A company registration number is a unique identifier assigned to a business entity by its local or national corporate registry. It’s used to verify the legal existence of a business and appears on official documents like tax filings and incorporation records. This number differs by jurisdiction. For example, in the U.S. it may be the Secretary of State file number, while in the UK it’s assigned by Companies House. A company registration number is required for many types of regulatory and banking processes.

Keeping this number up to date is important if your business entity changes or expands across jurisdictions. Having accurate registration information on file helps streamline any processes related to growing or expanding your business. For example, if you apply for a new merchant account, you’ll need to submit your registration number to verify your business structure. AltoPay collects and verifies this detail to comply with anti-money laundering and know-your-customer requirements.