Account Requirements
When merchants are onboarded to Paydude for payment processing, they undergo underwriting by the processor. As part of this process, merchants are required to provide key details about their business, ownership, and business model in their merchant application.
This guide outlines the specific information merchants need to submit to onboard their accounts with Paydude and explains how requirements may vary depending on the processor.
Business Details
The merchant’s 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 the merchant. |
| Legal business name | The registered legal business name of the merchant. The legal business name should be entered exactly as it appears on the merchant’s IRS-issued documents. |
| Doing business as name | The business name the merchant presents to customers, if different from the legal business name. The DBA is optional. |
| Tax ID number | The merchant’s Tax ID number. 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 their home address if their business does not have a physical address. |
| Customer support phone number | The phone number which customers use to get in contact with the merchant. |
| Customer support email address | The email address which customers use to get in contact with the merchant. The customer support email is optional but recommended for merchants who collect payments online. |
| Website | The merchant’s publicly available website. The website URL is optional but recommended for merchants who collect payments online. Social media sites are not accepted. |
| Date of incorporation | The date when the business was incorporated. |
Business Model Details
The merchant’s business model details help assess its 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 the merchant’s product or services. |
| Fulfillment timeframe | The number of days billed prior to goods or services being provided. |
| B2B percentage | The percentage of a merchant’s 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 the merchant’s onboarding application determine their initial processing thresholds. To avoid delays in fund disbursement, merchants should estimate these values as accurately as possible. Merchants with high monthly processing volumes or average transaction amounts may be required to provide additional documentation, such as processing or bank statements, to support their volume estimates.
| REQUIRED INFORMATION | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
| Previous payment processor | The name of the merchant’s previous payment processor. This information is optional but recommended if the merchant has processed payments before. |
| Previous processing volume | The amount the merchant processed in a month with their previous payment processor. This field is optional but recommended if the merchant has processed payments before. |
| Number of terminals | Estimated number of terminals the merchant expects to order. This field is required when a card-present pricing template is applied. Default is 1. |
| Monthly processing volume | Estimated amount the merchant makes in a month from card and bank-to-bank sales. |
| Monthly transaction count | Estimated number of payments a merchant 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 the merchant’s 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. |
| 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
The merchant’s bank account is used for depositing and debiting funds. It must be registered under the same legal name or DBA as the merchant’s 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 the merchant must agree to before submitting their application. All merchants must also agree to the Paydude Privacy Policy and Portal Terms of Service, which are available as links in the Merchant Onboarding API.
| PROCESSOR | METHOD TO AGREE | NOTES |
|---|
Documents
| REQUIRED INFORMATION | DESCRIPTION |
|---|---|
| Voided/check bank letter | A voided check or bank letter for the merchant’s bank account. Documentation is only required in the hosted merchant application if Plaid is not used to connect the bank account. |