Keeping your details up to date

Zettle by PayPal services are provided under PayPal UK Ltd’s authorisation issued by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as an electronic money institution under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 for the issuance of electronic money (firm reference number 994790), in relation to its regulated consumer credit activities under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (firm reference number 996405) and for the provision of Cryptocurrency services under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (firm reference number 1000741).

Some of PayPal UK Ltd’s products including PayPal Pay in 3 and PayPal Working Capital are not regulated by the FCA. PayPal UK Ltd’s company number is 14741686 and its registered address is Whittaker House, Whittaker Avenue, Richmond-Upon-Thames, Surrey, United Kingdom, TW9 1EH.

We’re required to collect some additional information from our customers.

Why we need to know our customers 

When you sign up for a Zettle account, we’ll ask you a number of questions and we’ll continue to do so every now and then as time goes by. Sometimes we do this in your app, sometimes on my.zettle.com, and occasionally by email or by phone.

We take your safety very seriously and these questions help us to protect you.

We also use them to filter out any Zettle account holders that are attempting to engage in dishonest or illegal practices. That’s why we need to ask everyone these questions, without exception. When you answer our questions, you help us protect your identity and prevent criminal activity.

What kind of questions do we ask? 

Here are some examples of the information we need: 

  • What are you using our services for? 
  • What is the ownership structure of your company? 

Identification and verification

We might also ask for documentation of the registration of your company and check that you have the right to represent the company. Other documents we ask for are documents that can confirm your address, your identity or the identity of other stakeholders in your business. For example:

  • a copy of your passport 
  • any other stakeholder’s passport
  • driving licence
  • any other official photo ID. 

Regulations

As of the 1st of Novemebr 2023, we provide the Zettle service through PayPal UK Ltd ( which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as an electronic money institution under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 for the issuance of electronic money (firm reference number 994790), in relation to its regulated consumer credit activities under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (firm reference number 996405) and for the provision of Cryptocurrency services under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (firm reference number 1000741). Some of PayPal UK Ltd’s products including PayPal Pay in 3 and PayPal Working Capital are not regulated by the FCA. PayPal UK Ltd’s company number is 14741686 and its registered address is Whittaker House, Whittaker Avenue, Richmond-Upon-Thames, Surrey, United Kingdom, TW9 1EH. 

We are required by law to have knowledge about our customers and what our services are being used for during the whole business relationship. This will continue to apply to us, as we move our services to PayPal UK Ltd. However, what these obligations mean may differ by country.

We are actively working to protect our merchants, the company and society by preventing criminal activities such as money laundering, terrorist financing, etc. and we will continue to do so.

As a credit institution, we are required to collect additional information about you in order to comply with our Client Due Diligence obligations under the UK Money Laundering Regulations. . Put simply, we ask you personal questions because it is a regulatory requirement and part of our social responsibility to counteract criminal activities.

Frequently asked questions

I have been a customer for several years, why do I need to answer these questions or send more documents now? 
All financial institutes in Europe, such as banks, payment providers, etc. need to have updated information about their users throughout their relationship, for example, to ensure that we comply with measures against money laundering and terrorism financing. This information may vary by country and as we transfer the Zettle service to PayPal UK Ltd, we need to ask for additional information in order to comply with local requirements. We ask these questions to all of our users, when they’re new and as time goes by.

Why has my account been paused?
If we have not received the documents we requested or answers to the questions we have asked, we will sometimes temporarily pause customers’ accounts and/or stop deposits. This is because, according to our regulatory requirements, we are not allowed to provide our services to a user if we don’t know who they are or what they’re using our services for. When we have received sufficient answers or the documents that we have requested, we will reactivate your account.

Good to know:
If your account has been paused, please check the email address linked to your Zettle account to find further instructions. 


I feel that some of these topics infringe on my privacy. Are you really allowed to ask them?
In order to safeguard the trust we have as a financial entity, we’re required to ask these questions. All banks and other financial institutions in the UK are, according to the regulations on measures against money laundering, obliged to have good knowledge of their customers. The authorities, therefore, demand that we collect this information about our customers, and when you answer the questions, you help us behave responsibly and prevent criminal activity. We know that almost all of our users are honest, but in order to discover the few that are not, we ask questions to everyone, without exception. You should know that we do not ask these questions because we are in some way suspicious of your business in particular.

Please read more about how we process your personal data in our Privacy Policy.

Can I answer these questions later/can I provide the documents later?
Yes, you can provide the requested information at a time suitable to you. But since we’re legally required to get this information, we will, at some point, have to place restrictions on your account until we’ve received the requested information.

Do I have to answer these questions/do I have to give you these documents?
Yes, all customers have to answer these questions. It is our duty as a credit institution and as a responsible social actor to ask these questions to all our customers. All banks and other financial institutions in the UK are, according to regulations on measures against money laundering, obliged to have good knowledge of their customers.

You have already asked me similar questions/asked for similar documents recently, why are you asking these questions/requesting these documents again?
We need to ask you these questions regularly, as the authorities require banks and other financial institutes to update their customer information. Our main purpose is to safeguard your financial interests and protect you from criminal activity such as identity theft, fraud and so-called phishing (information fishing). At the same time, according to regulations on measures against money laundering, we are obliged to have good knowledge of our customers. We ask these questions to all our customers, both new and existing, no matter how long they have been customers with us. If you have recently responded to similar questions, we apologise, but we are required to gather your answers. If you know all the answers, it should not take more than a few minutes.

Do all financial institutions ask these questions?
Yes, all banks and other financial institutions in the UK are obliged to have good knowledge of their customers, according to inter alia regulations on measures against money laundering. Therefore, the authorities demand that all banks and other financial institutions ask their customers these questions.

What do you use this information/these documents for?
We use the information to get to know and understand our customers in order to be able to safeguard their financial interests and discover any criminal activity. We do this to protect you as a customer and society as a whole. We know that most of our customers are honest. All banks and other financial institutes in the UK are, according to regulations on measures against money laundering, obliged to have good knowledge of their customers. The information we ask for is mandatory for us as a credit institution to obtain and is used to update our customer systems to achieve the requirements of good customer knowledge. It also facilitates our work on following up controls against sanction lists, ie. lists of persons and companies that are subject to sanctions decided by the UK etc.

What happens if I don’t answer these questions/do not provide you with the requested documents?
If you do not answer all the questions, it may ultimately mean we will not be able to offer you all our services or that we cannot give you the support you need.

Who can see my answers/documents?
The information you provide to us is strictly confidential in accordance with the rules of financial secrecy. We also follow the Personal Data Protection Act.

What can I upload as a Letter of Authorisation?
You can give authorisation to someone to act on behalf of your company in handling all matters related to your Zettle account. Once you’ve notified us of your desire to do this, we’ll send you an email with a survey in it. Please open the email survey and upload the power of attorney document or any document for this purpose that contains your name, your business’ name, your signature, and the person’s name you would like to give authorisation to. You can also use our template.

I made some mistakes that I would like to correct. How do I do that?
Please contact our support team via phone or via email.

Who is the ultimate beneficial owner?
This is an individual who holds more than 25% ownership or controlling interest in the company. 

Who is the alternative beneficial owner? 
This could be a chairman, a CEO, a senior official or any natural person who has direct or indirect ownership in the company. 

What if there is no owner at your company, or none of the owners have more than 25% share or controlling interest? 
In case the company doesn’t have an ultimate beneficial owner, you need to name the alternative beneficial owner. In the questionnaire, you don’t have to indicate if the person you named is an ultimate or alternative beneficial owner. 

We’re obliged to collect information about the company’s beneficial owner(s). 

Was this article helpful?