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. The registration number it asks for follows the buyer company’s country — taken from the company’s address in Shopify, or from the address on its registration application — falling back to your store’s country when the buyer’s country is unknown. So an Australian store’s New Zealand buyer is asked for an NZBN, not an ABN:

• United States — Employer Identification Number (EIN).
• EU and UK — VAT or company registration number.
• Australia — Australian Business Number (ABN), plus the Australian Company Number (ACN) for companies (optional).
• New Zealand — New Zealand Business Number (NZBN).
• Canada — Business Number (BN).
• Elsewhere — the business registration number.

The company name, registration number and contact the buyer enters are shown with the application on the company page, next to the credit ask.

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 — the number of trade references you choose under Settings → Automations → Credit application — None, or 1–5 (the default is two, or three for US and Canadian shops) — each with company, contact and phone, and optionally email and account number, plus the primary contact. With None the buyer is not asked for trade references at all: this step is titled Primary contact and asks only for the primary contact, the authorisation wording no longer mentions trade references, and the signed pack carries no trade-reference row. This applies to the credit link, the combined flow and test runs alike.
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.

Registered name suggestion

For buyers in Australia, New Zealand, Norway, the UK and the EU, the credit application looks the registration number up in the free public business register as soon as the buyer has entered it (the Australian Business Register, the NZBN register, the Brønnøysund Register Centre, HMRC and the EU’s VIES service) and suggests the registered business name:

• If the company name field is still empty, it is filled in with the registered name, and a note asks the buyer to check it.
• If the buyer already typed a different name, nothing is changed. The registered name is shown under the field with a Use this name button.
• The buyer can always change the name. Only the name is shown — never an address or tax status.

No suggestion appears when the register does not publish a name for the number, or cannot be reached; the field simply stays as the buyer typed it. Nothing is looked up for buyers in other countries (for example the United States or Canada). There is nothing to turn on.

Credit-report consent (optional)

If you want buyers to consent before you obtain a credit report about their business, you can add your own consent clause to the application. Turn it on under Settings → Automations → Credit application with Ask for credit-report consent, and type your wording in Consent wording (up to 2,000 characters). It is off by default.

• The wording is yours. B2B Onboard supplies no consent text and does not review it — take it from your own counsel. The box starts empty, and the clause can’t be turned on until you have entered wording.
• Where buyers see it. It appears as its own required checkbox on the last step of the application, after the verification authorisation. Buyers can’t submit without ticking it. It is shown exactly as you wrote it — it is not translated.
• Which buyers see it. Consent rules depend on where the buyer is, so you can limit the clause with Show to buyers in: two-letter country codes separated by commas, for example AU, NZ. Leave it blank to show it to every buyer. The buyer’s country is worked out the same way as for the registration number (the company’s address, falling back to your store’s country).
• What is recorded. When a buyer accepts the clause, the exact wording they saw, the date that wording was last changed, and the buyer’s country are stored with the credit application and shown on the company’s Credit card under “Credit-report consent given”. Applications submitted without the clause show nothing.

Editing the wording later only affects applications submitted after the change; each application keeps the wording its buyer accepted.

More generally, every credit application records the exact wording of each box the buyer ticked — the verification authorisation, the credit terms and, when shown, your consent clause — together with the version of that wording. The record therefore shows what was accepted even if the wording changes later. The consent recorded is that of the person who ticked the box.

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.

Credit application before approval

You can also ask for a credit application while a wholesale registration is still pending, before any Shopify company exists. Open the application in Applications and find the Credit application card in the right-hand column. Choose Email credit application link to send the secure link to the applicant’s email address, or Copy link instead to share it yourself. The link expires after 14 days and works once.

The buyer completes the same 3 steps. Their registration number field follows the country of the address they gave on the registration form. What they submit is stored with the registration application: the card shows the summary, and the timeline records “Credit application submitted”.

When you approve the registration, the credit application moves to the new (or matched) company and appears on the company’s Credit card as pending review. The application page then says when it was moved, with a link to the company. If the move fails, approval still goes through; the timeline shows “Credit application could not be moved to the company” and the card offers a Retry button.

