Connect your account
Verify your identity and connect your bank account to start collecting online, without leaving Cord.
What it is
To collect by card, bank transfer, or bank debit from a quote or invoice link you need a verified payments account in your business’s name. Financial regulations require knowing who you are, who controls the business, and where the money goes (KYC, Know Your Customer). Cord runs the whole process inside the app: the wizard, the camera, and the bank account are Cord screens, with no redirects to a third-party form.
On payments in Mexican pesos (MXN), Cord charges a fee per payment; in any other currency there’s no platform fee today. See Cord Payments fees.
Requirements
| Requirement | Detail |
|---|---|
| Plan | All plans. |
| Permission | Payment settings. |
| Country | Mexico, United States, Canada, Spain, United Kingdom, Germany, and France. |
| Documents | A valid, color government ID for each person you declare, in case verification asks for its photo. |
| Bank account | In the name of the business or its legal representative, in your country’s banking format. |
Check the country before you start
The payments account is opened in your business country (Settings › General) and in that country’s currency, and neither can be changed later: regulatory verification requires it. Cord blocks country changes once the account exists. If the country is wrong, fix it before you start.
Where it’s available
Cord Payments works today in Mexico, the United States, Canada, Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France.
In Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, and Peru you can use everything else (quote, invoice, follow up on collections, and record payments received by transfer) and collect online with Mercado Pago. Settings › Payments › Account tells you Cord Payments isn’t available before you start a verification that couldn’t be completed, and takes you to connect Mercado Pago in Payment methods.
The 8 wizard steps
- Go to Settings › Payments › Account, the first Payments tab.
- If you haven’t connected your account yet, the wizard appears on that same tab, at step 1. Move forward with Continue. If your organization doesn’t have a payments account yet, Cord asks you to confirm your identity before creating it.
- Complete the steps. Whatever you save is kept: if you leave halfway, you pick up where you left off. Saving identity details, uploading a document or adding a person asks you to confirm your identity if you haven’t in the last 10 minutes. Once verification has been submitted, only the organization owner can change the people, their IDs or the company number.
| Step | What it captures |
|---|---|
| 1. Entity type | Whether you operate as an Individual, a Company or a Non-profit organization. Before any detail is sent, this is where you accept the processing of your data, the Cord Payments terms, and your payments account agreement; Cord keeps the text you accepted, its version, the date, IP address, and browser. |
| 2. Business details | Legal or business name; for a company, the number it’s registered under (RFC in Mexico, EIN in the United States, corporation number or NEQ in Canada, company NIF in Spain, Company Number in the United Kingdom, Handelsregister number and its court in Germany, SIREN in France) and its legal structure; your line of business and contact details. If you don’t have a website, you describe what you sell in one sentence and, if verification asks for it, the name your payment shows on your customer’s statement. |
| 3. Registered address | The business’s registered tax address. |
| 4. Identity | Personal details of the legal representative or the individual. Only the fields your country’s verification requires appear: in Mexico, the person’s RFC; in the United States, for example, the last 4 digits of the SSN; in Spain, Germany, France, and the United Kingdom no personal ID number is requested. If verification asks for it, you also say whether the person is or was politically exposed. In a company, if the representative’s details belong to someone else, you declare that you’re authorized to provide them and that you informed that person. |
| 5. People | Who controls the business, with their role and ownership. An individual skips this step. See People and beneficial owners. |
| 6. Verification | Only what verification asks for: the photo of a person’s ID, a proof of address, or a company document. If it asks for nothing, the wizard skips this step. |
| 7. Bank account | The payout account in your country’s format. See Payouts to your bank. Before saving it you authorize, in a checkbox separate from the terms, the processing of your financial data; Cord records that authorization with its version, date, IP address, and browser. Only the organization owner adds the account and accepts the terms (step 8): if you aren’t the owner, the step says Finish my part and the owner completes those two steps when they sign in. |
| 8. Terms | You sign your payments account agreement with the same checkbox as in step 1. The signature is recorded with date, IP address, browser, and terms version. The Cord fee is activated separately, in Settings › Payments › Fees (see Fees). |
If verification finds something specific missing (a blurry photo, a detail that doesn’t match), the wizard takes you straight to that step, with the person it’s missing for, instead of starting over. When you’re done, select Save and return to summary: you don’t repeat the photo or the bank account.
