Onboard a business (Digital Banking & Cards)

Introduction

This guide provides step-by-step instructions for onboarding new business customers for Digital Banking and Cards products using Solaris' Digital Banking API. You'll learn what information is mandatory to collect from your business customers and which endpoints and webhooks you need to integrate into your solution.

Business onboarding overview

Onboarding a business involves collecting information and creating multiple resources using Solaris's API. This section describes the various legal entities and natural persons involved in onboarding a business, as well as the information you need to collect.

Business information

When you onboard a business, you must collect two different streams of information:

• Business information: Information about the business' legal entity, including the business name, registration number, tax information, business activities, etc.
• Person information: Information about all natural persons that run and/or legally represent the business. A business could involve multiple natural persons assigned to different roles. These roles include legal representatives, beneficial owners, signees, and authorized persons.

Business identification

Based on the information provided, businesses go through two types of identifications:

• Legal identification: Done by Solaris to identify the legal entity.
• Video identification: Done by our video identification service provider, IDnow, to identify the natural persons behind the business. Please note that only natural persons assigned to specific roles require video identification.

Business entities and roles

Legal person/entity

A company or a business includes a juridical person (the legal entity) and the natural person(s) who own and/or legally represent the business.

A legal person is a person or entity that can perform different legal actions on behalf of the business, such as entering into contracts, owning property, etc. There are two types of legal persons:

• Human legal persons (i.e., natural persons)
• Non-human legal persons, also known as juridical persons. This could be a corporation or a company. The law treats non-human legal persons as people.

Business

On Solaris's system, a business is a company's juridical person (the non-human legal person). A business must have at least one natural person attached to it, assigned to a specific role.

The natural persons attached to the business don't own the account. Instead, the business is the account holder, and a business can have multiple accounts.

Roles

The legal persons behind the business are assigned to different roles. Each person attached to a business plays at least one role: a legal representative, a beneficial owner, or both. A person could also act as a signee or an additional authorized person on the account.

The following roles are available on Solaris's system:

• Legal representative
• Ultimate beneficial owner
• Signee
• Authorized person

System prerequisites

Before starting the business onboarding process, you must implement the following requirements:

1. Technical setup:

Set up your environment and get your authentication keys. For step-by-step instructions, check the Technical setup guide.

2. Legal and compliance screens:

Build the necessary legal and compliance screens in your sign-up flow to collect your customers' consent to the necessary legal and compliance requirements. The Legal and compliance screens guide offers step-by-step instructions on how to create these screens and what essential information they should contain."

The following screens are required to onboard B2B customers for Digital Banking & Cards:

1. Terms and Conditions
2. Customer information
3. Business tax declaration
4. FATCA indication
5. Self-declaration as a politically exposed person (PEP). (Only for customers in France, Italy, and Spain)
6. Compliance screen

Record the customer's consent on each screen as a UTC timestamp (e.g., 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z). Afterward, you must pass each timestamp in its respective field to Solaris.

• Collect the customer's consent to Solaris's Terms and Conditions and store the timestamp in the terms_conditions_signed_at field.
• Collect the customer's consent to data processing and store the timestamp in the data_terms_signed_at field.
• Collect the customer's FATCA indication and store it in the fatca_relevant field. Store the timestamp in the fatca_crs_confirmed_at field.

Integration overview

The following diagram gives a high-level overview of the integration process for onboarding business customers for Digital Banking & Cards. Click on each step to go to its dedicated section for full instructions:

Onboard business customers by completing the following steps:

Sequence diagram

To view a larger version, right-click the image and click "Open in a new tab."

Webhooks

Solaris recommends subscribing to the following webhook events to better automate your processes. For detailed instructions on implementing Solaris webhooks, check the webhooks documentation.

• ACCOUNT_BLOCK
• ACCOUNT_CLOSURE_REQUEST
• ACCOUNT_CLOSURE
• BENEFICIAL_OWNER
• BOOKING
• BUSINESS_CHANGED
• BUSINESS_DELETED
• BUSINESS_SEIZURE_CREATED
• BUSINESS_SEIZURE_DELETED
• BUSINESS_SEIZURE_FULFILLED
• BUSINESS_SEIZURE_UPDATED
• BUSINESS_IDENTIFICATION
• BUSINESS_TAX_IDENTIFICATION_CHANGED
• CARD_LIFECYCLE_EVENT
• CARD_AUTHORIZATION
• CARD_AUTHORIZATION_DECLINE_V2
• CARD_AUTHORIZATION_RESOLUTION
• CARD_FRAUD_CASE_PENDING
• CARD_FRAUD_CASE_TIMEOUT
• IDENTIFICATION
• LEGAL_REPRESENTATIVE
• PERSON_CHANGED
• PERSON_DELETED
• PERSON_SEIZURE_CREATED
• PERSON_SEIZURE_DELETED
• PERSON_SEIZURE_FULFILLED
• PERSON_SEIZURE_UPDATED
• PERSON_MOBILE_NUMBER_CREATED
• PERSON_MOBILE_NUMBER_DELETED
• PERSON_TAX_IDENTIFICATION_CHANGED
• POSTBOX_ITEM_CREATED
• SCA_CHALLENGE

Mandatory features

You must integrate all the mandatory features for Digital Banking & Cards highlighted in the Onboarding requirements guide.

Step 1: Collect business data and create business resource

In this step, you must collect the mandatory data points from the customer in your sign-up flow, including all the timestamps of the business's consent to the legal and compliance screens.

Afterward, you pass all the data points to Solaris by creating a business resource to represent your customer.

API reference

For a complete list of endpoints, properties, and examples related to the business resource, visit the following links:

• Business resource API reference:

  • POST Create business
  • GET Retrieve business
  • PATCH Update business

Related webhook events

• BUSINESS_CHANGED
• BUSINESS_DELETED

POST Create business

This endpoint creates a business resource for your customer. You must collect the following mandatory data points from the customer in your sign-up flow and pass it to Solaris in the request body of this endpoint:

• name

• address

  • line_1
  • line_2
  • postal_code
  • city
  • country
• sector
• legal_form
• nace_code
• foundation_date
• crs_company_type or registration_type
• business_purpose

• tax_information

  • tax_country
  • tax_confirmation
  • registration_issuer: For Germany, it must be preceded by AMTSGERICHT (e.g., AMTSGERICHT Berlin).
  • registration_number
• registration_district
• terms_conditions_signed_at
• data_terms_signed_at
• fatca_relevant
• fatca_crs_confirmed_at

Request URL:

POST /v1/businesses

Click here to view the full API reference.

Automatic data collection (Optional)

Simplify your customers' onboarding process by opting for the automatic data collection feature. With our external service provider, Business Registry, customers can enter the country and company name, and the remaining business data fields will be automatically filled out.

