The problem: deciding who the processor is onboarding
A merchant application asks the processor to establish a business relationship and direct payments to a bank account. The processor needs to check the legal business named in the application and understand the connection of the person acting for it.
Trading names can differ from registered company names. A supplied director’s details may need clarification, and the settlement account must be checked against the intended holder. Reviewing these questions before approval helps the onboarding team identify discrepancies while the application is still under assessment.
The processor uses the company record as the starting point for that review.
Checking the registered company through CIPC
CIPC Company Match returns the company information available for the search. The onboarding team compares the registered name and registration details with the merchant application and reviews the returned company status.
Where director information is returned, it gives the team a record to compare with the people named in the application. A different trading name or an inconsistency in the submitted details can be resolved before the processor makes its onboarding decision.
The check helps establish which registered business the application concerns. The team still needs to understand the business’s activities and the relationship it is being asked to support.
Checking director links using an ID number
The processor also uses CIPC Director Search with the supplied South African ID number. This search returns the director details and company appointments available for that identifier.
The team compares those company links with the business applying for the merchant account. This provides another route for examining the connection between the supplied director identity and the company record.
CIPC Director Search concerns company appointments linked to an ID number. A person’s authority to act for the merchant also needs to be established through the processor’s onboarding process. Separate identity verification can be used when the workflow requires a Home Affairs identity-record check.
Validating the merchant settlement account
Once the intended business and account holder are established, bank account validation checks the supplied banking details. The processor reviews the returned matches and account information against the merchant’s details.
A mismatch gives the onboarding team a reason to query the account before settlements begin. Where a result is unavailable, the application needs a review path that resolves the uncertainty before relying on those banking details.
This connects the business review to the destination for the merchant’s funds. The team needs the account-holder result to assess whether the bank account supplied belongs to that business.
Using the results in the onboarding decision
The processor brings the company and director results together with the bank response. The team can then investigate discrepancies in context, with the merchant application and the returned records available for comparison.
The checks support the processor’s own approval rules. A company record, a director appointment and an account match each supply evidence for a different part of the review; the business decision remains with the processor.
VerifyNow makes these checks available through the dashboard and supported APIs. A processor can place them within its merchant application process and keep the returned results with its onboarding record.