Canadian entity KYB/KYC check

Note: This article primarily applies to Ramp Administrators. Cardholders may find other articles in the Ramp overview section to be more applicable.

Overview

Available on Ramp Enterprise. See Ramp Enterprise overview for plan details.

To issue CAD-denominated cards, Canadian legal entities must complete a Know Your Business (KYB) check through Ramp, providing the required information per FINTRAC policy and having an Authorized Signer complete the final attestation. The process involves verifying the entity's legal and ownership details, submitting supporting documents, and ensuring accurate and complete submissions to avoid delays. If there are gaps or inaccuracies in the submission, Ramp's compliance team will request resubmission to ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.

US businesses with Canadian legal entities can complete a KYB check to issue CAD-denominated cards to their employees, who are part of their Canadian entity.

Know your business (KYB)

Eligible customers must have a Canadian legal entity, meaning this entity is registered with the federal government of Canada. Before any CAD-denominated cards can be issued, the entity must complete the KYB Check and be approved by Ramp. The requested information is required per FINTRAC policy.

An authorized signer for the Canadian entity must complete the final attestation and signature of the KYB/C flow in their Ramp account. If someone who is not an authorized signer signs, Ramp will ask you to resubmit the KYB/C check.

If Ramp's compliance team determines there is a gap in your submission, you will be asked to resubmit. It is of utmost importance your submission is complete and accurate to prevent delays.

Entity identification

This section of KYB will prompt you to fill out information about your Canadian entity. Please have the following information ready.

• Legal entity name
• Principal place of business (entity's legal address)
• Jurisdiction of incorporation (e.g. British Columbia, Alberta)
• Identification number: corporation number or business number (e.g. tax ID number)
• Business type
• Legal structure

How do I know my jurisdiction of incorporation?

• Your jurisdiction of incorporation is the state where a corporation is formed
• A company's legal document, such as a Notice of Articles or Certificate of Incorporation, should list your jurisdiction of incorporation

What is a corporate number and how can I find it?

• A corporation number is a unique identification number assigned by Corporations Canada to a specific business. The number is the same throughout a business' lifetime.
• You can find this number on any of your company's legal documents, such as Certification of Incorporation or Notice of Articles

What is a business number and how can I find it?

• A business number is a nine-digit number assigned by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to organizations that operate as businesses. The number is the unique identifier for federal and provincial tax purposes and enables the business to access government programs and services.
• You can sign in to the CRA website to determine your company's business number

What are some examples of principal business?

• The principal business field is a free-form text field in which you enter a short description of your company's principal business.
  • Some examples include:
    • Software
    • Accommodation and food services
    • Construction
    • Agriculture
    • Manufacturing
    • Healthcare

How do I identify my company's legal structure?

• Connect with your legal or finance team if you do not know your company's legal structure

Ownership structure

You must submit information about the ownership structure of the Canadian entity. There are 3 required roles. Please see the definition of the 3 roles and the requirement for KYB submission.

Role

Definition

Requirement

Director

Someone elected or appointed by the shareholders of a corporation to oversee its management and strategic direction

All directors

Beneficial owner

An actual individual who directly or indirectly owns or controls 25% or more of an entity

All beneficial owners

(if no one meets the definition, then no beneficial owners are required)

Authorized signer

Someone who can act on behalf of a business and their name is stated in official business records. This gives them the power to sign documents for the business

All authorized signers, up to 3 total

Examples:

You have 2 authorized signers, both must be listed.

You have 5 authorized signers, list 3 authorized signers.

Please multi-select all roles that an owner is for your Canadian entity.

An owner can hold any permutation of the 3 roles, meaning the owner is an Authorized Signer, Beneficial Owner, and Director.

• or Authorized Signer and Beneficial Owner
• or Authorized Signer and Director
• or Beneficial Owner and Director
• or Authorized Signer
• or Beneficial Owner
• or Director

What information will be collected on the owners?

• Legal name
• Date of birth
• Title
• Home address
• Contact information (email and phone)

Will owners go through KYC?

• Yes, we attempt to verify your owners with Canadian credit filing data as well as 3rd party data sources
• However, if we cannot verify your owners, they will be required to submit an identification document (e.g. passport, driver's license) and a selfie
  • Ramp will email the owners a link to submit this if required
  • This email link provides a QA code to submit the documentation via a smartphone

Do owners have to submit a selfie?

• Per, FINTRAC policy, we must verify the individual presenting the identification document matches the photo in the identification document
• A selfie is required, instead of just a secondary photo, to prove in real-time that the selfie matches the photo on the identification document

Do owners, submitted as part of KYB, need to be Ramp users?

• No, they do not need to be Ramp users
• Ramp will use the email listed for the owner to request verification information (identification photo and selfie)

Supporting documents

Finally, you will be prompted to upload supporting documents for the entity, director(s), and authorized signer(s) verification.

Entity

Document evidencing legal entity, such as:

• Notice of articles
• Certificate of incorporation
• Certificate of compliance/existence/good standing

The document should evidence all information submitted in the entity information section:

• Legal entity name
• Principal place of business (entity's legal address)
• Jurisdiction of incorporation (e.g. British Columbia, Alberta)
• Identification number: corporation number or business number (e.g. tax ID number)

You can combine multiple documents into one file to evidence the above information.

Director(s)

Documents evidencing board composition, such as:

• Notice of articles
• Board minutes
• Board resolutions

The document should list the legal name of the director(s) and their appointment to the role. You can combine multiple documents into one file to evidence director(s).

Authorized signer(s)

Documents identifying authorized signer(s), such as:

• Board resolutions
• Directors resolutions

The document should list the legal name of the authorized signer(s), and their appointment to the role, and explicitly state the person is authorized to sign on behalf of the entity for all financial transactions, legal agreements, and other official agreements. Multiple documents, together, may meet this. For example, company by-laws stating all officers have this authority and a resolution appointing officers. You can combine multiple documents into one file to evidence authorized signer(s).

If you have less than three authorized signers, you are required to include all of them on your application. If you have more than three authorized signers, please only submit up to three.

Attestation

The last step requires an authorized signer for the Canadian entity to attest to the information submitted and the following agreements on behalf of the Canadian entity.

Please ensure whoever is signing is the following:

1. an authorized signer for the entity
2. submitted in the ownership structure as an authorized signer
3. is listed as an authorized signer in the uploaded documents.

Only Admins and Owners can edit entities on Ramp, so this individual should also be an Admin or Owner to complete attestation.

Agreements

• Canada Payment Card Supplement
• Electronic Communication Consent Agreement
• PTC Cardholder Terms
• Ramp Privacy Policy

Frequently asked questions

Who is an authorized signatory for a business?

• Typically, other C-suites are made Authorized Signatories for a business. They may also be in the Admin role on Ramp.

What Ramp role must the authorized signer have?

• Only Admins and Owners have access to manage entities and complete the KYB check

Does the information I enter save?

• All information, but uploaded documents, is saved
  When you return to the KYB check, you will start at the beginning so you can confirm all prior-entered information
• This is useful if someone else on the team will complete the required fields before the Authorized Signer completes the final sign-off
• Given uploaded documents are not saved, the Authorized Signer will need to upload the supporting documents. More details here

How long will it take for the KYB check to be approved?

• 3–5 business days

What agreements are signed by the Canadian entity Authorized Signer in the KYB check?

• Canada Payment Card Supplement
• Electronic Communication Consent Agreement
• PTC Cardholder Terms
• Ramp Privacy Policy