What documents do I need for FICA / KYC?

3 min read

Quick answer #

To complete FICA on your Pay@ Gateway merchant account, you need three things: a valid South African ID document, proof of business registration (CIPC documents for companies, or a sole trader declaration), and proof of your business bank account (a recent bank statement or letter from your bank, no older than 3 months). Upload all three during signup. Verification is automated and typically completes within 24 hours.

Why we need these documents #

FICA is the Financial Intelligence Centre Act — South Africa’s anti-money-laundering law. Every regulated financial service provider, including payment gateways, must verify the identity of business customers before processing transactions. We can’t legally activate your merchant account until FICA is complete. This applies to every gateway operating in South Africa, not just Pay@.

The good news: our verification is automated, runs against the relevant SA registries, and typically clears within 24 hours for properly submitted documents.

What you need — by business type #

Registered company (Pty Ltd) #

CIPC documents — your CoR 14.3 (registration certificate) or a current CIPC company disclosure
ID document of all directors — SA ID, passport, or smart ID card
ID document of any beneficial owner holding 25% or more of the company shares
Proof of business bank account — a stamped bank statement or bank letter, no older than 3 months, showing the company name and bank account number
Proof of business address — a utility bill or lease agreement, no older than 3 months

Sole proprietor #

Your SA ID document (or passport for non-citizens with appropriate work documentation)
Sole trader declaration — we provide a one-page form during signup
Proof of business bank account — same as above
Proof of trading address — utility bill or lease, no older than 3 months

Non-profit company (NPC) or trust #

Contact our onboarding team directly — additional documents are needed (NPC certificate, trust deed, trustee IDs).

How to submit the documents #

During signup, you’ll see an upload step that accepts PDFs, JPEGs, and PNGs. Each file should be under 10MB. Photos taken on a phone are fine — just make sure all four corners of the document are visible and the text is readable. Blurry or cropped documents are the most common reason for verification delays.

What happens after upload #

Our verification system runs three checks in parallel:

Identity check — your ID is verified against the SA Department of Home Affairs.
Business check — your company registration is verified against the CIPC database.
Bank account check — your bank account is verified via a small test transaction or bank verification service.

You’ll receive an email when each check completes. Once all three pass, your account moves to “Verified” status and you can process live payments. If any check fails, the email tells you exactly what to fix.

Common reasons verification gets delayed #

Bank statement older than 3 months. Always use the most recent statement available.
Director ID document doesn’t match CIPC records. If a director has changed names (e.g., after marriage), the CIPC record needs to be updated first.
Personal bank account used for business. Sole traders sometimes use personal accounts — this works for some payment methods but limits others. See: Can I use a personal bank account?
Document is a screenshot of a screen rather than the actual file. Always upload the original document.