GET Search for business commercial registration

The customer enters the company's name and country on your frontend and you pass this information using the following endpoint to automatically fetch the business' registration_issuer and registration_number:

Request URL:

GET /v1/commercial_registrations/search_by_name?country={{}}&name={{}}

Example response

{
  "name": "FLOOR 13 GmbH",
  "registration_number": "HRB 198673",
  "registration_issuer": "AMTSGERICHT MÜNCHEN"
}

Click here to view the full API reference.

GET Automatic business data collection

Use the following endpoint to automatically retrieve the remaining business details after obtaining the registration_issuer and registration_number from the response of the previous endpoint:

Request URL:

GET /v1/commercial_registrations/find?registration_number={{}}&registration_issuer={{}}

Example response

{
  "name": "FLOOR 13 GmbH",
  "address": {
    "country": "DE",
    "postal_code": "86919",
    "city": "Utting a.Ammersee",
    "line_1": "Seestraße 9",
    "line_2": ""
  },
  "legal_form": "GMBH",
  "tax_country": "DE",
  "registration_number": "HRB 198673",
  "registration_issuer": "AMTSGERICHT MÜNCHEN",
  "registration_date": "2012-05-09",
  "registry_updated_at": "2015-11-17",
  "legal_representatives": [
    {
      "first_name": "Stefan",
      "last_name": "Schneider"
    }
  ]
  "commercial_registry_industry_key": [
      "66190 - Sonstige mit Finanzdienstleistungen verbundene Tätigkeiten",
      "70109 - Sonstige Verwaltung und Führung von Unternehmen und Betrieben",
      "70220 - Unternehmensberatung",
      "73110 - Werbeagenturen"
  ]  
}

Click here to view the full API reference.

Foreign companies examples

If the company is not registered in Germany, you can still use this service for companies in other countries. The following examples describe how to find the business registration details for a French company.

GET Search for business commercial registration (France)

Request

GET v1/commercial_registrations/search_by_name?name=PARISOL&country=FR

Response

{
  "name": "PARISOL",
  "registration_number": "513 937359",
  "registration_issuer": null
}

GET Automatic business data collection (France)

Request

GET  /v1/commercial_registrations/find?registration_number=513937359&country=FR

Response

{
  "name": "PARISOL",
  "address": {
    "country": "FR",
    "postal_code": null,
    "city": "NANTERRE",
    "line_1": "RUE D ARRAS 18",
    "line_2": ""
  },
  "legal_form": null,
  "tax_country": "FR",
  "registration_number": "513 937359",
  "registration_issuer": null,
  "registration_date": "2009-07-27",
  "registry_updated_at": null,
  "legal_representatives": [
    {
      "first_name": "Stefan",
      "last_name": "Schneider"
    }
  ]
}

Step 2: Upload business documents

To identify the business, you need to create document resources and attach them to the business. These documents are mandatory and depend on various factors, such as the business's legal form and sector. For a list of the required documents per legal form, please refer to the appendix.

API reference

For a complete list of endpoints, properties, and examples related to the business document resource, visit the following links:

• Business Documents API Reference Documentation:

  • POST Create a business document
  • GET Retrieve a business document
  • GET Download business document
  • PATCH Update a business document
  • DELETE Delete a business document

POST Upload a document

This endpoint uploads a document and links it to the business with the business_id specified in the request URL.

You have to add the following properties to the request body:

• document_type: The document type. For a list of possible values, check the API reference.
• file: The file to be uploaded.

Request URL

POST /v1/businesses/{business_id}/documents

Click here to view the full API reference..

Once you have created a business resource, the next step is to create the associated natural person(s) and assign them to their respective roles. These individuals are represented in our system by a person resource that contains their data. Each person must then be assigned a dedicated role, with the mandatory roles being Legal Representative and Beneficial Owner.

Step 3: Create Legal Representative(s)

In this step, collect the mandatory data points from the business' legal representative(s) and create a person object for each representative. Then create a legal_representative resource and link it to the corresponding person object.

What is a legal representative?

Legal representatives can be natural persons (individuals) or legal entities (businesses) appointed by a company to act on its behalf. The legal representative(s) of a company may be, for instance, its general manager(s) or its managing director(s). The names of a business' legal representatives (Gesellschafter) are usually recorded in the company's commercial register.

Legal representatives as legal entities

A business' legal representative could be a legal entity instead of a natural person. For example, the legal representative of a GbR company could be another GmbH or AG company.

In this case, you must do the following:

• Collect the business data of the legal entity acting as the legal representative and create a business resource for it.
• The natural persons who are the legal representatives of this legal entity are then the ones who will go through the KYC flow.

3.1 Create person resource(s) for each legal representative

For each of the business' legal representatives, you must collect the following mandatory information and pass them to Solaris by creating a person resource.

API reference

For a complete list of endpoints, properties, and examples related to the person resource, visit the following links:

• Person resource API reference:

  • POST Create person
  • GET Retrieve a person
  • PATCH Update person

Related webhook events

• PERSON_CHANGED
• PERSON_DELETED

POST Create person (Legal representative)

Call this endpoint to create a person resource for the business' legal representative. You must collect the following mandatory data points in your sign-up flow and pass it to Solaris in the request body of this endpoint:

• salutation
• first_name
• last_name

• address

  • line_1
  • line_2
  • postal_code
  • city
  • state
  • country
• birth_date
• birth_city
• birth_country
• nationality
• mobile_number
• terms_and_conditions_signed_at
• data_terms_signed_at
• fatca_relevant
• fatca_crs_confirmed_at

Request URL:

POST /v1/persons

Click here to view the full API reference

3.2 Create legal representative resource(s)

For each person resource you created in the previous step, you must create a legal_representative resource, and set the value of the legal_representative attribute to its associated person_id.

API reference

For a complete list of endpoints, properties, and examples related to the legal_representative resource, visit the following links:

• Business Legal Representative resource API reference:

  • POST Create a business legal representative
  • GET Index a business legal representatives
  • PATCH Update a business legal representative

Related webhook events

• LEGAL_REPRESENTATIVE

POST Create legal representative

Call this method to create a legal_representative resource on the business and link a person to the business as a legal representative.

Attributes

• type_of_representation: A legal_representative could have a type_of_representation, which indicates whether this legal representative can make decisions alone or jointly with other legal representatives. This attribute is optional. Possible values are ALONE, JOINT, or OTHER.
• power_of_attorney_confirmed_at: In case of JOINT representation, legal representatives need to confirm the power of attorney's timestamp in the power_of_attorney_confirmed_at attribute.

Request URL:

POST /v1/businesses/{business_id}/legal_representatives

Click here to view the full API reference.

Step 4: Create Beneficial Owner(s)

In this step, you must do the following:

• Collect the mandatory data points from the business' beneficial owner(s) and create a person object for each beneficial owner.
• Create a beneficial_owner resource and assign it to its corresponding person object.
• Include the definition of the beneficial owner in your UI.

What is a Beneficial Owner?

The Beneficial Owners (BO) are natural persons who, directly or indirectly, own more than 25% of a company's shares.

