Submitting a Brex application

In order to meet regulatory obligations and prevent money laundering, we’re required to collect the identifying information belonging to the beneficial owners and controlling officers of any private company that opens an account with us. A beneficial owner is an individual person who owns 25% or more of the company in question. A controlling officer is an individual person who has authority and responsibility to make business or financial decisions on behalf of a legal entity (For example, CEO, CFO, COO, President).

During the application process, Brex requires confirmation of a valid business incorporation type and EIN. Incorporating your business requires converting it from a sole proprietorship to a formally recognized and state-registered company. Only companies organized and registered in the United States, such as C-corps, S-corps, LLCs, or LLPs, may apply for a Brex account and access our services. Individual consumers, sole proprietors, and unincorporated partnerships are not yet permitted to open a Brex account.

We require a physical business address, such as an office, co-working space, or residential address, for both US-based and international applicants We cannot accept PO boxes.

We’ll ask you to explain your intended use for a Brex account when you apply. Having this information helps us fulfill certain regulatory requirements, and gives us insight into your business needs.

We use photo IDs as part of our Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements for account creation. We accept:

• Passports (and passport cards)
• US driver's license
• State ID cards

Note: All forms of identification must be currently active and not expired.

To comply with the Know Your Customer (KYC) US regulatory requirements, we may ask for your social security number during the application process. This number will not be used to underwrite your account.

To help keep your Brex account details accurate, we’ll periodically prompt account and/or card admins to review and confirm various account information. This can include things like your address, industry, beneficial ownership information, etc. Only one account or card admin on your account will need to confirm this information, but all account or card admins will receive weekly prompts via email until this has been completed. You can verify your information by either clicking on the prompt in the email or the banner notification in your Brex dashboard.

If your company does not have a company website yet, you can enter www.nowebsite.com to move forward with your application. To provide our team with the information they will need to review your application, please reach out to our support team with a business one-pager.

An EIN is an “Employer Identification Number” or a nine-digit number that is issued by the IRS and used to uniquely identify legal entities operating in the United States. Think of it as a Social Security Number (SSN) for your business. Companies must be incorporated as an independent legal entity, like an LLC or S-Corp, to apply for an EIN. The IRS uses this number to keep track of business tax return filers.

Obtaining a license and registration from regulated customers is part of our due diligence requirements. When you add a financial institution to your account as an entity, we’ll ask for this entity’s registration or license number to help us verify that it’s licensed.

During the application process, we may ask for a PDF of your IRS letter to confirm your EIN. However, if you’ve recently registered with the IRS, there can be a delay before you receive that document by mail. In this case, we may temporarily accept a screenshot of the IRS website confirming that your letter has been mailed. To expedite the process while you wait for your letter, please get in touch with Brex Support. Brex uses an IRS letter (form CP 575 or 147-C) to verify your business name and Employer Identification Number. To successfully upload this document on your dashboard, please ensure it meets the following specifications:

• The document is in PDF format.
• The image is clear and the document is in full frame.
• The correct form is being used as per the example below.

If you’re having trouble finding your letter, check with your accountant, or request a copy of the letter from the IRS.

During the application process, Brex requires a description of your business. This description can be a brief statement (three to four sentences) that provides an overview of your business and its product/service offering.