On Amazon Europe, when the cumulative sales of a store is greater than 5,000 euros (sometimes it will appear directly during the account registration stage), the seller will receive an audit notice. Once the audit materials are not submitted within the deadline or the materials are submitted incorrectly, the store will face the threat of account suspension. This audit is called Know Your Customer (KYC).
KYC is the institutional basis for anti-money laundering and corruption prevention. According to the relevant requirements of European regulators, Amazon needs to verify the identity of sellers who open stores in European countries such as the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy.
It can be seen that sellers on Amazon Europe will have to undergo KYC audits sooner or later, which is unavoidable. It is recommended that you prepare all the information when registering an account on the European site, so that you can submit the information immediately after the KYC audit, which will not affect the subsequent product sales of the store.
So what materials do you need to prepare for the KYC audit? The following is a list of materials. New sellers on the European site should note that as long as you prepare the relevant materials truthfully according to this list, you will be able to pass the KYC audit.
① Scanned copy of the registered company’s business license and the latest complete version of the company’s articles of association. The company’s articles of association need to reflect the names of all shareholders and equity distribution information, and all beneficiaries need to sign and stamp the company’s official seal.
② Scanned copies of the ID cards of the company’s primary contact person and beneficiary, for example, a scanned copy of the passport or the front and back of the ID card plus a scanned copy of the personal page of the household registration booklet.
③ Personal expense bills of the company’s primary contact person and beneficiary.
The personal expense bill must be any daily expense bill within the last 90 days, including water, electricity, gas, Internet, TV, telephone, mobile phone, etc., or credit card statements, etc., and must be issued by a formal institution (public utility, bank, etc.).
The expense bill must have the name and detailed residential address of the family. If the expense bill is in the name of the spouse, a marriage certificate must be submitted at the same time; if the expense bill is in the name of the landlord (the landlord must be the company), a formal house rental contract is required to prove the rental relationship. Online bills can also be accepted in the form of screenshots, provided that there is a complete web page link. If the seller cannot provide the above personal expense bills, their residence permit or temporary residence permit is also acceptable.
④ Company-to-public bank statement. Please issue a company-to-public bank statement from any bank. The bill requirements are as follows.
The company name must be consistent with the company name on the business license.
The bank name or bank logo must be clearly visible.
There must be a bank account number opened at the bank.
If the bill has a date requirement, the account opening date must be within one year.
For confidentiality purposes, the seller may cover the records of relevant transactions. The seller can use the account opening permit for the public account instead (the opening date must be within one year). Individual sellers can provide personal bank statements, with the same requirements as above.
⑤ Authorization letter. If the company’s primary contact is not the company’s legal person or beneficiary, Amazon will require the seller to provide an authorization letter from the company’s legal person authorizing the primary contact to actually operate the public account.
⑥ Company daily expense bill. For sellers registered in Hong Kong and Taiwan (companies in other parts of China do not need to provide), Amazon will require sellers to provide a company daily expense bill. The bill requirement is any daily expense bill within the last 90 days, including water, electricity, gas, Internet, telephone, social security, bank statements, etc.
⑦ Supplementary materials. Sellers may be required to submit supplementary materials, not limited to the following types, subject to the requirements of the review team.
Notarized documents of relevant materials. These documents can be notarized at the local notary office. Please provide all pages of the document and keep the original VAT invoice properly.
Scanned copy of the personal/company bank account comprehensive information query voucher. Please call the specific bank branch for consultation and confirmation.