Verification decides what’s requested
Cord has no fixed list of fields per country. The data, documents, and declarations you see come from what your account’s verification reports as pending, and the country only decides what each item is called (RFC, NIF, EIN; INE, DNI, Personalausweis). That’s why two businesses in the same country can see different steps: a company with several partners declares more people than an individual, and a new requirement appears as soon as verification asks for it. The summary shows what’s missing, what was sent and not accepted (with the reason), what will be needed from a given date and, when verification accepts another detail or document instead, that alternative.
People and beneficial owners
In the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Canada, declaring beneficial owners (people with 25% or more ownership) is a legal obligation. The People step is a list you build:
- Add each person with their details, ownership, and roles.
- A person can have several roles, each marked separately:
| Role | When to mark it |
|---|---|
| Legal representative | Operates the account and signs for the business. |
| Owner | Owns 25% or more of the business. Their percentage is captured. |
| Director | Is a director, administrator, or board member. |
| Executive | Holds an executive management role. Their job title is captured. |
- The total percentage is informational. Cord shows “Declared: N% ownership”, but doesn’t force you to reach 100%: there are legitimate structures where the named owners don’t add up to the total.
- Each person has their own verification, with a visible status: Details captured, Under review, Verified, or Action required.
- Adding, editing, or removing a person requires confirming your identity, just like changing the payout account.
- When you save a person you declare that you’re authorized to provide their details and that you informed them that Cord processes them and sends them to the financial verification system. Next to the checkbox is the link to the Privacy Notice so you can share it with Copy link. Cord records the declaration with date, IP address, and browser.
A partnership with three partners at 30% each declares all three. If it declared only one, the account wouldn’t activate: verification would keep asking for the missing ones.
Declarations
When your country’s verification requires it, a declaration appears at the end of the list, for example: “I confirm I’ve added every owner with ≥25%”. It’s a legal declaration under your responsibility and is sent as is. It only appears after you’ve built the list. To send it you tick its checkbox, and Cord keeps the text you accepted with its fingerprint, the date, IP address, and browser.
What Cord does NOT keep
ID numbers, dates of birth, home addresses, and document images go straight to the financial verification system. Cord keeps each person’s name and roles to show you the list. That’s why, when you edit a person, the date of birth, ID, and address are entered again; if you leave them blank, the ones already on file are kept.
Identity documents by country
Before taking the photo, you choose which document you’ll use. That choice adjusts the shape of the camera frame (a card or a passport page) and decides whether you’ll be asked for the back.
| Country | Suggested documents | Back side |
|---|---|---|
| Mexico | Voter ID (INE), passport, driving licence | INE and licence yes; passport no |
| United States | State driving licence, state ID card, passport | Licence and ID yes; passport no |
| Canada | Passport, provincial driving licence, provincial ID card | Licence and ID yes; passport no |
| Spain | DNI, NIE / TIE, passport, driving licence | DNI, NIE / TIE, and licence yes; passport no |
| United Kingdom | Passport, photocard driving licence, biometric residence permit | Licence and permit yes; passport no |
| Germany | Personalausweis, passport, electronic residence permit | Yes, except the passport |
| France | Carte nationale d’identité, passport, titre de séjour | Yes, except the passport |
This list translates the three categories verification accepts (passport, driving licence, and government-issued photo ID) into the name you recognize your document by. It’s not a guarantee of acceptance: if verification rejects a document, Cord tells you why.
If you live in another country, passport only
If a person’s country of residence differs from the payments account’s country, verification only accepts a passport. Cord detects this and tells you before you take the photo, so you don’t wait days for a certain rejection.
