AU Onboarding

AU onboarding combines regulatory obligations under Australia’s AML/CTF regime with configurable identity verification methods.

It includes:

• Business verification (KYB)
• Individual identity verification (KYC)
• Beneficial ownership disclosure (> 25%)
• Compliance review and approval

This guide explains how onboarding works in Australia for business, implementation, and technical teams.

Regulatory context

Australian onboarding is governed by Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing (AML/CTF) requirements.

These regulations require:

• Verification of business existence
• Identification of Ultimate Beneficial Owners (UBOs)
• Identity verification of authorized representatives

As a result:

• Registry lookup may be used for corporate verification
• Document submission may be required
• Compliance approval is mandatory before activation

Onboarding overview

Australia onboarding supports:

• Electronic KYB (eKYB)
• Manual KYB
• Electronic KYC (eKYC)
• Manual KYC (for individuals, corporate applicants, and stakeholders)

Manual review may occur when:

• Registry lookup fails
• Electronic verification fails
• Required stakeholder roles are missing
• Ownership structures are complex
• Documentation is incomplete or inconsistent

Responsibility

Client responsibilities

The client's onboarding responsibilities include:

• Collect accurate business and stakeholder information
• Declare all required stakeholder roles
• Declare UBOs (> 25% ownership)
• Capture applicant attestation
• Upload required documents
• Ensure stakeholders complete identity verification

Nium responsibilities

Nium's onboarding responsibilities include:

• Retrieve registry information
• Validate identity and document submissions
• Conduct compliance checks
• Raise RFIs (Requests for Information) if required
• Approve or reject onboarding

Business verification (KYB)

Australia supports both Electronic KYB (eKYB) and Manual KYB.

Electronic KYB (eKYB)

Electronic KYB retrieves publicly available company information from Australian registries; It:

• Pre-fills corporate data
• Reduces document collection requirements
• Helps reduce onboarding friction
• Speeds up approvals

Step 1: Fetch public corporate details

To support electronic KYB (eKYB), you can retrieve publicly available corporate details before creating the customer.

This step is optional and helps the customer confirm the correct registered entity.

Collect the following from the customer:

• businessRegistrationNumber
• countryCode

Use the Fetch Public Corporate Details request to fetch details that are available for the corporation. This request returns publicly available information associated with the included businessRegistrationNumber.

Display the returned results to the applicant and allow them to:

• Select the correct businessName
• Confirm the businessRegistrationNumber
• Review any additional returned details

The request may return multiple results for a given businessRegistrationNumber. In this case, the applicant must select the correct entity.

If no results are returned:

• Use the Create Customer v5 and include all the details you have available in the request body.
• The application will follow the manual KYB flow.
• Electronic KYB (eKYB) will not apply.

Step 2: Verify and complete corporate details

Verify the submitted details:

• Confirm submitted data with the applicant
• Collect any missing information
• Add stakeholder details

Step 4: Upload required documents

Document upload is required when:

• Registry data is incomplete
• Additional documents as required for verification. For more information, see AU Required Documents

Use the Create a File request.

The response returns a fileId.

This fileId must be referenced in the onboarding request.

For a complete list, see AU Required Documents.

Step 5: Applicant declaration

The authorized representative must confirm:

I certify that I am an authorized representative of the customer.
All information and documents provided are complete and accurate.
I confirm that all UBOs have been disclosed and that I have accepted the Nium Terms and Conditions.

Capture via clickwrap and submit:

Field	Type	Required	Description
applicantDeclaration	boolean	Yes	Indicates acceptance of declaration
applicantDeclarationTimestamp	timestamp	Yes	Format: YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS

Step 6: Submit onboarding request

Use Create Customer v5 and include:

• Corporate details
• Stakeholder details
• searchId (if applicable)
• Uploaded fileId references
• Applicant attestation fields

Individual verification (KYC)

Australia supports both Electronic KYC (eKYC) and Manual KYC for:

• Individual customers
• Corporate applicants
• Directors
• UBOs
• Stakeholders

Step 1: Create customer

Create the individual using Create Customer v5.