Supporting documents can be collected before approval too. Once the buyer has submitted the credit application, the card shows a Supporting documents section while the registration is pending: choose Request documents for a copyable upload link, or Email to customer to send it to the applicant’s email address. The link expires after 14 days. If the requested limit is above your Credit document auto-request threshold, the request is emailed automatically when the buyer submits.

Uploaded documents are AI-checked the same way as on the company page. Each one is listed with its verification status, read confidence, the fields read from it and any flags, and you can open it with Preview or save it with Download. The timeline records “Credit supporting document uploaded”. This helps you collect what you need while the registration is still under review.

Your credit decision is still made on the company page, after approval. When you approve, the documents move to the company with the credit application. You review them on the company’s Credit card, where they show up under Documents to review in Action required, and they are no longer listed on the application page.

One sitting: registration, credit application and agreement together

By default you send the credit application link yourself after approval. If you would rather collect everything at once, go to Settings → Automations, find the Credit application card and set When to ask for the credit application to In the same sitting. The applicant then goes straight from the registration form to the credit application, in the same browser session.

Who is asked. If your form has the trade-credit question, only applicants who tick it go to the credit application; everyone else sees your normal confirmation. If your form does not ask the question, every applicant goes to the credit application.

The trade agreement. When your agreement delivery is set to Inline, the applicant goes on to sign the trade agreement right after submitting the credit application. With any other agreement delivery setting the flow ends after the credit application, and you send the agreement as you do today.

Backup emails. Each step is also emailed to the applicant, so nothing is lost if they close the page. The credit application link is emailed when they submit the registration form. The agreement link is emailed when they reach the agreement step. An applicant who leaves part-way can come back through the credit application email and continue to the agreement from there. Both links expire after 14 days.

No auto-approval. Applications that go to the credit step are not auto-approved, even when one of your auto-approval rules matches, and also not later when a tax ID is verified after submission. The timeline records that auto-approval was skipped, so you can review the whole pack yourself.

One review. Open the application in Applications to see the registration, the credit application (with any supporting documents) and the signed agreement on one page. When you approve, the credit application and the agreement move to the new company. The credit application appears on the company’s Credit card as pending review — or, when the company already has an approved limit, as a new application awaiting your decision next to it.

Decide on credit while you approve. The Approve page shows the credit application next to the buyer setup, with a count of supporting documents and how many the AI check flagged. Under Credit decision you choose Decide later on the company page (the default) or Approve credit now. Approving now asks for the approved credit limit, pre-filled with the amount the applicant asked for, and records it on the company in the same step — the company’s Credit card shows Approved and the timeline records Credit approved with the application. Payment terms come from Buyer setup on the same page; when you add the applicant to an existing company, the limit you approve replaces the limit already approved for that company, and that company keeps its current payment terms. Declining credit is done on the company page after approval — approving an application never declines credit, and on a company that already has an approved limit the choice is Keep current limit rather than Decline. If the decision can’t be saved, the application is still approved and shows Credit decision not recorded, so you can record it on the company page.

Applications that were held because you reached your monthly limit, or restored from quarantine, do not take the credit step when they are released. Send the credit application link from the application page instead.

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 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.

A new credit application is a request, not a decision. When a company that already has an approved limit sends a new credit application (or a new applicant with a credit application is added to the company), the approved limit and payment terms stay in place. The Credit card shows New credit application awaiting your decision with the new application, and the company appears in Action required. Click Approve new limit to record a new limit and terms, or Keep current limit to close the new application without a change. Nothing changes in Shopify until you choose.

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 account in Settings → Integrations → Credit risk signals by entering your own API credential. Experian Business is the provider with a live integration today. 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.

Dun & Bradstreet, Creditsafe, Atradius, and Allianz Trade appear on the same page as coming soon cards — those integrations are not built yet, so they have no credential fields. Each card offers Register interest, which asks whether you are already a customer of that provider (yes / no / not sure). Those answers tell us which provider to wire up next; registering interest carries no delivery date, and you can change your answer at any time.

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.