According to the German Money Laundering Act (Geldwäschegesetz - GwG), a Beneficial Owner is a natural person who:

• Ultimately owns or controls the business.
• On whose behalf a transaction is ultimately carried out.
• On whose behalf a business relationship is ultimately established.

Beneficial owner legal definition

Please ensure that the beneficial owner's full definitions and the checkbox are available to your customers in your sign-up flow.

Full definition in English

The ultimate beneficial owner in the sense of the German Money Laundering Act (Geldwäschegesetz - GwG) is the natural person who ultimately owns or controls the contracting party, or on whose behalf a transaction is ultimately carried out or a business relationship is ultimately established. This particularly includes: 1. In case of legal persons, foundations without legal capacity and, in the case of other companies, any natural person who directly or indirectly holds more than a 25% share of the capital, controls more than 25% of the voting rights or exercises control in any comparable manner (+). Establishing the identity of the beneficial owner can be waived, though, for companies that are listed in an organised market in the EU with in accordance with Sec on 2 para. 5 of the Securities Trading Act or, in case of listed companies from a third country, if they are subject to EU-equivalent transparency requirements regarding voting rights or equivalent international standards; 2. In case of foundations or other legal arrangements with legal capacity (or similar) used to manage or distribute assets or property as trustee (trust management), or through which third parties are instructed with the management or distribution of assets or property, the ultimate beneficial owner is:

• any natural person who is a trustor/settlor, trustee or protector, if applicable
• any natural person who is a member of the board of the foundation,
• any natural person designated as a beneficiary,
• the group of natural persons in whose favour the assets are mainly to be administered or distributed, provided that the natural person who is to be the ultimate beneficial owner of the assets or property has not yet been determined
• any natural person who, by any other means, directly or indirectly exercises control over the asset management or property or the distribution of income.

3. In the event of acting on behalf of another party, the ultimate beneficial owner includes the party upon whose initiative the transaction is performed. If the contracting party acts as a trustee, he also acts on behalf of another party. (+) Indirect control exists particularly if corresponding shares are held by one or more associations pursuant to Sec on 20 para. 1 GwG which are controlled by a natural person. Control exists particularly if the natural person can directly or indirectly exert a controlling influence on the association pursuant to Sec on 20 para. 1 GwG. Sec on 290 para. 2 to 4 German Commercial Code (Handelsgesetzbuch - HGB) applies mutatis mutandis to the existence of a controlling influence. If, after extensive audits have been performed and without the facts according to Sec on 43 para. 1 GwG applying, no natural person has been identified or if there is any doubt that the identified person is the ultimate beneficial owner, the ultimate beneficial owner shall be the legal representative, managing partner or partner of the contracting party.

Full definition in German

Wirtschaftlich Berechtigter im Sinne des Geldwäschegesetzes, ist die natürliche Person, in deren Eigentum oder unter deren Kontrolle der Vertragspartner letztlich steht, oder auf deren Veranlassung eine Transaktion letztlich durchgeführt oder eine Geschäftsbeziehung letztlich begründet wird. Hierzu zählen insbesondere: 1. Bei juristischen Personen, außerrechtsfähigen Stiftungen und bei sonstigen Gesellschaften jede natürliche Person, welche unmittelbar oder mittelbar mehr als 25 Prozent der Kapitalanteile hält, mehr als 25 Prozent der Stimmrechte kontrolliert oder auf vergleichbare Weise Kontrolle ausübt(2). Auf die Abklärung des wirtschaftlich Berechtigten kann aber verzichtet werden bei Gesellschaften, die innerhalb der EU an einem organisierten Markt im Sinne des § 2 Abs. 5 des Wertpapierhandelsgesetzes notiert sind, oder bei börsennotierten Unternehmen aus einem Drittstaat, wenn sie dem Gemeinschaftsrecht entsprechenden Transparenzanforderungen im Hinblick auf Stimmrechtsanteile oder gleichwertigen internationalen Standards unterliegen; 2. Bei rechtsfähigen Stiftungen und Rechtsgestaltungen, mit denen treuhänderisch Vermögen verwaltet oder verteilt oder die Verwaltung oder Verteilung durch Dritte beauftragt wird, oder diesen vergleichbaren Rechtsformen zählt zu den wirtschaftlich Berechtigten:

• jede natürliche Person, die als Treugeber, Verwalter von Trusts (Trustee) oder Protektor, sofern vorhanden,
• jede natürliche Person, die Mitglied des Vorstands der Stiftung ist,
• jede natürliche Person, die als Begünstigte bestimmt worden ist,
• die Gruppe von natürlichen Personen, zu deren Gunsten das Vermögen hauptsächlich verwaltet oder verteilt werden soll, sofern die natürliche Person, die Begünstigte des verwalteten Vermögens werden soll, noch nicht bestimmt ist,
• jede natürliche Person, die auf sonstige Weise unmittelbar oder mittelbar beherrschenden Einfluss auf die Vermögensverwaltung oder Ertragsverteilung ausübt.

3. Bei Handeln auf Veranlassung zählt zu den wirtschaftlich Berechtigten derjenige, auf dessen Veranlassung die Transaktion durchgeführt wird. Soweit der Vertragspartner als Treuhänder handelt, handelt er ebenfalls auf Veranlassung.

4.1 Create person resource(s) for each beneficial owner

For each of the business' beneficial owners, you must collect the following mandatory information and pass them to Solaris by creating a person resource.

POST Create person (Beneficial owner)

Call this endpoint to create a person resource for the business' beneficial owner. You must collect the following mandatory data points in your sign-up flow and pass it to Solaris in the request body of this endpoint:

• salutation
• first_name
• last_name

• address

  • line_1
  • line_2
  • postal_code
  • city
  • state
  • country
• birth_date
• nationality
• fatca_relevant
• fatca_crs_confirmed_at

Request URL:

POST /v1/persons

Click here to view the full API reference

4.2 Create beneficial owner resource(s)

For each person resource you created in the previous step, you must create a beneficial_owner resource, and set the value of the person_id attribute to the id of the associated person resource.

API reference

For a complete list of endpoints, properties, and examples related to the beneficial_owner resource, visit the following links:

• Business Beneficial Owner resource API reference:

  • POST Create a business beneficial owner
  • GET Retrieve a business beneficial owner
  • PATCH Update a business beneficial owner

Related webhook events

• BENEFICIAL_OWNER

POST Create beneficial owner

Call this method to create a beneficial_owner resource on the business and link a person to the business as a beneficial owner. You must add the following properties in the request body of this endpoint:

• person_id: The ID of the person resource you created for the beneficial owner.
• voting_share: The beneficial owner's voting share in the business.

Request URL:

POST /v1/businesses/{business_id}/beneficial_owners

Click here to view the full API reference.

Step 5: Create tax identifications

In this step, you must collect the relevant tax information from the business by completing the following steps:

• Collect the tax information of the business' legal entity and create a business tax identification resource.
• Collect the tax information of the natural person(s) associated with the business and create person tax identification resource(s).

