Skip to main content
Logo
Identify a payment Support GoCardless
  1. Support Centre
  2. Verification
  3. Getting verified

Verifying your account

As a regulated payments processing company, we are required to perform a number of know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) checks on all businesses and organisations using our service to collect payments from their clients.

First and foremost these checks are in place to keep ourselves, our customers, and those paying through GoCardless safe.

We aim to make this process as simple and unobtrusive as possible. In most cases, we are able to complete the checks using the information you enter into your online set up form. In some instances though, we will be required to ask for additional information and/or supporting documents to complete the checks. Please do bear with us if this is the case - we will do our best to ensure it’s as painless as possible.

Verifying your bank account

The verification payment is a requirement in order for us to verify that we are paying funds out to the same legal entity we are collecting on behalf of.

IMPORTANT: The bank account you enter must be registered in the same name as the legal entity you are collecting payments on behalf of; e.g. if your company is registered in the name "Example Company", your bank account must also be registered with the account holder name of "Example Company".

Generally, we can verify your payout bank account automatically when you make the verification payment, which you will be prompted to do after you add a payout bank account. However, in some situations, we may also request a bank statement.

  1. Making a verification payment

  2. Providing a bank statement 

1. Making a verification payment

Please note: We do not accept verification payments for USD, SEK, DKK and CAD. In the verification section of your onboarding form you won’t be asked to make a verification payment but will instead need to upload a statement. Please review the section below for more information on the type of documents we can accept.

Before GoCardless can send funds to your registered account, we need to verify that the bank account is owned by the same legal entity as we're collecting payments on behalf of. In order for successful verification payment please ensure that the payment is sent from the account of the entity signed up with GoCardless but not by the entity's representative, affiliated entities or associated individuals etc.

To do this, we ask that you transfer a minimum denomination payment from your registered bank account to GoCardless. You can see details of where to send this payment by clicking on the blue box within the Verify payout account section of your onboarding form. You will also receive an email that contains all of the details of the payment that you need to make, once you have connected your payout bank account.

Please use online banking to make the verification payment as you would a regular outgoing transfer. Please note that the verification payment is non-refundable.

Important: Please do not use other means (e.g. CHAPS, telephone banking, paying in a cheque at your bank etc.) to make the payment as we are unlikely to see all the required details on our statement if you make the payment this way.

It should take 1 business day to verify your bank account, providing the name registered to your bank account matches your business name.

If your verification is taking longer than 3 days, please contact us via this form, as there may be an issue with your verification payment.

2. Providing a bank statement

On occasion, our automated verification check fails, at which point we'll ask you to complete the check by providing a recent bank statement for the account you wish to receive funds into.

We will ask you to upload a recent bank statement to verify ownership of the bank account before we can settle any funds to it.

Documents we can accept:

  • Bank statement

  • Screenshot of your online bank account

  • Bank account opening letter

  • Official letter of proof from your bank (confirming the account holder name and account details)

The document will need to include your full bank account details, including the account name and the date (the document needs to be dated within the last 6 months). The document will need to be legible in its entirety (take care to avoid glare from the camera flash or cutting off part of the document) and will need to be in full colour.

If you are a limited company:
You will need to have a bank account held by the company. Your full company name should be listed as the account holder (please note, if the entity type is specified in your company name e.g. “Limited”, “Ltd”, “LLP”, etc. then this must also be included in the account holder name for us to be able to approve it).

If you are a sole trader:
Your bank account will need to show you or your trading name as the account holder. If you provide a document that shows your trading name, we will get in touch with you to clarify your entity type.

If you are a charity, sports club or other organisation:
Your bank account will need to be held in the name of the club/organisation. We will be unable to proceed if the bank account is held under an individual.

Was this article helpful?
  • Promoted articles

    • Credit card payments
    • Notice of change of legal entity
    • Bulk importing payments
    • Overview of payment statuses
    • Refund a payment
  • Recently Added Articles

  • Top Articles

API Documentation

Our detailed docs have everything you need to know about using our Payments and Bank account data APIs

View documentation

Need help identifying a payment?

Seen ‘GoCardless Ltd’ on your bank statement? Use our secure tool below to find out more.

Payment Lookup

Need support?

Contact Support

Our support team are available 24/7 to answer any questions you may have.

Quick links

Knowledge base
Visit GoCardless.com

About GoCardless

Legal
Privacy
Security
Blog

Support

Contact support
Complaints
Contact sales

Seen ‘GoCardless Ltd’ on your bank statement?

Identify a payment

GoCardless Ltd, Sutton Yard, 65 Goswell Road, London, EC1V 7EN, United Kingdom


GoCardless Ltd (company registration number 07495895) is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Payment Services Regulations 2017, registration number 597190, for the provision of payment services.





English (GB) Deutsch English (AU) English (CA) English (NZ) English (US) Español Français
Search help articles
https://gocardless.com/partner-with-us/
/hc/theming_assets/01JKARFYGKK1KBMBMT9CC1BV8G
Partner with us
Partner with us to shape the future of payments.
custom
https://gocardless.com/stories/
/hc/theming_assets/01JKARFYZ7DNZC3PC7YMW92YZ4
Customer Stories
GoCardless helps thousands of businesses with their payments everyday.
custom
https://gocardless.com/payment-lookup/
/hc/theming_assets/01JKARFZAEXTV1RTZ2VZNFPXEW
Identify a payment
If you’ve seen 'GoCardless Ltd' appear on your bank statement
Payment timings, Verification, Xero, 2fa