May 2019

Last updated 2 days agoBack To Sub Categories

Table Of Contents

• 1. Verification process
• 2. Required documents
• 3. Founder account in Germany
• 4. Belgium, France, Ireland, Italy and the Netherlands: 
• 5. Check your verification status
• 6. The Document Upload Doesn’t Work. 

1. Verification process

In order to verify your business, you will have to submit the relevant information and business documents. Our verification team will then review all information you have provided. If all documents are in order and we have all information required according to our verification standards, you will get a notification per email, that your account is open.

In case we would need any additional information or documents from you, we will be in contact with you via email. 

Please keep an eye on your inbox for updates on your account! 

2. Required documents

You can check which documents will be required from you here:

For Germany and Austria:

Company Type	Needed Documents Germany	Needed Documents Austria
Freiberufler(Freelancer)	Tax number / VAT number	Tax number / VAT number
Einzelunternehmen(Sole Trader)	Tax number / VAT number	Tax number / VAT number
Limited Company in founding(GmbH & UG)	Shareholder agreementorNotarially certified certificate of incorporationAfter full founding the commercial register extract is needed.	Not available for Austria.
GmbH(Limited Company)	Commercial register extract (less than 6 months old)Shareholder agreement or shareholder listTax number / VAT numberSigned Representative Authorisation	Commercial register extract (less than 6 months old)Shareholder agreement or shareholders listTax number / VAT numberSigned Representative Authorisation
UG(Limited Entrepreneurship Company)	Commercial register extract (less than 6 months old)Shareholder agreement or shareholder listTax number / VAT numberSigned Representative Authorisation	Not available for Austria.

For Finland: 

Company Type	Needed Documents
Oy (Limited Company)	Commercial register extract
Tmi (Sole trader)	Commercial register extract,orIf the company is not in the trade register, provide a screenshot from YTJ or similar (the business information system)

Here you can find descriptions of the required documents.

e-Residency Estonia

We only support limited companies “OÜ” (depending on the owner structure, power of attorney is needed)

If you are not the sole manager of your company, you will in addition to the other documents submit a signed representative authorisation. 

We only need this if there are several shareholders in your company or if you are not the appointed manager of the company.  

Representative = Holvi account’s creator.

You can find the forms for this here:

• Power of Attorney Company

Here you can find an example on how to fill out a Power of Attorney:

Peter Parker just opened a business account with Holvi. Even though Peter is a shareholder of the company, he is not the appointed manager. Therefore, Peter Parker needs a signed Power of Attorney of the appointed manager of the company in order to get the allowance to open and verify the business account. The appointed manager in this case is Tina Johnson.

3. Founder account in Germany

If your business is still in founding, please find more information about the process for founder accounts here.

Unfortunately, we can’t provide founder accounts for Austrian and Finnish companies.

4. Belgium, France, Ireland, Italy and the Netherlands: 

Please find more information about the supported company types and the needed verification documents here.

5. Check your verification status

You can check your verification status by going to “profile” and then “My businesses”. Here you can see a list of all businesses you have registered with Holvi, and it will display here whether your business is verified or not. By clicking on the business name, you get to an upload page where submit additional documents.

6. The Document Upload Doesn’t Work. 

Please make sure that your documents are not larger than maximum 5MB. If you are uploading via your browser, please try using Google Chrome, as Holvi is optimised for this browser. If you are still experiencing problems, please contact our customer support at [email protected] with a screenshot of your problem.

Table Of Contents

• 1. Which countries does Holvi offer services in?
• 2. Which company forms does Holvi support?
• 3. Can I open a private account with Holvi? 

1. Which countries does Holvi offer services in?

We currently offer our services in Finland, Germany, Austria, for Estonian e-residentsandthrough our Eurozone programme in Belgium, France, Ireland, Italy and the Netherlands. Please note, that you and any shareholders that want to use the account, must have your main residence in the same country as your company is registered (except if you are an e-resident), but you don’t need to be a national of that country. Other shareholders may live in other countries, please find more information about this here. 

If you open an account as an Estonian e-resident, your residence may be almost anywhere in the world. 

Holvi currently does not support FATCA reporting, so unfortunately we can’t offer accounts for clients that represent US indicia and might be liable for FATCA reporting (e.g. US citizens).

FATCA (US reporting)
The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) is a 2010 United States federal law to enforce the requirement for United States persons including those living outside the U.S. to file yearly reports on their non-U.S. financial accounts to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
Who is affected by FATCA?
The Act applies to “U.S. persons “(US taxpayers), Individuals and legal entities which meet any of the following US indicia:

Identification of the Account Holder as:

• U.S. citizen or resident;
• Unambiguous indication of a U.S. place of birth;
• Current U.S. mailing or residence address (including a U.S. post office box);
• Current U.S. telephone number;
• Standing instructions to transfer funds to an account maintained in the United States;
• Currently effective power of attorney or signatory authority granted to a person with a U.S. address; or
• An “in-care-of” or “hold mail” address that is the sole address the Reporting Finnish Financial Institution has on file for the Account Holder.

Holvi also does not support countries of residence that are listed as “High risk and non-cooperative” by FATF.

2. Which company forms does Holvi support?

In general, Holvi does not support ownership structures that involve one or more legal entities with 25% or more shares / investments. That means if your company is owned by another company, we will not be able to offer you an account. 

