How does the Swan verification work for self-employed individuals?

🧭 Who needs to complete the process?

The verification must be carried out by an authorized representative—meaning the self-employed individual or a partner who is officially authorized to open the account.

• Special Case: If the account is opened by another person (e.g., an assistant), you will strictly need a power of attorney (Vollmacht) and a valid ID document of the authorized representative.

🛠 Step-by-step guide: Starting the verification

Please set aside about 10–15 minutes to fill out the form. It helps to have the most important documents ready beforehand.

1. Log into the portal at app.become1.de.
2. Click on Switch role at the bottom left to open the admin view.
3. In the left menu, navigate to the become.1 Card section.
4. Select your business and click on Set up payment account.
5. Start the process by clicking the Start button—the Swan interface will open.
6. Enter all requested information into the form step-by-step.

📋 Which documents do you need to submit?

Since Swan cannot automatically retrieve registry information for self-employed individuals from commercial registries, you must provide the following proofs yourself:

1. Proof of business existence

Upload at least one of the following documents:

• Business registration or re-registration (Gewerbeanmeldung or Gewerbeummeldung—not older than 5 years)
• Partnership agreement / Articles of association (dated & signed)
• Professional chamber certificate (e.g., from the IHK or HWK)
• Official proof of your self-employed or freelance status

2. Tax details (Direct input)

• Tax ID of the person opening the account
• Tax ID of the Ultimate Beneficial Owners (UBOs—individuals holding more than 25% of the shares)
• Tax ID of the business

💡 Tip: You can submit these tax IDs up to 90 days after account opening. You can still start the verification process right now!

3. Optional documents for specific cases

Depending on your setup, Swan may occasionally request additional proof later on:

• Proof of business address (e.g., rental agreement, letter from the tax office)
• Tax assessment or revenue/surplus calculation (Einnahmenüberschussrechnung – EÜR)
• Power of attorney & ID document (if the setup is not done by you personally)
• ID documents of all UBOs and a PEP form (if an involved person is a Politically Exposed Person)

📥 What happens if documents are missing?

If Swan requires further documents from you, the bank will not contact you directly.

• Instead, Swan will reach out to us—the become.1 team.
• We review the bank's feedback, translate it into simple terms, and send you an email.
• We will tell you exactly what is missing and how to submit it. We will guide you step-by-step until your account is successfully verified.

🧾 What happens after the verification?

Important note: Since an automated SEPA direct debit mandate cannot be used in this setup, the payment process works a little differently for you:

1. Let us know as soon as your account status shows as VERIFIED in the portal.
2. We will then manually unlock the test transfer for you.
3. Transfer one euro from your business bank account to the automatically generated reference account at Swan.
4. Once the euro arrives, the link is confirmed, and your become.1 account is ready for use.
5. Important for ongoing operations: From now on, you will independently transfer your desired monthly card balance to your reference account so your employees can use their budgets as usual.

📞 Still have questions?

If it doesn't work despite this guide, or if you need help with the documents, just send us a message at customer-success@become1.de or write to us in the chat.

We are always happy to support you!