a generic business website URL. A URL that is specific to the business of the account must be provided. |
invalid_url_format | The URL provided for the account is in the incorrect format. A URL in a correct format must be provided, such as https://example.com . |
invalid_url_website_inaccessible | We can’t reach the website have provided for the account. The website provided must be reachable or an alternative website that is reachable should be provided. To resolve outside of providing a new website, view your Accounts to review page or the account must contact Stripe support. |
invalid_url_website_business_information_mismatch | Information on the account’s website does not match information on the account’s Stripe account. Please view your Accounts to review page in the Dashboard or the account must make sure that the information on the website matches the account’s business. |
invalid_url_website_incomplete | The account’s website seems to be missing some required information. Learn more about the information a website must include. |
invalid_url_website_other | We’re unable to verify the account’s business using the URL of the website, social media profile, or mobile application provided. A new URL must be provided. View your Accounts to review page or the account must contact Stripe support if no URL exists. |
invalid_url_web_presence_detected | We have detected that the account uses a website, social media profile, or mobile application to sell or promote products or services, but a URL hasn’t been provided for the account. The account should have a URL that is not a generic URL for the website or social media provider. |
invalid_url_website_incomplete_customer_service_details | The account’s website doesn’t contain customer service details, which are required for the business type of the account. Please view your Accounts to review page in the Dashboard or the account must add these details to its website. |
invalid_url_website_incomplete_return_policy | The account’s website doesn’t contain a return policy and process, which are required for the business type of the account. Please view your Accounts to review page in the Dashboard or the account must add a return policy and process to its website. |
invalid_url_website_incomplete_refund_policy | The account’s website doesn’t contain a refund policy, which is required for the business type of the account. Please view your Accounts to review page in the Dashboard or the account must add a refund policy to its website. |
invalid_url_website_incomplete_cancellation_policy | The account’s website doesn’t contain a cancellation policy, which is required for the business type of the account. Please view your Accounts to review page in the Dashboard or the account must add a cancellation policy to its website. |
invalid_url_website_incomplete_legal_restrictions | The account’s website suggests that it’s selling goods that have either legal or export restrictions. View your Accounts to review page or the account must remove those goods from its website. |
invalid_url_website_incomplete_terms_and_conditions | The account’s website doesn’t contain terms and conditions, which are required for the business type of the account. Please view your Accounts to review page in the Dashboard or the account must add terms and conditions to its website. |
invalid_url_website_incomplete_under_construction | The account’s website is under construction. Please view your Accounts to review page in the Dashboard or the account must complete construction of its website. |
invalid_url_website_inaccessible_password_protected | The account’s website is password-protected. Please view your Accounts to review page in the Dashboard or the account must contact Stripe Support with instructions to access the website. |
invalid_url_website_inaccessible_geoblocked | Stripe couldn’t access the account’s website because it is geoblocked. Please view your Accounts to review page in the Dashboard or the account must contact Stripe Support with instructions to access the website. |
invalid_url_website_empty | The account’s website doesn’t have any content. Please view your Accounts to review page in the Dashboard or the account must add content that represents its products and services. |
Handle identity verification
You can respond in two ways to an identity verification change. The first is to perform an Update Account call, correcting or adding information.
Secondarily, we might ask you to upload a document. Depending on how much of the user’s information Stripe has been able to verify, we might require three different types of document uploads. You can determine what documents to upload based on the fields listed in requirements.currently_due
:
person.verification.document
: Requires a color scan or photo of an acceptable form of ID.person.verification.additional_document
: Requires a color scan or photo of a document verifying the user’s address, such as a utility bill.company.verification.document
: Requires a proof of entity document establishing the business’ entity ID number, such as the company’s articles of incorporation.
Uploading a document is a two-step process:
- Upload the file to Stripe
- Attach the file to the account
Note
For security reasons, Stripe doesn’t accept copies of IDs sent by email.
Upload a file
To upload a file, use the Create File API by using a POST to send the file data as part of a multipart/form-data request.
The uploaded file must meet these requirements:
- Color image (8,000 pixels by 8,000 pixels or smaller)
- 10 MB or less
- For identity documents, can be JPG or PNG format
- For address or legal entity documents, can be JPG, PNG, or PDF format
Pass the file data in the file
parameter and set the purpose
parameter to identity_document
:
This request uploads the file and returns a token:
{ "id":
, "created": 1403047735, "size": 4908 }"{{FILE_ID}}"
You may then use the token’s id
value to attach the file to a connected account for identity verification.
Attach the file
After you upload the file and receive a representative token, provide the file ID using the appropriate field in your Update Account call.
Below is an example for an ID document:
Below is an example for a company document:
This update changes verification[status]
to pending
. If an additional person needs to be verified, use the Persons API to update them.
Confirm ID verification
If the color scan or photo of the ID passes Stripe’s checks, the document requirement is removed from requirements.currently_due
. Satisfying all verification requirements for the person or company triggers an account.updated
webhook notification signaling the verification process is complete.
Verification can take Stripe from a few minutes, to a couple business days to complete, depending on how readable the provided image is.
If the verification attempt fails, the requirements.errors
array contains an error stating the cause. The error[reason]
, such as “The image supplied was not readable,” is safe to present to your user, but is not localized. The response also contains an error[code]
value, such as verification_document_not_readable
, which you can use to localize errors for your users. Upon failure, requirements.currently_due
indicates that a new ID upload is required. If the deadline for verification is near, requirements.current_deadline
might also be populated with a date. Verification failure also triggers an account.updated
webhook notification.