5.1 Business tax identification

First, you must collect the tax information about the business' legal entity and pass it to Solaris by creating a business tax identification resource.

API reference

For a complete list of endpoints, properties, and examples related to the business tax identification resource, visit the following links:

• Business tax identifications API reference:

  • POST Create business tax identification
  • GET Retrieve business tax identification
  • PATCH Update business tax identification

Related webhook events

• BUSINESS_TAX_IDENTIFICATION_CHANGED

POST Create business tax identification

Call this endpoint to create a business tax identification for the business with the business_id specified in the request URL. Collect the following tax information from the business and pass them to Solaris in the request body:

• number
• country
• primary

If the business has not submitted their TIN to your solution yet (i.e., the value of number is null), then include the following properties in the request:

• reason_no_tin: Possible values are NOT_ASSIGNED_YET, NOT_ASSIGNED_BY_COUNTRY, OTHER.
• reason_description: Applies only if the reason_no_tin is OTHER.
• tax_id_type: (Only for Spain) Possible values are NIE and NIF.

Request URL

POST /v1/businesses/{business_id}/tax_identifications

Click here to view the full API reference.

Business tax declaration

Please note the UI requirements and tax declaration text for collecting the tax information from business customers as explained in the Legal and compliance screens guide.

5.2 Person tax identification(s)

In this step, you must collect additional tax information from the natural person(s) linked to the business and create a person tax identification for each.

API reference

For a complete list of endpoints, properties, and examples related to the person tax identification resource, visit the following links:

• Person tax identifications API reference:

  • POST Create person tax identification
  • GET Retrieve person tax identification
  • PATCH Update person tax identification

Related webhook events

• PERSON_TAX_IDENTIFICATION_CHANGED

POST Create person tax identification

Call this endpoint to create a person tax identification for the customer with the person_id specified in the request URL. Collect the following tax information from your customers and pass them to Solaris in the request body:

• number
• country
• primary

If the customer has not submitted their TIN to your solution yet (i.e., the value of number is null), then include the following properties in the request:

• reason_no_tin: Possible values are NOT_ASSIGNED_YET, NOT_ASSIGNED_BY_COUNTRY, OTHER.
• reason_description: Applies only if the reason_no_tin is OTHER.
• tax_id_type: (Only for Spain) Possible values are NIE and NIF.

Request example:

POST /v1/persons/{person_id}/tax_identifications

Click here to view the full API reference.

Tax ID testing data

You can use the following test values for the TIN to test these endpoints on Sandbox:

Compliance disclaimer screen

Before beginning the identification process, your solution must display Solaris' compliance disclaimer and collect the customer's agreement.

Please note the UI requirements and legal text mentioned in the Legal and compliance screens guide

Step 6: Complete the business identification (BKYC) and due diligence process

In this step, you must do the following:

• 6.1. Trigger the business identification process to identify the business legal entity and all legal representative(s), and make sure all legal representative(s) are successfully identified via IDnow.
• 6.2. Implement the manual video identification endpoints.
• 6.3. Implement the endpoints related to compliance questions, forward any questions (if any) to the business' legal representatives, and send the answers back to Solaris
• 6.4. Make sure all natural persons linked to the business successfully passed the customer due diligence checks.
• 6.5. Complete the FATCA-related checks to ensure that all natural persons linked to the business are NOT FATCA-relevant.

6.1 Business identification

What is BKYC?

Solaris' BKYC solution uses RESTful APIs to perform a series of identification and compliance checks for business customers.

How does BKYC work?

The business identification consists of two asynchronous processes:

• Legal identification: Solaris' Banking Operations team verifies the completeness and accuracy of the data submitted by the business customer and ensures that all legal representatives and ultimate beneficial owners are disclosed and linked to the business.
• Video identification(s): All of the business' legal representatives and authorized persons must undergo a video identification session with IDnow to validate their data against their identification documents.

API reference

For a complete list of endpoints, properties, and examples related to business identification (BKYC), visit the following links:

• Business identification API reference:

  • POST Create business identification
  • GET Retrieve business identification

Related webhook events

• BUSINESS_IDENTIFICATION
• IDENTIFICATION

POST Initiate business identification

Call this endpoint to initiate the business identification process, which automatically triggers both the legal identification of the business and the video identification of applicable natural person(s). You have to specify the identification method in the request body. The default method is idnow.

Request URL

POST /v1/businesses/{business_id}/identifications

Response

The API response returns an identification object with a unique id representing the business identification resource and its overall status. Additionally, the payload contains individual identification objects for the video identification sessions of legal representatives, including their respective resource id, IDnow status, reference, and url for completing the process.

The payload also provides information on the legal identification process, including its dedicated legal_identification_status. You must call the API to monitor the progress of this process, particularly the legal_identification_missing_information field, where Solaris will highlight compliance questions requiring answers from the business.

Click here to view the full API reference.

6.2 Manual video identification

Your solution might need to trigger video identification manually in the following cases:

1. New legal representatives are found during the legal identification process. In this case, you'll receive a webhook notification from the event legal_representative, which includes the legal_representative_id of the discovered legal representative. Afterward, initiate a video identification with IDnow and trigger the identification session by redirecting the legal representative to the provided URL.
2. If any of the initially triggered video identifications fail, manually trigger a new identification.

API reference

For a complete list of endpoints, properties, and examples related to customer identification (KYC), visit the following link:

• Customer identification (KYC) API reference

Related webhook events

• IDENTIFICATION

POST Create identification

Call this endpoint to create an identification resource for the person specified in the request URL, and add the following properties to the request body:

• method: The identification method to use. In this case, set the value to idnow.
• language: The customer's preferred language for the identification process. Possible values are EN and DE.
• proof_of_address_type: The type of document submitted by the customer as a proof of address. This field is mandatory if the customer's identification document does not include their address.
• proof_of_address_issued_at: The date when the proof of address document was issued. This field is mandatory if the customer's identification document does not include their address. It may not be older than 6 months.

Request example

POST /v1/persons/{person_id}/identifications
{
  "method": "idnow",
  "language": "DE",
  "proof_of_address_type": "GAS_BILL",
  "proof_of_address_issued_at": "2022-09-21"
}

Response example

The API call will return an identification object with a unique id (i.e., identification_id) and an initial status of created.

{
    "id": "6dc54352d6793a892e0702850d07b831cidt",
    "reference": null,
    "url": null,
    "status": "created",
    "completed_at": null,
    "method": "idnow",
    "proof_of_address_type": "GAS_BILL",
    "proof_of_address_issued_at": "2022-09-21",
    "language": "DE",
    "iban": null,
    "terms_and_conditions_signed_at": null,
    "authorization_expires_at": null,
    "confirmation_expires_at": null
}

Click here to view the full API reference.

GET List supported documents for a person identification

The purpose of this endpoint is to provide you with a list of supported identification documents per issuing country. You can use this endpoint to inform your customers of the required documents before starting the identification process.

