Why do I need to provide my Social Security Number on the Merchant Application?
The US Patriot Act (the "Act") created new regulations for the finance industry regarding customer identification. As a result, when you complete a merchant application, the officer signing must also provide certain identifying information.
What it requires:
The Act requires that financial institutions develop a Customer Identification Program (CIP) that implements reasonable procedures to:
1) Collect identifying information about customers opening an account,
2) Verify that the customers are who they say they are,
3) Maintain records of the information used to verify their identity, and
4) Determine whether the customer appears on any list of suspected terrorists or terrorist organizations