Bank account and personal information requirements for using Shopify Payments in the United Arab Emirates

Before you can use Shopify Payments in the UAE, you need to understand the requirements that are in place to comply with regulations and to prevent financial crimes. Personal information is collected to verify your identity and business details, and certain types of documentation are accepted for this purpose.

Requirements for using Shopify Payments in the UAE

Before you use Shopify Payments in the UAE, you must ensure that you meet the following requirements:

Eligible business types: Certain types of businesses and services aren't permitted to use Shopify Payments. To determine whether your business is eligible, refer to the list of prohibited business types for the UAE in the Shopify Payments Terms of Service.
Company registration number (CRN): A CRN is required to be eligible for Shopify Payments in the UAE. Non-profit organizations aren't currently eligible.
Bank account requirements: Your bank account must meet the following requirements before you can receive payouts:
- The bank account is a checking account with a bank based in the UAE, in AED currency.
- The account is eligible for domestic and international transfers.
- The bank account has an International Bank Account Number (IBAN) that starts with the letters AE.
- If your business type is LLC or Free Zone LLC, then you must use a business bank account with your business name as the beneficiary name. Personal bank accounts aren't eligible for these business types.
- If your business type is Sole Establishment or Free Zone Sole Establishment, then you must use an individual bank account with your personal legal name as the beneficiary name.

These bank account requirements apply to your AED payout account. If you're eligible for Multi-Currency Payouts and want to receive USD payouts, then you must add a United States-based bank account for USD payouts.

Unsupported bank account types

Certain bank account types aren't compatible with Shopify Payments. The following account types aren't supported:

Checking accounts that accept only wire transfers: These accounts don't work with Shopify Payments.
Savings accounts: Savings accounts can't be used for Shopify Payments payouts.
Flex-currency accounts: Accounts that support multiple currencies simultaneously aren't supported.
Money transfer services: Services that mimic bank accounts, such as some fintech platforms, can't be used with Shopify Payments.

Although non-Shopify virtual accounts are supported, you can experience more payout failures with these accounts.

To confirm whether your account can accept the transfer type listed for your region, contact your bank.

Purpose of collecting information

Shopify and its banking partners are required to collect and verify information about you and your business to comply with regulations in the UAE that are designed to prevent financial crimes. As local rules and regulations evolve, you might be contacted by Shopify and its banking partners to provide additional information throughout the lifespan of your Shopify Payments account.

The information that's collected is used to confirm the identity of the business, the identities of individuals linked to the business, and the nature of the relationship between the two.

Shopify never physically mails documentation to you. Any important documents or communications are emailed, or made digitally available to the store owner in the Settings > Users page of your Shopify admin.

Review Shopify's Privacy Policy to learn about how your information is kept confidential and safe.

Required personal and business information for activating Shopify Payments in the UAE

Correctly identifying your business type is essential because it determines the information that you need to provide. Your business type will also be verified against your business registry.

A company registration number (CRN) is a requirement to be eligible for Shopify Payments in the UAE. Non-profit organizations aren't currently eligible.

Companies, civil companies, LLCs, partnerships, single member LLCs, must select the business type LLC.
- If your business was additionally established in a Free Zone, select Free Zone LLC.
Sole establishments, sole proprietorships, establishments, and establishments with limited liability, must select the business type Sole Establishment.
- If your business was additionally established in a Free Zone, select Free Zone Sole Establishment.

If you're not sure what business type best fits, then contact a tax professional before proceeding.

Sole establishments and free zone sole establishments

Both sole establishments and free zone sole establishments are businesses owned and controlled by an individual in the UAE who has registered for a company registration number (CRN). A free zone sole establishment means the business was established and registered within a free zone.

Both of these business types need to designate the business owner as the account representative of their Shopify Payments account. The only exception is for sole establishments whose trade license or freelancer permit doesn't list owners. In this scenario, the manager of the business must be the account representative.

