A Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN) is a unique nine-digit tracking number assigned by a national government (such as the IRS in the United States) to track tax obligations. In the context of business banking and merchant acquiring, the most common type of TIN is an Employer Identification Number (EIN), which acts as a social security number for a corporate entity.
Verifying Corporate Identity
Collecting and verifying a merchant's TIN is a strict legal requirement under KYC, KYB, and CIP regulations. Acquiring banks use the TIN to query government databases, ensuring the business is legally registered, actively paying taxes, and not operating as an illicit shell company.
Instant Corporate Checks with Onlayer
Waiting for manual corporate registry checks to clear is a primary cause of application abandonment. Onlayer integrates seamlessly with global business registries to verify TINs and EINs instantly. By automating these foundational KYB checks, Onlayer auto-classifies merchants as Pass, Pass with Notes, or Fail, reducing time-to-decision by up to 85%.
