A corporate registry check is a fundamental component of the Know Your Business (KYB) and Know Your Merchant (KYM) compliance processes. It involves querying official, government-maintained databases (such as Companies House in the UK or state-level Secretary of State databases in the US) to verify the legal existence and current standing of a corporate entity.
Uncovering the Truth About a Business
Acquiring banks use registry checks to confirm that the business name matches the tax ID, that the company hasn't been dissolved, and to officially identify the corporate directors. This is the first step in unwinding complex corporate structures to find the Ultimate Beneficial Owners (UBOs).
Automating Registry Checks with Onlayer
Manually searching different government portals across the globe is incredibly slow and delays Time-to-Decision (TTD). Onlayer automates this entirely. By plugging directly into global data providers, Onlayer completes comprehensive registry checks to strictly assess merchant eligibility in minutes, replacing slow manual reviews with instant, data-driven KYC and KYB decisions.