The account representative needs to provide the following information:

Legal first and last names: The account representative's full legal name as shown on government-issued documentation.
Date of birth: The account representative's birth date.
Emirates ID number: Your Emirates ID number, as shown on your Emirates ID card. If you live outside of the UAE, then provide your passport number instead.
Citizenship: The country you currently hold citizenship with. This must match the country that issued your passport.
Email address: A valid and active email address.
Phone number: A valid phone number.
Residential address: The account representative's home address, matching government documentation.
Job title: The job title of the account representative.

Ensure that your name, date of birth, Emirates ID number/passport number, and home address are accurate and that they match your government-issued documentation. The account representative is required to provide photo ID documents. The photo ID documents that you must provide are determined by your citizenship and residency status. Review the identity verification documents section for more details.

You must also provide the following business details:

Registered name: The legal business name as registered with the government.
Company registration number (CRN): The business's CRN as registered with the government.
Business phone number: An active phone number for the business.
Business address: The official physical address of the business in the UAE, where the business operations primarily occur.

Ensure your business's registered name, CRN, and business address are accurate and that they match what's shown on your trade license or freelancer permit. You are required to provide either a trade license or freelancer permit. Update your account information to match what's shown on your documentation, if necessary.

Limited liability companies (LLCs) and free zone LLCs

A limited liability company (LLC) is a business type where liability for the company is limited to each owner's share of the capital. Owners can be individual people, other LLCs, companies, or foreign entities. The business is considered a free zone LLC if it was established and registered within a free zone.

LLCs must designate one of the owners (as shown on your Memorandum of Association) or an executive (as shown on your Trade License) as the account representative of their Shopify Payments account. The account representative needs to provide the following information:

Legal first and last names: The account representative's full legal name as shown on government-issued documentation.
Date of birth: The account representative's birth date.
Emirates ID number: Your Emirates ID number, as shown on your Emirates ID card. If you live outside of the UAE, then provide your passport number instead.
Citizenship: The country you currently hold citizenship with. This must match the country that issued your passport.
Email address: A valid and active email address.
Phone number: A valid phone number.
Residential address: The account representative's home address, matching government documentation.
Job title: The job title of the account representative.

Ensure that your name, date of birth, Emirates ID number/passport number, and home address are accurate and that they match your government-issued documentation. The account representative, any executives, and any owners listed on the account are required to provide photo ID documents. The photo ID documents that they must provide are determined by their citizenship and residency status. Review the identity verification documents section for more details.

LLCs must also provide the following business details:

Registered name: The legal business name as registered with the government.
Company registration number (CRN): The business's CRN as registered with the government.
Business phone number: An active phone number for the business.
Business address: The official physical address of the business in the UAE, where the business operations primarily occur.

You're required to provide a trade license, your memorandum of association, and proof of bank account. Review the business verification documents section for more details.

Ensure your business's registered name, CRN, and business address are accurate and that they match what's shown on your trade license. Every person listed on your trade license as a manager is required to be listed on your Shopify Payments account, and given the role Executive. Update your account details to match your trade license, if necessary.

Owners listed on your memorandum of association must match 1:1 against the owners listed on your Shopify Payments account. Update your account's ownership details to match your memorandum, if necessary. If your memorandum lists holding companies instead of people, then you need to provide a memorandum or equivalent document for the holding companies until all nested holding companies are broken down. Review the section on memorandum of association to understand what you need to provide.

Ensure the bank account you connect is in the same name as your business. Your proof of bank account document must show account holder name, account number, and show a date of issuance within the past 6 months. Review the section on proof of bank account to understand what you need to provide. If the bank account you connected is not in the name of your business, then you'll need to update to a different bank account that is.

Acceptable document types

You can use the following documents to verify your identity and business details.

Identity documents

The name, date of birth, and Emirates ID number (or passport number, if you live outside the UAE) on your Shopify Payments account must be updated to match the information in the identity documents that you're providing. The citizenship you enter must match the country that issued your passport. The documents must be valid and must not be expired.

The following documents are required as proof of identity for the account representative, any executives, and any owners listed on the account. Multiple documents might be required, depending on your citizenship and residency.

UAE nationals or Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nationals living in the UAE:

Passport
Emirates ID

Foreign nationals living in the UAE:

Passport
Emirates ID
Residence visa

Any person not living in the UAE:

Passport

Business verification documents

Business documents are issued to you by the government when you register your business, or upon request. You should update the registered business name, company registration number, and business address on your account to match exactly what's shown on your documentation.