The following company types are accepted:

Finland:

• Oy – Osakeyhtiö
• Toiminimi / Yksityinen elinkeinonharjoittaja

Germany:

• Einzelunternehmen / Gewerbe
• Freiberufler
• GmbH in Gründung (Vor-GmbH)
• GmbH – Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung
• UG – Unternehmergesellschaft (haftungsbeschränkt) in Gründung
• UG – Unternehmergesellschaft (haftungsbeschränkt)

For German company types GmbH and UG, we can offer founder accounts, which allow you to pay your starting capital into your bank account before official documentation is available. All other company forms must be able to provide all relevant documents for verification before opening the account.  

Austria:

• Einzelunternehmen / Gewerbe
• Freiberufler
• GmbH – Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung

e-Estonia:

• OÜ – Osaühing

Belgium, France, Ireland, Italy and the Netherlands: 

Please find more information about the supported company types here.

3. Can I open a private account with Holvi? 

Unfortunately this is not possible. Holvi only offers business accounts.  

Customer Identification and Due Diligence

Holvi is a licenced Payment Service Provider operating under the supervision of the Finnish Financial Supervisory Authority (FIN-FSA). Holvi is required to comply with customer identification and due diligence standards, which means that we must identify and know our customers. In addition to personal details of the customer, we must have sufficient information on the customer’s activities, financial position, banking practices and purpose for which the services are used.

We also want to know our customers to be able to give them good advice and offer services best suited to their needs. However, some of the questions or required information are based on other reasons – as a Payment Institution, we are obligated and committed to preventing financial crime like money laundering, tax evasion and terrorism financing, as well as illegal activities such as fraud attempts, ID theft, human trafficking or drug dealing. Preventing money laundering is not only in Holvi’s best interest – when a customer provides his or her information, they are supporting our work against crime as well as our ability to provide quality services to society as a whole.

Holvi is subject to applicable Finnish, EU and international anti-money laundering (AML) laws and regulations. Holvi seeks to make sure that any updates to relevant legislation and technical standards are followed and that our processes are also updated accordingly. Holvi has established adequate internal controls, procedures and guidelines, has appointed a reporting officer, and performs continuous staff training programs in order to comply with customer due diligence standards and AML requirements.

These requirements are the same for all FIN-FSA supervised entities. However, some entities might accomplish this in different ways and at different times. Please visit FIN-FSA Customer Due Diligence for more information.

KYC – Know Your Customer

Holvi is a fully digital service. We do not require our customers to pay a physical visit to our office in order to get started with a Holvi business account. Instead, we ask our customers to provide, through various channels (e.g. per E-Mail or phone), the personal and business identification documentation necessary for identification and verification. Besides personal details of the customer, we must also gather sufficient information on the customer’s business activities, financial position, banking practices and purposes for which the services are being used.

Depending on the customer’s residence, the questions or required documentation may vary. Any information or documentation that we receive is treated in compliance with the Finnish guidelines on banking secrecy.

Politically Exposed Persons

With the current Finnish legislation, we are also required to know whether the customer is a Politically Exposed Person (PEP). A Politically Exposed Person is an individual who is or has been entrusted in the past twelve months with a prominent public function. Family members and close business associates of PEPs are also considered PEPs themselves. Examples of Politically exposed positions are:

(a) Head of State, Head of Government, Minister, Deputy or Assistant Minister;

(b) as a Member of Parliament or of similar legislative bodies;

(c) a member of the governing bodies of political parties;

(d) a member of the Supreme Courts, the Constitutional Court or any other similar judicial body, whose decisions may not, except in exceptional cases, be appealed;

(e) a member of the Supreme Audit Institution of the Court of Auditors and the State Audit Office;

(f) a member of the Governing Board of the Central Bank;

(g) as ambassador or as trustee;

(h) at least as a military officer in the Armed Forces;

(i) a member of the administrative, management and supervisory body of a wholly-owned State enterprise; or

j) Director, deputy director and board member of international organizations;

Corporate Customers

In addition to business documents that are being verified during your account application, we are obligated to obtain, among others, information about the business sector, nature and extent of the business operations, turnover, structure and ownership of the company. To comply with these information requirements, we may request additional information like financial statements, articles of association and other documents deemed necessary; depending on the country where the company is registered, the required documents may vary on a case-by-case basis.

Business representatives must also be identified and their identities verified. We are also required to identify the owners and/or the actual beneficiaries, so-called “beneficial owners” of the company, and, if necessary, verify their identities.

Information on funds involved in transactions

Customer due diligence requires that we know on whose orders transactions are made and with whose funds. In certain cases, we may inquire about account transactions volumes, including the origin and purpose of the transaction. In some cases, we may also need to ask for documentation evidencing business operations, registration or any other proof (e.g. sale contract) in addition to a written statement relating to such transaction that may help us to verify the source of funds and the purpose for which the funds are used.

If we are not able to collect the required information in order to support the execution of a transaction, we might not be permitted to provide you with a full range of our services or may even be forced to reject the transaction.

Records must be retained

As a supervised entity, we have specific recordkeeping requirements. Records and documentation related to customer identification and due diligence information need to be stored for a minimum period of five years after the termination of a customer relationship.

Contact us

We encourage our customers to get in touch with us if they suspect or have knowledge about money laundering activities, have been a victim of fraud or identity-theft, report misuse, ask questions or give feedback on data security issues.

Email: [email protected]

Please note that you cannot send any questions to the address above; this channel is solely meant for reporting suspicions of fraud. You will not get a reply to your e-mail, but your information can help to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing, as well as to track and stop other illegal activities.

Disclosure

Customer information is used for the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing. We won’t use your personal information that is obtained solely for purposes referred to the Money Laundering Act for marketing purposes. Other personal information collected on other grounds may be used for marketing purposes. The customer has the right to forbid the use of personal information for marketing purposes. For more information, please visit our Privacy Policy.