The API call returns an array of document types with the corresponding issuing countries listed as ISO country codes (ISO-3166-1 alpha 2). If a customer provides a document type that is not supported, their identification process will fail.

Request URL

GET /v1/persons/{person_id}/identifications/{id}/supported_documents

Click here to view the full API reference

PATCH Request person identification

Call this endpoint to trigger the identification flow with IDnow for the specific customer.

Request URL

PATCH /v1/persons/{person_id}/identifications/{id}/request

Response example

The API call returns the identification object with the status pending. The status will remain pending until the customer completes the identification. Additionally, the payload includes the following key properties:

• url The URL to which you must redirect the customer to complete the identification. Valid for 14 days.
• reference: An internal IDnow identification token for the session (format: ABCDEFGH). Do not share this with the customer under any circumstances.

{
    "id": "6dc54352d6793a892e0702850d07b831cidt",
    "reference": "TST-KCCEY",
    "url": "https://go.test.idnow.de/solarisbankvideoidentsandbox/identifications/6dc54352d6793a892e0702850d07b831cidt",
    "status": "pending",
    "completed_at": null,
    "method": "idnow",
    "proof_of_address_type": "GAS_BILL",
    "proof_of_address_issued_at": "2022-09-21",
    "language": "DE",
    "iban": null,
    "terms_and_conditions_signed_at": null,
    "authorization_expires_at": null,
    "confirmation_expires_at": null,
    "estimated_waiting_time": 60
}

Click here to view the full API reference.

IDnow video identification session

Your customer will now be redirected to an IDnow-branded landing page, where they consent to IDnow's Terms & Conditions and confirm that they have a valid ID document for the video identification. They must also provide a valid mobile number, which the IDnow agent will verify during the call using an SMS OTP.

Customers may choose to conduct the call with a German- or English-speaking IDnow agent. When the video identification call begins, the agent will greet the customer on behalf of either you or Solaris (depending on your agreement with Solaris). The agent will then verify the customer's mobile number, first name, and last name. If there are any missing data properties, the agent will provide these as well, and they will be added to the customer's person resource.

GET Retrieve person identification

Once the identification completes successfully, call this endpoint to retrieve the finalized person identification. If you use the include_documents filter, the API will also return the documents submitted by the customer during the process. To download any of these documents, use the document's unique id to call the document download endpoints.

Request URL

GET /v1/persons/{person_id}/identifications/{id}

Click here to view the full API reference.

Other identification endpoints

• GET Index identifications for a person
• POST Upload documents for a person identification
• GET List the IDnow attempts of a person identification
• GET List IDnow legitimation data.

6.3 Compliance questions

During the legal identification process, Solaris' legal and compliance team may require additional information from your customers. To facilitate this, you need to implement these endpoints to be able to:

• Retrieve compliance questions from Solaris.
• Forward the questions to your customers and collect their answers.
• Submit the answers to Solaris.
• Mark the identification as ready for review to resume the legal identification process.

If Solaris needs further clarification during the business identification, you will receive a notification on the BUSINESS_IDENTIFICATION webhook. To retrieve the details, call the GET Retrieve a business identification.

If Solaris has compliance questions for the business, the payload will include the following fields:

{
  "legal_identification_status": "information_required",
  "legal_identification_status_missing_information": "COMPLIANCE_QUESTIONS"
}

You must redirect these questions to your business customer and provide them with a way to answer them in your frontend.

GET Retrieve compliance questions

To get the compliance questions, call the following endpoint:

Request URL

GET /v1/businesses/{business_id}/identifications/{business_identification_id}/legal_identification/questions

Response example

The API call returns an object that includes the question(s) with a unique ID and the corresponding text. You must redirect these questions to your customers and retrieve their answers as part of your workflow. You should also provide a dedicated page for answering all questions separately.

{
  "question_id": "ebb463137becc09788dfe21fc066e670qstn",
  "question_text": "Please provide the license for security / guarding services (Bewachungsgewerbe): § 34a GewO",
  "legal_identification_id": "14eb210435e09ab7f6a06c8b9b86ce27lid",
  "business_identification_id": "4c74c804eaea5d2a2d64ef400a27a4d3bid",
  "business_id": "880bbac68a34add190786b9c74f4c82fcbiz",
  "answer_id": null,
  "answer_text": "string",
  "asked_at": "2021-07-16T13:38:06.000Z",
  "answered_at": null
}

Click here to view the full API reference.

Create answers for compliance questions

After receiving the compliance question answers from the customer, call the following endpoint to share them with Solaris. Note that you must make a separate API call for each answer.

Request URL

You have to provide the question's answer in the request body of this endpoint.

POST /v1/businesses/{business_id}/identifications/{business_identification_id}/legal_identification/questions/{question_id}/answers

Click here to view the full API reference.

PATCH Update business legal identification

Call this method to update the legal identification and mark it as ready to resume the identification process after adding all answers to the compliance questions. This endpoint changes the legal_identification_status from information_required to pending when called.

Request URL

PATCH /v1/businesses/{business_id}/identifications/{id}/legal_identification/mark_as_ready

Click here to view the full API reference.

6.4 Customer due diligence

Solaris conducts risk screening and customer vetting checks, known as the Customer Due Diligence process, on the business legal entity, all legal representatives, all beneficial owners, and any other authorized persons on the business account. Results for each entity are returned in the GET person or GET business resources.

All entities must have a green status in their risk screening fields for the business to be onboarded. For more information, check the Customer Due Diligence guide.

6.5 Screening for FATCA indicia

To comply with the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), Solaris is required to perform checks to determine whether the customer is subject to US tax law. These checks are in addition to the self-declaration during the Legal and Compliance screen.

To perform the FATCA checks, parse the person and identification resources using the following endpoints:

• GET Retrieve person
• GET Retrieve person identification

Hard criteria

To determine the customer's FATCA relevance, you must screen for the following hard criteria:

• Has the customer provided a US passport as their identification document? Check the legitimation_country attribute on the identification resource.
• Is the customer a citizen of the US? Check the nationality attribute.
• Has the customer provided a residential address in the US, the US Minor Outlying Islands, or the US Virgin Islands? Check the country attribute.
• Was the customer born in the US, the US Minor Outlying Islands, or the US Virgin Islands? Check the birth_country attribute.

When to reject the customer

If any of these hard criteria attributes have the value of US or USA, you must deny banking services to the customer and stop the onboarding process. Failure to screen for these hard FATCA criteria may cause ongoing operational burdens for Solaris customer support.

Soft criteria

To further determine the customer's FATCA relevance, screen for the following soft criteria:

• Has the customer provided a US mobile number? Check the mobile_number attribute. US mobile numbers have a country code of +1.
• Is the customer's only address a PO box or a c/o address? Check the address_line_1 and address_line_2 attributes.

When to reject the customer

• If the answer is "Yes" to any of the soft criteria, ask the customer to clarify their phone number and/or address.