Multiple documents might be required, depending on your business type. The following are the documents you're asked for:

Sole establishments and free zone sole establishments must provide:

Trade license or freelancer permit

LLCs and free zone LLCs must provide:

Trade license
Memorandum of association
Proof of bank account

Trade license

A trade license or freelancer permit must be issued in the UAE and display the full legal company name, company registration number, business address, and who your managers are.

Your account details must match what is shown on your trade license. Update your business details to match your trade license, if necessary.

For LLCs and Free Zone LLCs, you are required to add every manager mentioned on the trade license to your account, and give them the "executive" role. Update the executives listed on your account to match your trade license, if necessary.

Memorandum of association (MoA) or equivalent

This document must clearly display the names of the beneficial owners, and how the equity is split between the owners.

Every person listed on your memorandum of association with 25% or more ownership must be listed on your Shopify Payments account and given the role of "owner". The owners listed on your document and on your account must be a 1:1 match. Update the owners listed on your account to match your documentation, if necessary.

If any holding companies own 25% or more of the business, then you need to additionally upload a MoA or equivalent document for these businesses as well. MoA documents are requested for all nested entities, until all individual beneficial owners with 25% or more ownership are identified.

If you must submit multiple MoA documents, then submit all of them as a single combined file, in sequence. For quicker verification, include a cover page with a flowchart or diagram illustrating the ownership chain and the relationships between each entity and individual owner.

Proof of bank account

A bank account statement or proof of bank account letter showing a date of issuance within the past 6 months. The document should show account holder name and bank account number.

The bank account you're connecting to Shopify Payments should match the account shown on this document. If it doesn't match, then you can either update your bank account or provide a new bank account document.

Power of attorney

If the account representative isn't someone named on the business's memorandum of association or your trade license as a manager, then you're asked to provide a power of attorney document.

This document should be on company letterhead and serve as proof that the individual entered as your account representative has been given authority by the business to open and operate the Shopify Payments account on its behalf.

Alternatively, you can update your account representative to someone who is already authorized to act in this role, as shown on your documentation.

Ensuring documentation compliance

When providing your documents, ensure that they meet the necessary criteria. Review the following guidelines to ensure compliance:

Accuracy: Ensure that the information on your documents matches what you've entered in your Shopify Payments account. Update your account to match your documents, if necessary.
Clarity and legibility: Make sure that your documents are clear and large enough to read. Ensure the entire document is visible in the photograph.
Completeness: Ensure all the necessary details are visible on your document. Review the acceptable document types listed on this page to understand what details must be included on the document.
Original documentation: Take an original photograph of your document using a camera. Don't photocopy, scan, or screenshot your documents. Don't paste photos of documents into other documents. Don't take photos of computer screens or printouts.
- If your document was issued to you digitally, then provide the PDF file with all pages as it was originally given to you, with no alterations.
Validity: Ensure photo IDs aren't expired and that proof of address is recently issued. If providing proof of business registration, then your business should still be actively registered and in good standing.

Troubleshooting common issues

Before contacting Shopify Support, review the following common onboarding issues and their solutions.

My store address is set to the UAE. Why can't I view the option to activate Shopify Payments?

Shopify Payments in the UAE is currently in early access. You must be on a Plus plan in order to access Shopify Payments UAE.

I don't have a company registration number. How can I sign up for Shopify Payments in the UAE?

You must have a company registration number (CRN) and must be either a sole establishment, free zone sole establishment, LLC, or free zone LLC to be eligible for Shopify Payments in the UAE.

Shopify Payments in the UAE isn't currently available to any other business types.

I'm having trouble verifying my photo ID.

Ensure you've attempted the following:

You're taking a clear photograph of your documents, and you aren't scanning or screenshotting them.
Your documents haven't been altered or edited in any way. Don't blur or censor parts of them, and don't include your own watermarks. Ensure the entire document is in the frame with all four border edges visible.
All the documents being submitted are valid and not expired.
You've reviewed the identity documents section and are submitting the correct documents.
The legal name and date of birth on file matches what is shown on your photo ID. If not, update your account to match your photo ID.
Your citizenship matches the country that issued your passport. If not, update your citizenship.
If you are submitting an Emirates ID card, then your Emirates ID number on your account must match against the number shown on your ID. If you do not live in the UAE, then ensure you've entered your passport number in this field instead, and it matches against the number shown on your Passport.

