Apply in Hong Kong SAR

Before using Genstore Payments in the Hong Kong SAR, you need to understand the personal information requirements. These are necessary to comply with regulations and prevent financial crimes. This guide will explain why we collect personal information, what documents are required, and how to ensure compliance.

Bank requirements

You can link a bank account in Hong Kong SAR to receive Genstore Payments. To do so, your account must meet the following criteria:

• The account must be a Hong Kong SAR-based checking account in HKD.
• The account must be eligible for local automated clearing.

Entity requirements

Depending on the country or region, you will need to provide information about yourself and your business. This will help Genstore (hereafter referred to as "we") verify your store’s identity, including the beneficial owners of your company. This ensures compliance with anti-money laundering (AML), anti-terrorism financing, and other financial crime prevention regulations. As laws and regulations evolve, Genstore and our partners may ask you for additional information.

You can register as either a sole proprietorship or a corporation before using Genstore Payments in Hong Kong SAR.

Required information:

• Legal name of your business or organization
• Business registration number
• Registered address, and primary business location (if different)
• Information about beneficial owners, controllers, or signatories
• Country/region of applicable law
• Tax identification number (e.g., VAT number)

Ultimate Beneficial Owners

As part of the verification process, Genstore will check the identities of individuals linked to your organization, including owners, controllers, directors, and signatories. These individuals are called Ultimate Beneficial Owners (UBOs). Below is a summary of the standards for identifying UBOs and the minimum number of individuals required:

Object	Standard	Number required
UBOs through ownership	Individuals who directly or indirectly own 25% or more of the total shares, voting rights or other equity in the organization.	Between zero to four. Genstore require information about all individuals that fit the criteria.
UBOs through control	Any individuals who exercise ultimate effective control in making decisions for the whole organization. If such an individual cannot be identified, then members of senior management must be identified as UBOs through control.	At least one. Required if no one fits the criteria of UBO through ownership, or if the organization is operating in Hong Kong SAR.
Signatories	Officers or representatives who legally represent the organization towards Genstore and are authorized to enter a binding agreement with Genstore on behalf of their organization.	At least one.

Minimum age requirement

Users of Genstore Payments must be at least 18 years old to ensure they have the legal capacity to enter contracts and manage business transactions.

Supported document types

Genstore will verify the information you provide. However, in some cases, automatic verification may fail. If that happens, Genstore may request additional documents, such as a passport or bank statements. For details, see the table below:

Business type	Company documents	Personal documents	Bank documents
Sole proprietorship	Business Registration Certificate (BRC), NAR1 annual report	Proof of national ID number, Proof of residential address,Proof of individual tax ID	Deposit tickets or deposit forms,Screenshots of their online banking environment, Official letters issued by a bank, checks
Organization	Local name for registration number, SS-4 Confirmation Letter	oof of national ID number, Proof of residential address, Proof of ownership	Deposit tickets or deposit forms,Screenshots of their online banking environment, Official letters issued by a bank, checks

• All Hong Kong SAR nationals need to provide the HKID number
• Non Hong Kong SAR nationals need to submit their ID copy - either: i) driver’s license or ii) passport
• Controlling Person: someone with significant responsibility to control, manage or direct your business (typically a director, CEO, senior executive officer or equivalent)
• All documents need to be issued within the last 12 months, or it must contain a signature and a state of affairs with a date not older than 12 months.

For sole proprietorships

UBOs, signatory, sole proprietor

• Hong Kong Identity Card (HKID): Must be valid. If verification fails, additional proof, such as tax returns, may be required.
• Other ID: Must include full name, date of birth, and personal photo. The document must be valid and unexpired. No copies accepted, and the full document must be uploaded, including both sides of the ID or the full personal information page of the passport. Documents must be clear, with legible text and photos.

Sole proprietorship qualification documents

Genstore tries to automatically verify the sole proprietorship. In case automatic verification fails, we may ask for a constitutional document. The constitutional document must be:

• Issued within the last 12 months, or it must contain a signature and a state of affairs with a date not older than 12 months.
• The following are examples of documents accepted for sole proprietorships:

• Doing business as (DBA) filing (also known as articles of incorporation, Fictitious- or Trading name filing) Tax filing.

For organizations

• Must include the name of the company or organization, business address, and company registration number.
• If applicable, Genstore may request proof of employment.
• The document must be valid and display the most recent registration information.

Ownership and control structure proof

If Genstore cannot verify the identity of the individuals who own or control the company through the documents provided, you may need to provide additional ownership proof. To verify this information, Genstore requires an ownership and control structure chart for the legal entity. This chart must include all relevant legal entities and UBOs.

The ownership and control chart must include:

• The full ownership and control structure of all legal entities and UBOs under review, including all intermediate companies.
• The official legal entity name, legal structure, and registered country/region for every entity on the chart.
• The ownership and control relationship between the entities, including ownership percentages.
• Indication of how the criteria for identifying UBOs are fulfilled, for example an individual owning 25% of the total shares of a company.
• A signature confirming the content of the organizational chart, the name and job title of the signing person, and the date of the signature (not older than 6 months from the current date).