To use Wise for your business in Australia, you’ll need to register a business account. We’ll also need to verify your personal details and identity. See here for more information on verifying your identity.
What do I need to verify my company?
Required info (all company types)
Legal name of the entity
Business registration number
Registered office address and primary place of business (as your trading address)
Information on beneficial owners, such as shareholders who own 25% or more of the business, including full name, address, date of birth and exact percentage of shares they own*
List of directors, including full name, country of residence, and date of birth (if applicable to your company type)
Your business website if you have one and a short description of what your business does
*If any beneficial owner who owns 25% or more of the business is another business, then we also need the earlier mentioned information about the owners of that business: full name, date of birth, address.
Sole Trader
ABN
Private Company
ABN, ACN
Photo IDs of all beneficial owners who own 25% or more of the business*
In some instances, a document confirming the beneficial owners of the business*
*Beneficial owners also refer to individuals who control the business through voting power, board control, practical influence, etc. Refer to the 'Identifying Your Beneficial Owners' section below for more details.
Public Company
ABN, ACN
Company Constitution
Photo IDs of all beneficial owners who own 25% or more of the business
In some instances, such as if your company is not listed on the ASX
Document confirming the beneficial owners of the business
Photo IDs of all beneficial owners who own 25% or more of the business
Trust
ABN of the Trust, ACN of the trustee (if applicable)
Information about the beneficial owners of the Trust*
Information about the trustee (and the trustee’s beneficial owners if it is a company)
Photo IDs of all beneficial owners of the Trust* (and trustee if applicable)
Executed Trust Deed (full copy)
Document confirming the beneficial owners of the trustee (if applicable)
Full name, date of birth, and country of residence of the Trust’s nominal settlor (if applicable)
*Named beneficiaries, economic settlors, and anyone with the authority to appoint or discharge a trustee or amend the trust deed is considered a beneficial owner of the Trust
Partnership
ABN
Partnership agreement and any other document confirming the beneficial owners of the business
Photo IDs of all beneficial owners who own 25% or more of the business
Association / Branch
ABN, ARBN
Constitution or The Rules of Association
Photo IDs of all beneficial owners who own 25% or more of the business
Government entity
ABN
Clear description of the function of the entity and your role in it
Acceptable documents to verify the Ultimate Beneficial Owner(s)
In some cases, we may ask for additional information about the ownership and structure of your business. We can accept the below documents to verify the Ultimate Beneficial Owner(s) of your business:
ASIC Company Extract — it must contain the share structure and be issued within the past 12 months
ASIC Company Statement — it must be issued within the past 12 months
Trust Deed — a full copy containing the schedule and signed execution pages. Make sure to include any Deeds of Amendment or similar supporting documents when available
Partnership Agreement — must be a signed full copy
Identifying Your Beneficial Owners
To comply with Australian anti-money laundering (AML) laws, we are required to identify the Beneficial Owners of your business.
A beneficial owner of a customer means an individual who either:
ultimately owns (directly or indirectly) 25% or more of the customer
controls (directly or indirectly) the customer
Direct ownership refers to any individual who directly holds shares in the customer’s company.
Indirect ownership means that the individual beneficial owner is in a chain of ownership. You can follow this chain to find the individual(s) that ultimately own your business. Example: If John Smith owns 50% of 'Company A,' and 'Company A' owns 50% of your business, John Smith is a beneficial owner because he indirectly owns 25% (50% x 50% = 25%)
Control if someone has significant influence regardless of their shareholding, they are considered a beneficial owner as they have significant control over the entity.
To understand whether someone in your company has significant control, please consider whether any of the following apply:
Voting Power: Can they cast (or control the casting of) more than 50% of the votes at a general meeting? (Veto power, deadlock casting votes, approval requirements etc. are considered ‘control’)
Board Control: Do they have special power to appoint or remove Directors?
Practical Influence: Do the directors typically follow this person’s instructions or wishes when making financial and operational decisions? (This applies even if the person has no formal role).
There may be similar types of control that apply to entities such as Trusts or Partnerships.
Is there anything else I need to know?
If you're not the director or a beneficial owner of the business, we'll ask you to provide an authorisation letter, or a board resolution from the company, confirming that you’re authorised to use and communicate with Wise on behalf of the business. You can download a template of the authorisation letter and have it ready when we ask for it.