Credit Applications Guide

What it is — and what it isn’t

The credit application is a separate application type, decoupled from your registration form. It gives buyers a focused place to request trade credit, and gives you a tidy record of what they asked for and what you decided.

• It collects a structured application: business identity, the credit ask, trade references, and an authorisation step.
• It organises the submission alongside the company in your hub, with a worklist entry when a recorded decision is due for re-review.
• It records your decision — an approved limit and payment terms — against the company.

The 3-step application

The form is seeded for you with a fixed compliance spine. It adapts to your shop’s region: US shops collect an EIN, while EU/UK shops collect a VAT or company registration number.

1. Business details & the credit ask — company name, your region’s registration id, the requested credit limit, requested payment terms, and estimated annual volume.
2. Trade references — three references (company, contact, phone, email, and account number), plus the primary contact.
3. Authorisation — a verification-authorisation checkbox and a credit terms acceptance checkbox. These two fields are system-owned and always present — they cannot be removed. This version ships with standard built-in wording; merchant-supplied (counsel-authored) wording is a planned later enhancement.

Sending the application

From a company’s page in B2B Onboard, open the Credit card. Choose Issue link to mint a secure, expiring magic link you can copy and share, or Email link to send it straight to the company’s contact on file. The buyer opens the link, completes the 3 steps, and submits — no storefront login required. The email copy is editable in Settings → Email Templates (“Credit Application Link”).

A credit application is tied to the company it was sent from — it is not a new wholesale registration and does not appear in the Applications list. Once submitted, it surfaces for your review on the company’s Credit card and in the Action required worklist.

Capturing interest at registration

You can add an optional “I’m interested in trade credit or net terms” checkbox to any wholesale registration form. Turn it on per form in the form editor under Settings → Submission settings → “Ask about trade credit interest”. It is off by default, so existing forms are unchanged until you enable it. Once on, it is purely a way for a prospect to flag interest while they apply — ticking it is optional, never blocks the form, and does not create a credit application, a decision, or any terms. No credit is requested or scored at this point; nothing about checkout or financing changes.

When you later approve that registration and the company is created, the prospect’s interest is recorded against the new company. On the company’s Credit card — before any credit application exists — you’ll see a Requested credit badge and an info note: “This customer asked about trade credit when they registered.” It’s a reminder to act, nothing more — use the same Issue link / Email link actions to send them the credit application when you’re ready. The opt-in only helps you collect, organise, and record interest; it makes no judgement about a buyer’s creditworthiness.

Recording your decision

Open the company (from Action required or Companies). When an application is awaiting review, its Credit card shows a Needs review badge with the submitted ask — requested limit, requested terms, estimated volume, the three trade references, and the authorisation. There you enter the approved credit limit, choose the payment terms, and click Approve credit or Decline. The approved limit is recorded on the company; the payment terms are applied to all of the company’s locations (Shopify scopes payment terms per location, so a company-wide credit decision sets them on every location). B2B Onboard uses Shopify’s built-in payment terms — there is no second place to manage them.

The decision is recorded against the company, and the approved limit is also written to a company metafield for reference and reporting. Amounts are shown in your store’s currency.

After a decision is recorded, the Credit card becomes the place you manage the relationship. You can Edit decision (adjust the limit, terms, or location), Revoke credit, View application to re-read what was submitted, or Issue / Email a fresh link to request an updated application later.

Collecting supporting documents

For larger or riskier credit relationships you often need supporting financial documents — financial statements, a bank authorisation, or a signed credit application. B2B Onboard collects these on demand, so sensitive documents are never front-loaded onto the application form. On the company’s Credit card (once an application exists), the Supporting documents section gives you three options:

• Request documents — generates a secure upload link you can copy and share however you like.
• Email link — emails the same secure upload link to the company’s contact using the Supporting Document Request email template.
• Delegate to signer — sends the upload link to a named authorised signer (for example a finance officer) so they can provide the documents directly.

The buyer or signer opens the link, uploads one or more documents, and can return to the same link to add more until it expires (links are valid for 14 days). Each uploaded document is stored securely, checked automatically by AI (the same verification engine used for tax-exemption certificates), and listed back on the Credit card with its name, upload date, who uploaded it, a verification status badge, and a download link.

You can also collect documents automatically. In Settings › Automations, the Credit document auto-request threshold lets you set an amount above which a submitted credit application automatically emails the buyer a document-upload link. Leave it blank to disable.

Staying on top of reviews

A newly submitted credit application (awaiting your decision) and a recorded decision that is due for re-review both appear in your Action required worklist alongside certificate actions, each with a Needs review badge. Open the row to jump straight to the company’s Credit card to record (or update) the decision.

Third-party credit signals

Optionally, you can connect your own business-credit bureau (Dun & Bradstreet, Experian Business, Creditsafe) or trade-credit insurer (Atradius, Allianz Trade) account in Settings → Integrations → Credit risk signals by entering your own API credential. Once connected, a Pull credit signal action appears on a company’s Credit card. Pulling a signal surfaces the provider’s output — a bureau’s credit band or an insurer’s suggested cover amount — as a clearly-labelled advisory panel.

This is advisory only. The signal informs your decision — it never makes it. B2B Onboard does not score creditworthiness, suggest a limit, or approve or decline anything on your behalf, and it does not gate the customer’s application. Every lookup uses your own credential; we never pull or resell reports in our own name, never aggregate or share a signal across merchants, and never furnish data to a bureau. You hold the credential and the permissible-purpose (US FCRA) / lawful-basis (GDPR) responsibility for each lookup. Your API credential is encrypted at rest and stored only for your own store; it is removed when you disconnect the provider or uninstall the app.

Third-party credit signals are part of the wholesale credit module and are available on the Growth and Pro plans.

Plan availability

Credit applications are available on the Growth and Pro plans. On lower plans, the Credit card shows an upgrade prompt and no links can be generated.