  • If the customer provides a non-US phone number and a physical address, you may onboard them.
• If the customer does not provide a non-US phone number and a physical address, you may not onboard them.

Failure to screen for soft FATCA criteria may cause ongoing operational burdens for Solaris customer support.

Identification statuses

There are three statuses related to the business identification process:

1. Solarisident status: This status includes legal identification and video identification. The status is set to created when a business identification is created. A successful legal and video identification sets the status to successful. See the appendix for more information on status values.
2. Legal identification status: This status is represented by the legal_identification_status property, which is automatically set to created when a business identification is created. See the appendix for more information on status values.
3. Video identification process: For each natural person undergoing video identification, a unique video-identification object is returned in the API response, including status, which is IDnow status, initially set to pending as long as the corresponding legal representative has not video-identified with idnow. See the appendix for more information on status values.

Validty of identification documents (Only Spain & Italy)

To comply with regulatory requirements, Solaris must keep copies of valid identification documents for active customers in its Italy and Spain branches. This requirement applies to the following customer segments:

• Retail customers
• Freelancers & Sole proprietors
• Businesses' legal representatives
• Authorized persons on a business or a retail account

How will you be notified of the expiry of ID documents?

In Italy and Spain, Solaris stores the expiry date of a customer's identification document and calculates a follow-up date to notify you before it expires. You'll receive a webhook notification on the event POTENTIAL_ACCOUNT_BLOCKING 30 days before the expiry date, and then every 30 days until 90 days after the expiry.

The webhook payload includes the blocking_date, which is the date by which the account will be blocked if the customer has not identified again with a valid ID document, and the reason for the account blocking is set to IDENTIFICATION_DOCUMENT_EXPIRED.

What should you do?

After receiving a notification on the POTENTIAL_ACCOUNT_BLOCKING webhook event, you should take the following steps:

1. Create a new identification resource for the customer and specify the identification method using the POST Create an identification.
2. Request the identification for the customer by calling PATCH Request an identification.
3. Notify the customer that they must complete the KYC flow with their new valid ID document.
4. After successful KYC, Solaris will store the expiry date of the new ID document and calculates a new follow-up date.

If the customer did not identify with a valid ID document within 90 days after the expiry date, the customer's account will be blocked with the reason IDENTIFICATION_DOCUMENT_EXPIRED. If a new ID document is submitted, the account will be unblocked.

Which KYC method to use?

For the re-identification due to expired ID documents, you can choose between the following methods:

• Fourthline
• IDnow AutoIdent

You can proceed to the next steps only when:

• The identification status is successful.
• All screening and risk checks in the CDD process have a green status.
• The FATCA screening confirms that the customer is not liable for taxes in the US.

Step 7: Create business account

Present the customer with a button to open their account, using the following formulations for the button text:

English

Order / Open account (subject to a charge)

German

Bestellen / Konto eröffnen (zahlungspflichtig)

If you wish to use a different text, please consult with your Onboarding Project Manager.

Account opening process

Check the following links for information on opening an account for your customer:

• Account opening guide.
• Account opening API reference.

Account management

Check the following links for information on managing your customers' accounts:

• Account management guide.
• Account management API reference.

Step 8: Create authorized person(s)

An authorized person is a natural person who can act on the account and receive authorization challenges on their verified mobile number. Legal representatives are by default authorized to act on the business's account. However, they must be explicitly set as authorized_person on our system. Other persons can also be authorized by a legal representative, provided their type_of_representation is set to ALONE or null.

API reference

For a complete list of endpoints, properties, and examples related to the business authorized person resource, visit the following link:

• Business Authorized Persons API reference

POST Create authorized person

Request example:

You must add the person_id of the the legal representative(s) who will act as an authorized person on the account in the request body.

// POST /v1/businesses/{business_id}/accounts/{account_id}/authorized_persons
{
  "authorized_person_id": "3b8cfd40fb4dce5a231251ea06a014cper"
}

Example response:

{
  "id": "568b5241afd0ce435c56ea0efef2bd0dcpea",
  "authorized_person_id": "3b8cfd40fb4dce5a231251ea06a014cper"
}

Click here to view the full API reference.

Step 9: Create and activate card

Now that you have fully onboarded your customer, you can create a card for them. Check the Cards Creation and Servicing guide for instructions on how to issue and service cards.

Step 10: Create other optional roles

In this step, you can create other optional roles based on your specific use cases. The optional roles are:

• Additional authorized_person: You can add other persons who are not legal representatives as authorized persons on the business account.
• Signee: A signee is a natural person who is not a legal representative or an authorized person, but is granted certain rights on the business account.

Create additional authorized person(s)

In this step, you can add other persons, who are not legal representatives as authorized_person on the business account. Please note that this action triggers the Change request process and the legal representative must authorize this action via 2FA.

Request URL:

POST /v1/businesses/{business_id}/accounts/{account_id}/authorized_persons

Response example:

The API call returns an object with a unique ID, and the URL needed to authorize the action.

{
  "id": "d6c778822b2d7bd3b778935bcfd0d1d3csc",
  "status": "AUTHORIZATION_REQUIRED",
  "updated_at": "2017-07-15T14:04:35.000Z",
  "url": ":env/v1/change_requests/:id/authorize"
}

Click here to view the full API reference.

POST Authorize adding an additional authorized person

In this step, you have to call the URL provided in the response of the previous API call and specify the person_id of the legal representative who will authorize the request, along with the verified mobile_number to which the one-time-password (OTP) will be sent.

Request URL:

// POST /v1/change_requests/{change_request_id}/authorize
{
  "person_id":"5af2ea4271038d5c53e68ccbf4fe43b3cper",
  "delivery_method": "mobile_number"
}

The API call sends a 6-digit OTP to the verified mobile number of the legal representative.

POST Confirm adding an additional authorized person

This endpoint confirms the authorization request done in the previous API call. After the legal representative enters the received OTP, call this endpoint to confirm the operation.

Request URL:

// POST /v1/change_requests/{change_request_id}/confirm
{
  "person_id":"5af2ea4271038d5c53e68ccbf4fe43b3cper",
  "tan": "123456"
}

Create signee

Signees are persons who are not legal representatives or authorized persons, but have the power to:

• sign certain documents, or
• have access to certain information, or
• execute certain actions

This is an optional role that can be added after a successful business identification.

POST Create signee

This endpoint assigns the signee role to the person related to the givenbusiness.

Request URL:

POST /v1/businesses/{business_id}/signees

Click here to view the full API reference.

What's next?

Congratulations! You've successfully completed the business onboarding process for Digital Banking and Cards.

Check the following appendices section for additional information on enums and testing data.

Appendix I: Enums

Annual income range

To set the value of annual_income_range, you may offer the customer a drop-down list with the following numeric values for each range:

CRS company type

The field crs_company_type is required to collect the mandatory tax information and create the business tax_identification resource. The following table includes the possible values for this field and their descriptions:

Document types

The following table includes the possible values for the field document_type and their descriptions.

