The registration process on Relay will vary slightly depending on your business entity type. Please find your entity type below to know which documents and information to have ready in order to open an account.
When you're ready to get started, you can sign up on our website to begin enjoying no-fee business banking with Relay!
Sections in this article
- Beneficial Owner details (all entity types)
- Business Entity Types
- Government-issued photo ID requirements
- Accepted document formats
- International applicants with U.S. entities
- Frequently Asked Questions
Beneficial Owner details (all entity types)
Regardless of your entity type, all business owners will be required to provide the following details when registering with Relay:
- Photo of government-issued ID1
- Social Security Number (SSN) [U.S. citizens] or Passport Number [non-U.S. citizens]
- Personal address of Beneficial Owner2
- Position/title of Beneficial Owner3
- Personal mobile phone number (for two-factor authentication)
- Email address
1 For non-U.S. citizens and/or residents, Relay requires a photo of a passport for the government-issued ID requirement.
2 This address must be a physical address; we are not able to accept PO boxes, virtual mailboxes, or Pack & Ship location addresses at this time. An address verification document may be requested for additional verification (accepted document types listed here).
3 If one or more Beneficial Owners are not U.S. residents, then all owners will be required to provide additional information. This includes:
-
- What source of income initially helped get their business up and running
- Whether their business is new or established
- Annual personal income
- All countries in which the business operates in
Who qualifies as a Beneficial Owner?
- Any individual, if any, who owns, directly or indirectly, 25 percent or more of the equity interests of the legal entity (e.g., each natural person that owns 25 percent or more of the shares of a corporation).
- An individual with significant responsibility for managing the legal entity, if your business is owned by a holding company (e.g., a CEO, CFO, COO, Managing Member, General Partner, President, Vice President, or Treasurer).
- All Beneficial Owners must be over the age of 18 at the time of registration. We are unable to offer our services to businesses that are owned, wholly or partially, by minors.
Multiple ownership
If more than one person has 25% or greater ownership of the company, they must be invited to Relay during registration. Please have all owner emails on hand when signing up. Once all owners have registered, the account will be ready to use!
Business Entity Types
For more information regarding applying for your business entity:
- Sole Proprietorships: Required documents and information
- LLC (Limited Liability Company): Required documents and information
- Corporations: Required documents and information
- General Partnerships: Required documents and information
Government-issued photo ID requirements
During the identity verification step of the registration process, the provided ID can be a U.S. driver’s license or a passport (U.S. and non-U.S. citizens). Passports are required for non-U.S. citizens. Expired or temporary IDs cannot be accepted.
The image of the provided ID must be of the original document. Scanned copies are not permitted. The image file must be PNG, JPG, or JPEG, must be a colour image with no blur or flash, with the ID aligned horizontally. The four edges and corners of the ID must be clearly visible.
Please note: national ID cards cannot be used in place of a passport for non-U.S. citizens.
Accepted document formats
File types for other legal documents must be PNG, JPG, JPEG or PDF.
Legal documents include:
- EIN Verification Letters
- Certificate of Incorporation
- Articles of Organization
- Company Bylaws
- Operating Agreements
International applicants with U.S. entities
Relay accepts U.S. entities with owners holding non-U.S. citizenship as well as being based outside of the U.S. Relay requires the entity to have an operating presence in the U.S.
Please note: during registration, non-U.S. residents will be required to provide additional information including:
- What source of income initially helped get their business up and running
- Whether their business is new or established
- Annual personal income
- All countries in which the business operates in
This information is required for compliance purposes and is a part of the terms and conditions set by our partner bank, Thread Bank.
We do not provide bank accounts for residents of U.S.-sanctioned countries and a few others. This list can be found in this article: Prohibited countries.
Frequently Asked Questions
Unfortunately, as our registration requirements and review processes differ across entity types, your business entity type cannot be changed after your Relay application has already been approved. For example, if you register as a Sole Proprietorship and your entity type changes to an LLC in the future, you will have to create a brand new Relay account as an LLC and then close your Sole Proprietorship account thereafter, if you wish. If this is a path you decide to take, you can register for a new account using your existing login by following the steps outlined in this article.
Relay is unable to support businesses that deal in providing or exchanging cryptocurrency, sale of firearms or weapons, credit repair, privately owned ATMs, money services, unlawful internet gambling, or cannabis sales. See the full list of industries that Relay cannot support here.