Proof of address and company documents
If verification asks for it, a proof of address is added: a recent utility bill or bank statement in the person’s name. It must be a different document from the ID: one document can’t cover two requirements. If a company document is requested, it’s uploaded in the same step.
| File | Formats | Maximum size |
|---|---|---|
| ID (front and back) | JPG or PNG, in color | 4 MB |
| Proof of address or company document, from the computer | JPG, PNG, or PDF | 4 MB |
| From the phone | JPG or PNG; proof of address also as PDF | 4 MB |
Continue on your phone
A phone camera almost always gives better light and focus than a webcam or a scan. In the Verification step, the With your phone option is marked as recommended.
- On your computer, in the Verification step, choose With your phone and click Generate QR code. You can also copy the link with Copy and open it on your phone.
- Scan the code with your phone’s camera. The phone shows Confirm this phone on your computer with a two-digit number.
- On your computer, A phone wants to continue appears with its number. If it’s the one you see on your phone, click Yes, it’s my phone; if not, Not mine. Only the phone you approve can upload photos.
- On the phone, Verify your identity opens with the steps you’ll need; tap Start.
- Choose which document you’ll use. If your address is in another country, the screen tells you only a passport is accepted.
- Take the photo of the front. If you prefer the camera app or already have the photo, use Choose a photo instead.
- Take the photo of the back, if your document has one. With a passport, tap Skip — it’s a passport.
- If requested, take the photo of the proof of address. You can skip it when it wasn’t requested.
- When you finish you’ll see Done. Go back to your computer: the screen, which says “Waiting for you to finish on your phone…”, continues on its own.
Link rules
The QR code link is a single-use credential and is treated as one:
| Rule | Detail |
|---|---|
| Validity | 30 minutes from when you generate it, and 15 minutes from when you approve the phone on your computer. Whichever comes first. |
| One person | It only works for the person you generated it for. Generating another one for that person closes the previous one. |
| When you finish | Once the phone finishes, the link closes and no longer accepts photos. |
| One approved phone | Only the phone you approve on your computer, by comparing its number, uploads photos. If someone else opens the link, you’ll see a different number: reject it with Not mine. Up to three phones can ask for approval (for example, a messaging app’s browser and the phone’s own browser); once you approve one, the others are left out. |
| Attempts | It allows up to 12 uploads and is blocked after 6 failures in a row. When exhausted it says the link’s attempts ran out. |
| Same photo | The same photo isn’t accepted twice: if a document was rejected, take a new photo. The same photo isn’t accepted for front and back either. |
| Privacy | The link page records no analytics and isn’t stored in the browser cache. |
If the link expires or is blocked, generate a new one from your computer with Generate a new one. What you already uploaded is kept.
Photo quality
The most common cause of a rejection isn’t an invalid document: it’s a photo that can’t be read. Before sending, Cord measures the image. Almost everything it detects is advice: you can send the photo anyway if you think it’s fine. Only two things stop the upload, because verification always rejects them:
| What Cord detects | What it does | What it suggests |
|---|---|---|
| Very low resolution | Blocks | Move closer to the document, or use Choose a photo to take it with the camera app. |
| ID in black and white | Blocks | Take it again in color. |
| Photo too dark | Warns | Move near a window or turn on a light. |
| Too much light | Warns | Move away from the lamp or direct sunlight. |
| Glare on the document | Warns | Tilt it slightly to remove it. |
| The document blends into the background | Warns | Place it on a differently colored surface. |
| Blurry photo | Warns | Rest it on a flat surface and wait for it to focus. |
| Readable, but could be better | Warns | Move closer and let it focus. |
A black-and-white proof of address is accepted: the color rule applies only to photo IDs.
If a document is rejected
When verification rejects a photo, Cord shows the reason on that person’s card: the image can’t be read, the document is expired, the name doesn’t match the one entered, or the back is missing. Fix that specific issue and take a new photo.
