---
title: "Verification process"
description: "Learn about the verification process and what you need to do to enable payouts."
url: "https://docs.adyen.com/classic-platforms/verification-process"
source_url: "https://docs.adyen.com/classic-platforms/verification-process.md"
canonical: "https://docs.adyen.com/classic-platforms/verification-process"
last_modified: "2023-08-04T12:15:00+02:00"
language: "en"
---

# Verification process

Learn about the verification process and what you need to do to enable payouts.

[View source](/classic-platforms/verification-process.md)

This page is for classic Adyen for Platforms integrations. If you are just starting your implementation, refer to our [new integration guide](/adyen-for-platforms-model) instead.

As required by payment industry regulations, account holders must pass verification checks before you can pay out to them. Account holders are generally required to provide more information after:

* They process their first payment.
* They advance to the [next tier](/classic-platforms/onboard-users#verification-tiers).

The following diagram illustrates the verification process when an account holder signs up to your platform.

![](/user/pages/docs/06.classic-platforms/06.verification-process/verification-process.svg?decoding=auto\&fetchpriority=auto)

1. The account holder provides information when they sign up on your platform, which Adyen uses to verify them.
2. Adyen checks if there are requirements that they need to meet, and runs the required verification based on the details they provided. If the account holder needs to provide more information, they must submit the information within a [deadline](#inactivation-suspension-deadline). Adyen communicates all of these events and timelines through notification webhooks.
3. If the verification fails, the account holder can retry the verification by providing new or revised details. They can also provide additional documents.

If the verification is successful, the account holder may start receiving payouts. If verification fails, payouts will not be enabled.

## Required information

Adyen determines the required information for checks based on:

* The account holder's legal entity type.
* The country they are operating in.
* Their current tier.
* The account holder's [legal arrangements](/classic-platforms/verification-process/legal-arrangements), if applicable.

To get a complete list of requirements, refer to [verification requirements](/classic-platforms/verification-process/required-information).

### Owners, controllers, and signatories

As part of the checks for an organization, Adyen also verifies the identity of *all* individuals that are associated with the organization. We refer to these individuals as *owners*, *controllers*, and *signatories*. The table below describes the criteria for identifying them, and the minimum required number for each.

| Who         | Criteria                                                                                                                                                                                                            | Required number of individuals                                                                                                                                                                                |
| ----------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Owners      | Individuals who directly or indirectly own 25% or more of the total shares, voting rights or other equity in the organization.                                                                                      | Between *zero to four*. Adyen requires information about all individuals that fit this criterion. If no one owns 25% or more of the organization, then your user must provide information about a controller. |
| Controllers | Any individuals who exercise ultimate effective control in making decisions for the whole company. If such an individual cannot be identified, then members of senior management must be identified as controllers. | *At least one*. Adyen requires information about all individuals that fit this criterion. For the United States of America it is required that *at least one individual is identified*.                       |
| Signatories | Officers or representatives who legally represent the organization towards Adyen and are authorised to enter a binding agreement with Adyen on behalf of their organization.                                        | *At least one*. All signatories are required to be identified.                                                                                                                                                |

## Deadlines for providing information

The account holder needs to provide the required information within a deadline. If the information is not sent to Adyen in a timely manner, the account holder status will be changed to inactive, and eventually suspended. Adyen informs your server of upcoming deadlines through [notifications webhooks](#deadline-notifications).

| Deadline                                                             | Account holder status | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     |
| -------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| 30 days after the account holder was required to provide information | **Inactive**          | The account holder status is changed to **Inactive**. Payouts are temporarily disabled. You can still update the account holder data to proceed with the verification.                                                                                                          |
| 42 days after the account holder status was set to **Inactive**      | **Suspended**         | The account holder status is changed to **Suspended**. All payments that have not been paid out to the account holder are refunded. If you want to update the account holder data to continue with the verification, you must [unsuspend](#unsuspend) the account holder first. |

If an account holder cannot meet a deadline, you can choose to [extend the deadline](#deadline-extensions).

You can collect information from the account holder and continue the verification at any time after the deadlines. When they pass the verification, the account holder status is set back to **Active**. They can also start processing payments and payouts again.

### Notifications for upcoming deadlines

Seven days before the account holder inactivation or suspension, Adyen sends an [ACCOUNT\_HOLDER\_UPCOMING\_DEADLINE](https://docs.adyen.com/api-explorer/Notification/latest/post/ACCOUNT_HOLDER_UPCOMING_DEADLINE) notification. You can get the actual date in the `executionDate` field, in YYYY-MM-DD format.

When you receive the notification, we recommend that you follow up and remind the account holder to submit the required information.

### Example timeline for deadlines

For example, if a new account holder signs up, and processes their first payment on **March 5th**, they will be required to submit information for verification. The following deadlines apply:

* **April 5th**: Account holder status will be set to inactive.
* **May 18th**: Account holder status will be set to suspended.

![Account suspension](/user/pages/docs/06.classic-platforms/06.verification-process/AccountSuspension.svg?decoding=auto\&fetchpriority=auto)

If you want to collect information and continue the verification after **May 18th**, you must [unsuspend the account holder](#unsuspend).

## Deadline extensions

The account holder may not be able to meet the inactivation or suspension deadline due to valid reasons. In these cases, you can extend the deadline for an additional *one week*.

You can only extend the deadline *once during each deadline period*: once during the account inactivation (T+30 days) and once during the suspension deadline (T+30+42 days).

When you extend the deadline for account holder inactivation, the counter for the suspension deadline starts after the extension. The new suspension deadline will be T+30+*7*+42 days.

### Extend a deadline

You can extend the deadline in your [Customer Area](https://ca-test.adyen.com/). Your Customer Area user must have the **Merchant Extended Marketplace** user role.

