How do corporations (e.g. Microsoft) register for services (e.g. Stripe) that require personal info (e.g. social security/insurance number)?

[jenny5]

When I signed up for Stripe they asked for my social insurance number (the Canadian equivalent of a social security number). And I found myself wonder how corporations sign up for services that require personal info.

I imagine a company's chief financial officer would be the designated contact when registering for such services. But would they really give enter their social insurance/security number?

 

[kylievaduva123]

@jenny5 In the U.S., corporations are issued a federal ID number that is equivalent to a SSN, which they use for things like creating bank accounts, filing taxes or anything else an individual uses their SSN for.

I don't know anything about Canadian incorporation, but I'd be surprised if they didn't have something similar.

 

[kens48884]

@jenny5 Well, for the social security number, companies use the Tax ID number instead. This is a well known and understood thing, and I would think Canada has something similar.

Officers of corporations do not share their personal information like SSN unless they are guaranteeing a loan or something, in which case the company is very tiny or is a bootstrapping startup without access to any other sort of funding.

 

[onagooddaydevout]

@jenny5 Corporations that sign up for services usually do it through individualized contracts. You ever wonder what upper management does? They negotiate those, usually with a salesperson/team. For services where this contract is automated, they may require a contact person to be associated with the account on behalf of the company, who signs up more or less like you would, normally for a free trial, who would then on be regularly contacted by salespeople.

This also lets the corp register many users, or users for a certain private domain. A good example is github enterprise where the direct product is a much different thing than for individuals.

 

[johnnyhudson]

@jenny5 Corporations are people too!