What Documents Are Needed for a UK Card Machine?

UK card machine applications need four things: photo ID for each director (passport or driving licence), proof of address under 90 days old (utility bill, bank statement or council tax), business bank account details in the trading name, and either a UTR (sole trader) or Companies House number (limited company). Some acquirers also request a recent bank statement (3 months) showing turnover. KYC clears in hours when documents are clean, days when they are not.

What this means for your business

KYC (Know Your Customer) is the UK regulatory requirement for any payment service provider. It is set by the FCA under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 and the Payment Services Regulations 2017. The acquirer must verify the identity of beneficial owners (anyone with 25 per cent or more shareholding), confirm the trading address, and check the bank account belongs to the trading entity. The four document types above cover the standard case.

Photo ID has a 10-year validity window for passports and the issue date on driving licences must be checked. Old paper driving licences are still accepted by most acquirers if the photocard counterpart is present. Proof of address must be dated within the last 90 days. Council tax bills, utility bills and bank statements are accepted, mobile phone bills usually are not. Address documents must match the address on the application exactly, a slight variation triggers a manual review.

The business bank account must be in the trading name. Sole traders trading under their own name can use a personal account. Sole traders with a trade name (Sarah's Coffee, Bloom Florists) need a business account or a named-trading account at a challenger bank (Tide, Starling, Revolut Business). Limited companies always need a business account in the registered company name. The acquirer matches the account name to Companies House records and to the application form, all three must align.

Key points

Four standard documents: photo ID, proof of address under 90 days, business bank details, UTR or Companies House number
Photo ID can be passport or photocard driving licence, paper driving licence usually accepted alongside the photocard
Proof of address must be dated within 90 days and match the application exactly
Mobile phone bills are usually not accepted as proof of address, use utility, council tax or bank statement
Bank account must be in the trading name, sole traders trading as their own name can use personal
KYC clears in hours when documents are clean and match, days when they need manual review
Some acquirers ask for 3 months of bank statements to verify turnover for higher volume accounts

Common pitfalls

Submitting expired photo ID, the validity date is checked at upload not at issue
Using a proof of address that is 91 days old, the cutoff is strict not approximate
Address on the bank account different to the application address, this pauses KYC for manual review
Forgetting to add all directors with 25 per cent or more shareholding, missing beneficial owners trigger a refusal

Get quotes from acquirers that take this case

We disclose the specifics of your application to the right acquirer panel from the start, so you do not waste time on providers that will decline. Quote requests are free and you are not committed to anything.

Open quote form →