Welcome to WorldFirst! We can’t wait to help your business grow globally
Before we get started, please make sure you have the following to hand:
- Your company’s basic information: (business name, website URL and trading address)
- A valid form of ID (e.g., your driving license or passport)
- Your mobile phone
- Access to your emails
If you’re applying for a registered company, you’ll also need:
- The names and dates of birth of all current directors
- Copies of ID documents for the Ultimate Beneficial Owners
- The company’s estimated monthly turnover
Register and create your login
- First, select the country or region where your business is registered using the dropdown list
- You’ll be asked to complete a quick verification test
- Then, enter your email and click on ‘send code’
- An OTP (one-time password) will be sent to your email
- You can enter the code in the field below (Please note that the OTP is only valid for 15 minutes)
- Create a login password for your account
- After reading and accepting the Terms and Conditions, select ‘Continue’
- Next, you’ll be asked to link your mobile number to the account
- Enter your mobile phone number and click ‘Send code’
- When prompted, enter the 6-digit verification code sent to your mobile phone via SMS and click ‘Confirm’
- Lastly, select your buisness type according to your business entity and select your estimated monthly turnover
If you’re a director of a registered company, please continue with this guide. If you’re a sole trader, please refer to the ‘How can I open a World Account as a sole trader?’ guide for next steps.
- Once you have finished the above steps, you’ll be presented with the homepage of the account, where you can proceed to the company verification steps
Company verification
You will now proceed to the company verification steps. Please note that you can put your application on hold at any point and return to where you left off by clicking ‘Verify your account’ again on the homepage.
- First, enter your company registration number
- You can find the number on your company registration document
- Your company information will be pre-populated based on your company registration number
- If any information is incorrect or missing, please review and manually amend
- Provide your trading address (addresss listed on your company registration document)
- If your registered address is the same as your trading address, then click ‘Next’
- Otherwise, enter your trading address and proceed
- Next, depending on where your business is registered, you may be asked to select your purpose of using the World Account
- Please make your selection based on your actual business needs
- Using the dropdown, select the industry that best describes your business
- The trading name is optional, but we encourage you to provide it as this can help speed up your application process
- If you have a website or a storefront, please provide it as well
There are certain industries that we’re currently unable to support or that require further verification. If you are unable to proceed with the application, it is possible that your industry falls outside our current scope of services.
We encourage you to contact our customer service team for more information and advice on whether we might be able to support you in the future. We are continuously evaluating and expanding our service offerings, and your feedback is valuable to us.
Director & UBO verification
Director information
- First, select in which country your ID was issued
- Then, select your ID type, either passport or driver’s license
To provide your passport or ID information, please use your mobile device camera to scan the QR code
The QR code will direct you to a mobile portal where you can scan your ID and conduct facial recognition
Once you have completed the steps on mobile, you’ll be prompted to return to your application window on portal
If verification is successful, you’ll see a confirmation message. Please review the information that’s been automatically populated for your name, ID number, nationality, DOB, etc. Please manually amend if anything is incorrect.
- If the mobile verifications did not work, you can also proceed on your desktop browser by manually uploading an image of your ID and a photo of yourself holding the ID (Please make sure you pose the photo following the instructions)
- We are required under the relevant laws and legislations to conduct verification on all the directors of our clients
- In that regard, kindly ensure that all directors of your company have been declared to faciliate the completion of onboarding process
UBO information
Under ‘company ownership’, if your company has shareholder(s) that own more than 25% of the company, please select ‘yes’ and you’ll be prompted to provide the information of all such shareholders. If your company doesn’t have shareholder(s) that own 25% or more then select ‘No’. You’ll need to add the details for your company’s Key Controller(s).
The Key Controller is an individual appointed to exercise direct control over the entity, by participating in the governance or senior / executive activities of the business.
Key Controllers include:
- Chief Executive Officer (CEO) / Managing Director
- Chief Financial Officer (CFO) / Head of Finance
- Chief Operating Officer (COO) / Head of Operations
- Managing Partner
- Chairman / Deputy Chairman of the Board
- Chairman of the Audit / Remuneration / Risk Committee
- Authorised Signatory with sole signing authority
- Nominee
- Powers of Attorney
- After you fill in UBO information, click ‘Submit’ to finish your application
- You’ll receive an email confirming the status of your application
- The review of your application can take up to two working days
- If you don’t receive an email from us after this point, please contact our customer service by the service number listed on your local worldfirst.com website.
Verification results
If your application was successful, you’ll receive a notification on email as well as on your account homepage. You can then start to use the available features in your account.
We may also be asking for more information to verify your business. In this instance, you may receive a video call invitation on your account. Alternatively, we may also invite you to upload more documents, such as bank statements, photos of your office space, your business certifications, etc. Please look out for such messages in your email or on the homepage of your World Account.
If you’re declined for your application, we apologize that we’re unable to serve your business at the moment. Please contact us by the customer service information listed on your local worldfirst.com website. We will stay in touch and we look forward to serving you in the future.