NACE code

The Statistical Classification of Economic Activities in the European Community, commonly known as NACE, is the industry standard classification system used in the European Union.

NACE uses four hierarchical levels:

• Level 1: 21 sections identified by alphabetical letters A to U;
• Level 2: 88 divisions identified by two-digit numerical codes (01 to 99);
• Level 3: 272 groups identified by three-digit numerical codes (01.1 to 99.0);
• Level 4: 629 classes identified by four-digit numerical codes (01.11 to 99.00).

The first four digits of the code, which is the first four levels of the classification system, are the same in all European countries. National implementations may introduce additional levels. The fifth digit might vary from country to country and further digits are sometimes placed by suppliers of databases.

For example, if the NACE code A 01.11 (Growing of cereals (except rice), leguminous crops and oil seeds) would apply to the person/business, supply the value like such:

nace_code = "A 01.11"

Please visit this site for the list of values of NACE codes values you need to implement in your solution. The list is available in multiple languages.

NACE codes are mandatory for B2B and freelancer customers in Germany, Italy, and Spain. For France, NACE codes are excluded due to the usage of different coding system CODE NAF.

Tax country

The following tables includes the possible values for the field tax_country:

Sector

The following are the possible values for the field sector.

• ECONOMICALLY_SELF_EMPLOYED
• ECONOMIC_DEPENDENT
• FOREIGN_COMPANIES
• FOREIGN_ECONOMIC_DEPENDENT
• FOREIGN_PRIVATE_INDIVIDUAL
• FOREIGN_SELF_EMPLOYED_PRIVATE_PERSON
• GERMAN_BANKS
• MUNICIPALITY_AND_MUNICIPALITY_ASSOCIATION
• OTHER_COMPANIES_WORKMAN
• OTHER_COMPANIES
• OTHER_PRIVATE_INDIVIDUAL

Legal form

The selected value for the field tax_country influences the accepted values for the field legal_form. The following are the possible values for the field legal_form per each tax_country.

Austria (AT)

• AT_SE
• AT_OHG
• AT_KG
• AT_AG
• AT_GESMBH
• AT_EG
• AT_GBR
• AT_EV
• AT_SOLE_PROPRIETORSHIP
• AT_SELF_EMPLOYED
• AT_AMT
• AT_KOR
• AT_STIFTUNGEN
• AT_GMBH
• AT_GMBH_CO_KG

Belgium (BE)

• BE_SNC
• BE_SCS
• BE_SA
• BE_SPRL
• BE_SE
• BE_SCA
• BE_SC
• BE_SCRI
• BE_SEP
• BE_SF
• BE_SPRLU
• BE_SOLE_PROPRIETORSHIP
• BE_SELF_EMPLOYED

Bulgaria (BG)

• BG_AD
• BG_OOD
• BG_KDA
• BG_KD
• BG_SD
• BG_SELF_EMPLOYED
• BG_SOLE_PROPRIETORSHIP

Croatia (HR)

• HR_DD
• HR_DOO
• HR_JDOO
• HR_KD
• HR_JTD
• HR_SELF_EMPLOYED
• HR_SOLE_PROPRIETORSHIP
• HR_ORTA

Czech Republic (CZ)

• CZ_AS
• CZ_SRO
• CZ_KS
• CZ_VOS
• CZ_DRUZSTVO
• CZ_FYZICKA_OSOBA
• CZ_SOLE_PROPRIETORSHIP
• CZ_SELF_EMPLOYED

France (FR)

• FR_AE
• FR_EI
• FR_SNC
• FR_SCS
• FR_SA
• FR_SAS
• FR_SARL
• FR_SE
• FR_SCA
• FR_EURL
• FR_SC
• FR_SCOP
• FR_SELARL
• FR_SOLE_PROPRIETORSHIP
• FR_SELF_EMPLOYED

Germany & others

Solaris accepts the following legal forms for companies in Germany and other countries that are not specified in our system:

• AG
• EG
• EK
• EV
• NEV
• GBR
• GMBH
• GMBH_CO_KG
• GMBH_I_GR
• KG
• KGAA
• LTD
• MUNICIPALITY
• MUNICIPAL_COMPANY
• NONE
• OHG
• PARTG
• PRIVATE_PERSON
• SAVINGS_BANK
• SE
• SELF_EMPLOYED
• SOLE_PROPRIETORSHIP
• UG
• UG_I_GR
• FOREIGN_CORPORATION
• ADOR
• AMT
• KDOR
• STIFTUNGEN
• SECOKG
• AGCOKG

Hungary (HU)

• HU_NYRT
• HU_KFT
• HU_BT
• HU_KKT
• HU_SOLE_PROPRIETORSHIP
• HU_SELF_EMPLOYED
• HU_ORTA

Italy (IT)

• IT_SE
• IT_SNC
• IT_SAS
• IT_SPA
• IT_SRL
• IT_SAPA
• IT_SCPA
• IT_SCARL
• IT_SCOP
• IT_SS
• IT_SOLE_PROPRIETORSHIP
• IT_SELF_EMPLOYED

Luxembourg (LU)

• LU_SNC
• LU_SCS
• LU_SA
• LU_SARL
• LU_SE
• LU_SCA
• LU_SCSP
• LU_SARLS
• LU_SC
• LU_SCOP
• LU_SOLE_PROPRIETORSHIP
• LU_SELF_EMPLOYED
• LU_SECA
• LU_ASBL
• LU_FON
• LU_SP

Poland (PL)

• PL_SA
• PL_SPZOO
• PL_SE
• PL_SKA
• PL_SPK
• PL_SPJ
• PL_SELF_EMPLOYED
• PL_OTHER

Portugal (PT)

• PT_SNC
• PT_SC
• PT_SA
• PT_LDA
• PT_SE
• PT_SUNI
• PT_EIRL
• PT_SCIV
• PT_COP
• PT_SOLE_PROPRIETORSHIP
• PT_SELF_EMPLOYED

Romania (RO)

• RO_SA
• RO_SRL
• RO_SCA
• RO_SCS
• RO_SNC
• RO_SELF_EMPLOYED
• RO_SOLE_PROPRIETORSHIP

Serbia (RS)

• RS_AD
• RS_DOO
• RS_KD
• RS_OD
• RS_SELF_EMPLOYED
• RS_SOLE_PROPRIETORSHIP

Slovenia (SI)

• SI_DD
• SI_DOO
• SI_KDD
• SI_KD
• SI_DNO
• SI_SELF_EMPLOYED
• SI_SOLE_PROPRIETORSHIP

Spain (ES)

• ES_SRC
• ES_SC
• ES_SA
• ES_SAS
• ES_SRL
• ES_SE
• ES_SCA
• ES_SLNE
• ES_SAU
• ES_SLU
• ES_SPRO
• ES_SCOP
• ES_SOLE_PROPRIETORSHIP
• ES_SELF_EMPLOYED

