Submitting a Brex application

A shell company is a corporation without active business operations or significant assets, where the true business ownership isn’t revealed. Shell companies don’t create products, sell products, or generate revenue. If your company doesn’t have customers/relations with shell companies, please answer No to this question on your 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 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 a natural person who possesses significant responsibility to control, manage, or direct a legal entity customer. (For example, a Chief Executive or Senior Manager.)

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 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.

The age of your business can sometimes determine the type of payment schedule Brex offers you, which our team will assess during the application review process.

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. Once you establish a website, it's important that you contact Brex Support so that your account can be updated accordingly.

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.

To learn more about what a certificate of good standing is and how to get one, please read this Gusto help center article.

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 submitted in PDF format, as a one-page document, or a sales deck that summarizes the core details of your business and its product/service offering. Alternatively, we'll accept a brief statement (three to four sentences) that provides an overview of your business.