Your photos aren't stored in Cord
Images are transmitted encrypted to the financial verification system and Cord doesn’t store them. Before sending them, Cord strips their metadata, including the GPS location many phones save inside the photo, and keeps only the orientation so the photo doesn’t arrive rotated.
Cord does keep a compliance record of each upload: which side of the document was sent, when, from which IP address, the photo’s quality measurements, and what verification answered. Never the image, the document number, or a thumbnail. That record is kept for five years from its creation, even if the organization is deleted earlier. That period isn’t due to a universal anti-money-laundering obligation.
Account statuses
| Status | What you see in Settings › Payments › Account | What you can do |
|---|---|---|
| New | The wizard at step 1. | Quote, invoice, and record manual payments. Online methods (card, bank transfer, and bank debit) are locked. |
| Pending | Verification pending: verification is in progress or a requirement is missing. The screen refreshes on its own during review. | Complete what’s pending. Online methods stay locked. |
| Active | All set, you can accept payments now!: identity and bank account confirmed. | Collect with the methods you turn on and receive payouts. |
Once the account is connected, Your account status also shows Payments and Payouts (Enabled or Paused), Verification (Complete, In review, Under additional review, Rejected, or how many items are due) and, if details are missing, their Deadline.
While the account is in review, the wizard checks its status for a few minutes; after that you can come back later or select Check now. If the payment processor rejects the account, the wizard says so with the reason and stops checking: sending the same details again won’t change the decision, so write to us. If it’s under additional review, you don’t need to do anything; if a detail is needed, we’ll email you.
Cord emails you and the admins when payments or payouts are paused (with the reason), when there are details to complete or an item that couldn’t be verified (with its deadline), and when everything works again. It also emails you when someone adds, changes, or removes a person from the verification, uploads a document, or changes the business details: if you don’t recognize it, review the account, change your password, and sign out your other sessions. The owner’s email includes It wasn’t me, which signs them out for you. While the owner fills in the wizard for the first time, these emails aren’t sent.
An active account can ask for information again later, for example when a document expires or requirements change. Settings › Payments › Account then asks you to provide the missing details, with their deadline if there is one, so your payments and payouts aren’t paused, and shows you what’s missing so you can complete it right there. The Account status widget on Revenue › Payments also shows how many requirements are missing and their deadline.
To stop collecting with Cord Payments, click Disconnect Cord Payments in the Danger zone of the same tab, confirm, and verify your identity when Cord asks. Only the organization owner can disconnect. You stop receiving online payments with Cord Payments; your manual transfer details and payment history are kept.
Limits
- Cord Payments is available in seven countries; the account’s country and currency don’t change later.
- Cord doesn’t run liveness checks or selfies: document authenticity is checked by the verification system on the photo you upload. That’s why SEPA Direct Debit shows Coming soon on an account that doesn’t have it yet (see Bank debit).
- The phone link lasts at most 30 minutes and allows 12 uploads.
- IDs are uploaded as JPG or PNG, in color, up to 4 MB.
Common problems
The wizard asks for something another account didn’t. What’s requested depends on your country, entity type, and verification status. That’s normal.
The camera won’t start on my phone. Check that the browser has camera permission. If you opened the link inside a messaging app, open it in the phone’s browser. You can always use Choose a photo instead.
The phone says it wasn’t approved. On your computer that phone was rejected or another one was approved. Generate a new link and approve the number your phone shows.
The phone says the link is already closed. It closed before receiving your ID, or you generated another one. Generate a new one from your computer.
The same photo was rejected again. Resending the same file fails again. Take a new photo fixing the reason shown.
I can’t change the business country. That’s intentional once the payments account exists: the account’s country can’t be modified.
It says only the owner can change that detail. Once verification has been submitted, changing the people, their IDs or the company number is up to the organization owner. Ask them to do it from Settings › Payments › Account.