1. Log in to your [Customer Area](https://ca-test.adyen.com/).
2. Go to **Platform** > **Sub-merchants**. Find the account holder and select **Extend one week** in the account holder overview.

The **Extend one week** button appears dimmed and is not available if you have previously extended the deadline.

## Unsuspending an account holder

You can only unsuspend account holders if they did not fail any verification checks ([ `status` ](/classic-platforms/verification-process/check-verification-results#verification-statuses)**FAILED**).

When an account holder has been suspended because they didn't meet a [deadline](#inactivation-suspension-deadline), unsuspending them resets the deadline. They have 42 days to provide information before they are suspended again. You can unsuspend them as many times as you need to. Once unsuspended, their status changes from **Suspended** to **Inactive**, allowing you to update their information.

To unsuspend an account holder, you can use [Customer Area](https://ca-test.adyen.com/) or make an API request.

### Tab: Customer Area

To unsuspend an account holder in Customer Area, you must have the **Merchant Extended Marketplace** user role.

1. Log in to your [Customer Area](https://ca-test.adyen.com/).
2. Go to **Platform**> **Sub-merchants**. Find the account holder and select **Unsuspend Account Holder**.

### Tab: API

To unsuspend an account holder, make POST [/unSuspendAccountHolder](https://docs.adyen.com/api-explorer/#/Account/unSuspendAccountHolder) request, specifying the `accountHolderCode`.

**Unsuspend an account holder**

```bash
curl https://cal-test.adyen.com/cal/services/Account/v6/unSuspendAccountHolder \
-H 'x-api-key: ADYEN_API_KEY' \
-H 'content-type: application/json' \
-d '{
   "accountHolderCode":"YOUR_UNIQUE_ACCOUNT_HOLDER_CODE"
}'
```

If the request is successful, you receive a `pspReference` in the response. Adyen also sends an [ACCOUNT\_HOLDER\_STATUS\_CHANGE](https://docs.adyen.com/api-explorer/Notification/latest/post/ACCOUNT_HOLDER_STATUS_CHANGE) to inform your server of the change.

## Account holder statuses

The account holder status indicates whether an account holder can process payments and payouts. You can check the status of an account holder in the Customer Area, in the API response, and in [webhook notifications](/classic-platforms/notification-types).

| Status        | Updating data allowed?                                                                      | Payments allowed?                                                                           | Payouts allowed?                                                                                                                         | Description                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       |
| ------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |   |
| **Active**    | ![-white\_check\_mark-](/user/data/smileys/emoji/white_check_mark.png "-white_check_mark-") | ![-white\_check\_mark-](/user/data/smileys/emoji/white_check_mark.png "-white_check_mark-") | ![-white\_check\_mark-](/user/data/smileys/emoji/white_check_mark.png "-white_check_mark-") ![-x-](/user/data/smileys/emoji/x.png "-x-") | The default status of an active account holder, where payment processing and payouts are enabled. Payouts can be disabled when the account holder has not yet provided the required information for verification checks, or is required to provide additional information, for example in case of [staggered verification](/classic-platforms/onboard-users#staggered-verification).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              |
| **Inactive**  | ![-white\_check\_mark-](/user/data/smileys/emoji/white_check_mark.png "-white_check_mark-") | ![-white\_check\_mark-](/user/data/smileys/emoji/white_check_mark.png "-white_check_mark-") | ![-x-](/user/data/smileys/emoji/x.png "-x-")                                                                                             | The account holder did not provide information required for verification checks within the [30-day time limit](#inactivation-suspension-deadline). When the account holder provides the required information, their status is restored to **Active**.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             |
| **Suspended** | ![-x-](/user/data/smileys/emoji/x.png "-x-")                                                | ![-x-](/user/data/smileys/emoji/x.png "-x-")                                                | ![-x-](/user/data/smileys/emoji/x.png "-x-")                                                                                             | The account holder did not provide information required for verification checks within the [6-week time  limit](#inactivation-suspension-deadline) or they failed verification checks (`checks.status` **FAILED**). When an account holder is suspended, make sure to hide or remove the account holder from your platform to prevent processing of funds. Once suspended, you can only [unsuspend](#unsuspend) or [close](https://docs.adyen.com/api-explorer/Account/latest/post/closeAccountHolder) the account holder if none of the verification checks have a failed status. When you unsuspend them, the status goes back to **Inactive**. |
| **Closed**    | ![-x-](/user/data/smileys/emoji/x.png "-x-")                                                | ![-x-](/user/data/smileys/emoji/x.png "-x-")                                                | ![-x-](/user/data/smileys/emoji/x.png "-x-")                                                                                             | The account holder has been closed and no operations are allowed. This status is final.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           |

## Next steps

Find out the kind of information that account holders needs to provide, and how to get the results of the verification.

[required](/classic-platforms/verification-process/required-information)

[Required information](/classic-platforms/verification-process/required-information)

[Get the required information for each country and legal entity type.](/classic-platforms/verification-process/required-information)

[required](/classic-platforms/verification-process/document-requirements)

[Document uploads](/classic-platforms/verification-process/document-requirements)

[Learn more about file size, format, and document type requirements.](/classic-platforms/verification-process/document-requirements)

[Legal arrangements](/classic-platforms/verification-process/legal-arrangements)

[Additional requirements for account holders with contractual agreements.](/classic-platforms/verification-process/legal-arrangements)

[required](/classic-platforms/verification-process/check-verification-results)

[Verification results](/classic-platforms/verification-process/check-verification-results)

[Track the results of the checks and learn when to retry.](/classic-platforms/verification-process/check-verification-results)