After submission:

status	substatus
PENDING	AWAITING_KYC

Step 2: Access hosted KYC form

The applicant accesses the hosted KYC form.

Access is protected by a One-Time Password (OTP) sent to the email the applicant used to register.

Step 3: Verify identity

In Australia, identity verification is determined by residency status, not by role (applicant vs stakeholder).

Each applicant and individual stakeholder must complete identity verification separately.

Verification options differ for:

• AU residents
• Non-AU residents

Residency	Electronic	Biometric	Manual
AU resident	Yes (preferred)	Yes (fallback)	Yes
Non-AU resident	No	Yes (preferred)	Yes

AU residents

AU residents can complete verification using one of the following:

• Electronic verification (preferred):
  Identity is verified automatically when the individual clicks Verify in the hosted KYC form.
  No document upload is required if verification succeeds.
• Biometric verification: If automatic verification fails, the individual can complete biometric verification using:
  • A live selfie
  • A passport or driver licence
• Manual verification: The individual uploads either a:
  • Passport
  • Drivers licence

Manual verification can result in longer review times due to compliance review.

Non-AU resident individuals

Non-AU residents cannot use electronic verification.

They must verify their identity using one of the following:

• Biometric verification: Live selfie with either a:
  • Passport,
  • Drivers licence

Biometric verification typically results in faster approval than manual review.

• Manual verification: The applicant uploads either a:
  • Passport
  • Drivers licence

Manual submissions are reviewed by Nium's compliance team.

Step 4: Compliance review

After KYC completion:

status	substatus
PENDING	UNDER_REVIEW

Nium’s compliance team then reviews submissions offline.

If additional information is required:

• An RFI is raised
• The customer responds via the RFI Hosted Form

Final decision:

Outcome	status
Approved	clear
Rejected	rejected

Webhook notifications are sent for all status transitions. For next steps based on application status, see Customer Lifecycle.

Stakeholder and UBO requirements

Ultimate Beneficial Owner

• All shareholders owning more than 25% of shares (directly or indirectly) must be declared as an Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBOs).
• If no individual owns more than 25%, the most senior director must be declared as the UBO.
• If no UBO is submitted, Nium may identify the UBO during compliance review.
• For sole traders, the owner must be declared as the UBO.

Multi-layer ownership

If the customer has a multi-layer ownership structure:

• All corporate stakeholders owning more than 25% (directly or indirectly) must be declared.
• Corporate structure (ownership structure) documentation must be submitted to validate the ownership chain.

For more information, see Multi-layer ownership structure.

Position mapping

Business Entity Type	Director	Members	Partner	Representative	Settlor	Trustee	UBO	Shareholder	Signatory	Executor	Protector	Trust Beneficiary
ASSOCIATION	Yes	—	Yes	—	Yes	Yes	Yes	—	—	—	—	—
GOVERNMENT_ENTITY	Yes	—	—	Yes	—	—	Yes	Yes	Yes	—	—	—
PARTNERSHIP	Yes	—	Yes	—	—	—	Yes	Yes	Yes	—	—	—
PRIVATE_COMPANY	Yes	—	—	Yes	—	—	Yes	Yes	Yes	—	—	—
PUBLIC_COMPANY	Yes	—	—	Yes	—	—	Yes	Yes	Yes	—	—	—
REGULATED_TRUST	—	—	—	—	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	—	—	Yes
SOLE_TRADER	Yes	—	—	Yes	—	—	Yes	Yes	Yes	—	—	—
UNREGULATED_TRUST	—	—	—	—	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
A blank cell means the role is not applicable for that business type.

To dynamically retrieve valid roles use the Fetch Corporate Constants request.

Additional clarifications

• For Associations, use REPRESENTATIVE for roles such as chair, secretary, or treasurer.
• Some Partnerships may include DIRECTOR roles depending on structure.
• Private and Public companies without an identifiable UBO may pass SHAREHOLDER with ownership percentage details.

Related resources

• Hosted KYC Form
• Customer Onboarding v5