If you can confirm you've attempted all the above and are still having difficulty, then contact Shopify Support for assistance.

I'm having trouble verifying my trade license

Ensure you've attempted the following:

You're taking a clear photograph of your documents, and you aren't scanning or screenshotting them. If your documents were issued to you digitally, then ensure you're submitting the original PDF copies with all original pages included.
Your documents haven't been altered or edited in any way. Don't blur or censor parts of them, and don't include your own watermarks. Ensure the entire document is in the frame with all four border edges visible.
The registered business name, CRN, and business address on your account match against what is shown on your documents. If not, update your account details to match your documents.
All of the managers listed on your trade license are listed on your account, and have the "executive" role. If not, update the people on your account and their roles to match what is shown on your trade license.

If you can confirm you've attempted all the above and are still having difficulty, then contact Shopify Support for assistance.

I'm having trouble verifying my memorandum of association.

Ensure that any person listed on your memorandum of association as an owner is simultaneously listed on your Shopify Payments account as an owner. You should update the owners listed on your account to match your MoA document 1:1 before submitting. Add any missing owners that are shown on your MoA, but not entered on your account. You should also remove any extra owners from your account who are not reflected on your MoA.

If your memorandum of association indicates that you're owned by a holding company, then you need to additionally provide the memorandum of association or equivalent document breaking down ownership for the holding company.

If you must submit multiple MoA documents, then submit all of them as a single combined file, in sequence. Include a cover page with a flowchart or diagram illustrating the ownership chain and the relationships between each entity and individual owner.

If you still have difficulty verifying this document, then contact Shopify Support.

Frequently asked questions

Review the following frequently asked questions about Shopify Payments requirements in the UAE.

Why does Shopify need my Emirates ID number if I've already provided my company registration number?

Even if you sign up as a registered legal entity using a CRN, you're required to provide the Emirates ID numbers of the people on file so that their identities can be verified.

Shopify banking partners are required by regulatory laws in the UAE to verify the identities of the people associated with the business, including their identities and where they're located.

Will my customers be able to view my business information?

Sometimes. Your business name, business phone number, and business address might be included on your customers' credit card statements, but what is listed varies depending on their financial institution. Personal information for owners and directors, such as their names or home addresses, is never made publicly available.

My account was already verified. Why am I being asked to provide new information?

Shopify and its banking partners are required to keep merchant information up to date in accordance with evolving regulations in the UAE. Even after your account has been verified, you might be contacted to provide additional or updated information. This can happen for the following reasons:

Regulatory requirements in the UAE have changed, and additional documentation is needed.
Your existing information has expired and new documentation is required.
Changes to your business structure, ownership, or address require updated verification.

To resolve this, review the request in your Shopify admin and provide the updated information or documents as prompted. Ensure that the details you provide match your current government-issued documentation.

How do I update my Shopify Payments account information?

If you are actively being asked to complete account verification, then you can make any updates to your information from in the verification page along with submitting any documents that are being requested.

Outside of the verification process, the account owner of the store can update these details through Settings > General > Business Details. Click the three dots beside your business entity and then click "edit" to update that business's information, including business type.

Note that any changes you make here are automatically sent to our banking partners for review, and the new information is re-run through their verification process. It's possible the changes automatically re-verify, but you may also be asked for supporting documents.

If you have any difficulty with this process, contact Shopify Support for assistance.

Before you contact Shopify Support about Shopify Payments in the UAE

Before reaching out to Shopify Support, gather the following information to help resolve your issue faster:

Screenshots of any error messages you received, with sensitive information such as bank account numbers censored
The business type you selected during setup
The specific step where you encountered the issue
The browser and device you're using
Any documents you've already uploaded and the submission status shown on the page in your admin

Having this information ready helps Shopify Support assist you more efficiently.