Who OpenCorporates is
OpenCorporates is an open database of companies, built from official public registers and published under an open data licence, the ODbL. It was founded in 2010 to make company data more accessible, more usable and of better quality, and that public-benefit purpose is written into its articles of association. It is run by OpenCorporates Ltd in London and is a certified B Corp.
Journalists, banks, compliance teams, NGOs and law enforcement use it, and businesses use it for KYB and due diligence through its API and bulk data. Its company search, records, officers and filings are what our merchant onboarding module draws on, which is why it is one of the business verification providers the module connects to.
What it does in your platform
Merchant onboarding
Matches each applicant to a company record from its official register: name, number, status, incorporation date, registered address and officers. Differences from what the merchant entered are flagged for your underwriters.
How the connection works
One connector in the merchant onboarding module talks to the OpenCorporates API, with an API token held in the platform's secrets. Every request is made from the platform, never from the app.
The merchant applies
In your app, with the company name and the country or state where it is registered.
The company is found
The module searches OpenCorporates by name and jurisdiction, and the merchant confirms their company from the matches.
The record is read
The module fetches the company by jurisdiction and number: status, incorporation date, registered address and the register it comes from.
Officers are compared
The directors and other officers in the record are compared with the people the merchant named, and the owners go on to the KYC module.
Filings for context
Where the register publishes them, the company's statutory filings are listed for your underwriters to open.
Your team decides
Everything lands on the merchant's underwriting screen in the backoffice, with the source of each record shown.
Next to other providers
OpenCorporates sits in the module's business verification, next to Kyckr, Sumsub and Persona. Its records can serve as a first match on every application, with a live registry provider such as Kyckr adding official documents and ownership chains where your policy asks for them.
The application screens and the underwriting queue belong to the module. Adding a provider next to OpenCorporates, or replacing it later, does not change your app, and past checks stay in the merchant's record with their source.
When OpenCorporates fits best
A strong fit when
- You want company records from many jurisdictions through one API, in one standardised format.
- You value data from an organisation with a public-benefit mission and an open licence.
- You want a first match on every application, with deeper checks only where your rules ask for them.
Also worth a look
- A provider with live registry access and official documents, such as Kyckr.
- A provider that combines business and identity checks, such as Sumsub or Persona.
How we get you live
The contract
We help you get your OpenCorporates API account and licence in place, on terms that fit a commercial platform.
The matching
We set up with you how applicants are matched to records, which differences send a case to review, and the jurisdictions it covers for you.
The keys
The API token goes into your platform's secrets and nowhere else, and every request is made from the platform, never from the app.
A full test run
Before your first live merchant, the flow runs end to end on test applications for real companies, and your underwriters check the matches.