Switzerland (CH)

• CH_DE_AG
• CH_FR_SA
• CH_IT_SA
• CH_DE_GMBH
• CH_FR_SARL
• CH_IT_SAGL
• CH_SE
• CH_DE_KOMAG
• CH_FR_SCA
• CH_IT_SACA
• CH_DE_KG
• CH_FR_SCM
• CH_IT_SAC
• CH_DE_KIG
• CH_FR_SNC
• CH_IT_SNC
• CH_DE_EG
• CH_FR_SS
• CH_IT_SS
• CH_SELF_EMPLOYED
• CH_SOLE_PROPRIETORSHIP
• CH_DE_KMG

The Netherlands (NL)

• NL_VOF
• NL_CV
• NL_NV
• NL_BV
• NL_SE
• NL_CVOA
• NL_COPV
• NL_MTS
• NL_SOLE_PROPRIETORSHIP
• NL_SELF_EMPLOYED
• NL_VERENIGING
• NL_STICHT

Turkey (TR)

• TR_ADI_SIR
• TR_AS
• TR_LS
• TR_KOM_STI
• TR_KOLL_STI
• TR_SELF_EMPLOYED
• TR_SOLE_PROPRIETORSHIP

United Kingdom

• GB_SE
• GB_PARTNERSHIP
• GB_LP
• GB_PLC
• GB_LTD
• GB_COPS
• GB_UAS
• GB_PRCU
• GB_PUCU
• GB_SOLE_PROPRIETORSHIP
• GB_SELF_EMPLOYED

Sector, tax country, and legal form mapping

Please note that there are certain dependencies between the fields tax_country, sector, and legal_form. For example, based on the value selected for the field tax_country, certain values will be accepted for the field sector, and based on the value selected for the field sector, certain values will be accepted for the field legal_form.

The following sections give an overview of the mapping between these fields.

Tax country and sector mapping

The selected value for the field tax_country influences the accepted values for the field sector. The following table gives an overview about the mapping of values between the field tax_country and sector.

Sector and legal form mapping

The selected value for the field sector influences the accepted values for the field legal_form. The following table gives an overview about the mapping of values between the field sector and legal_form.

Idnow status

The following table includes the possible values for the field status for the video identification process carried out by IDnow and the related description of each status.

IDnow provides a reason whenever the identification has a canceled or aborted status. No reason can be disclosed for the final failed status.

Legal identification status

The following table includes the possible values for the field legal_identification_status for the legal identification process of the business legal entity carried out by Solaris and the related description of each status.

Solarisident status

The following table includes the possible values for the field status, which refers to the overall status of the business identification process (BKYC), including the legal identification of the business legal entity carried out by Solaris and the video identification of the business's natural persons.

Appendix II: BKYC required documents

The following table includes the required documents for identification for each legal form:

Appendix III: Testing samples for GET Search for business commercial registration

The following table includes testing samples for the GET Search for business commercial registration endpoint, including values for the fields country, registration_number, registration_issuer, and name.

Appendix IV: FAQs

Legal Representative FAQs

The company I am about to register is a „Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung“ (GmbH) – who is my legal representative?

The easiest and surest way to figure that out is to check your current register excerpt (Handelsregisterauszug). In there you'll find all the official legal representatives which you would need to tell us. As a further indication, these people also need to be listed in the Imprint of your website (Impressum).

The Legal Representative has sole representations rights – do I need to add the other legal representatives as well?

Yes. Even though this legal representative could conclude the process on behalf of the company alone in the following steps, Solaris would need the complete set of information for regulatory purposes. Therefore, please enter the information about all legal representatives associated with the business.

One of our legal representatives is currently unavailable – do we need to reach them to complete the process?

Yes. All legal representative(s) must be identified in a video identification session to complete the business identification process(BKYC).

Our legal representatives are about to change soon – shall I include the new ones already?

No; please submit the information as it is currently written in the official register. If you already know that these individuals will change, then please inform your Onboarding manager accordingly, and they will help sort things out.

Why do I have to submit all legal representatives here?

As a bank, Solaris is obliged to keep a record about the companies it works with and check whether the provided information is correct. Solaris makes every effort to keep the flow as smooth as possible. Nevertheless, the law stipulates that Solaris must collect this information for all legal representatives.

Beneficial Owner FAQs

What is a “Beneficial Owner”?

A so-called “Beneficial Owner” is a natural person (a human) who owns directly or indirectly more than 25% of the voting shares of a legal entity today. Ultimately it is the person who benefits from the entered agreement and has the eventual decision power. It can never be another company, as Solaris would need to look up the owner of that company. There is a more detailed (legally-worded) definition here as well. It may significantly help cases with beneficial owners incorporated as trusts or other non-commercial entity types.

The company has no beneficial owners – how should I proceed?

It might be the case after a thorough investigation that nobody has directly or indirectly enough voting shares of the business. In that case, Solaris is required to take the legal representatives instead. Please enter their information accordingly.

I don't know the ownership structure of the company – how shall I proceed?

Ultimately, the ownership structure of a company is determined in the shareholder agreement (Gesellschaftervertrag), which has been signed at least when founding the entity. In the meantime, this may have changed but would need to be noted in an amendment or update of this contract.

Another company owns the company – what shall I do now?

Please submit the information of the natural person (human) owning your shareholders. If this is also another company (holding- or corporate-structure), you would need to follow the trail of indirect ownership until you either find an individual or the ownership is diluted under 25% ownership (through indirect ownership).

What do you mean by direct or indirectly & how do I calculate that?

Direct ownership refers to a natural person (individual) owning him-/herself voting shares in the business. Indirect ownership refers to somebody owning one entity that then owns a specific part of the business. It also qualifies if the entities are stacked into each other (several companies in between). Also, if one individual holds voting shares via different entities in the business, you would need to add up his/ her total indirect ownership to see whether the total engagement reaches more than 25%. When the shareholding structure is stacked over several hierarchies, you multiply the ownership-quotas of each entity to get the ultimate quota for the respective person.

Example:

Adello GmbH needs to provide its beneficial owners. Adello's shareholders are Peter 30% of shares, Susi 10% of shares, Anne 10% of shares, and Toscana GmbH 50% of shares. Toscana's shareholders: Hugo 75% of shares and Marie 25% of shares Direct beneficial owners of Adello: Peter Indirect beneficial owners of Adello: Hugo with 37,5% of shares (Toscana's share in Adello 50% x Hugo's ownership quota in Toscana 75%). Please note that Marie is not a beneficial owner as she has indirectly only 12,5% in Adello.

We have different kinds of shares – which shares are the decisive ones?

Please refer to the shares with decisive voting power as the beneficial owner is ultimately the person deciding the significant strokes of the company.

Does the UBO need to do something, for instance, sign something or perform a video identification?

No, please only submit the information of that person as stated in his/her official documents (ID card or passport). There is no further double-checking of that information. Therefore, the beneficial owner does not need to do anything during this identification process.