Key Takeaways
- Core requirements: SSN, EIN, and 3 months of business bank statements
- No immigration documents, visa copies, or residency proof required
- No tax returns required for initial application (may be requested for larger tranches)
- No collateral appraisal or property lien required for working capital tranches
- Optional: Merchant processor statements, POS reports, or P&L can strengthen your application
The Complete Document Checklist
Bankable's document requirements are designed to verify one thing: that your US business generates the revenue it claims to generate. Everything else is secondary. Here is the complete list of what you will need to apply:
Required Documents
- Social Security Number (SSN): Your personal SSN, used to establish your US tax identity. E-2 visa holders receive SSNs and use them identically to citizens and permanent residents.
- Employer Identification Number (EIN): Your business EIN, issued by the IRS. This ties the funding to your US legal business entity — LLC, corporation, or partnership.
- 3 Months of Business Bank Statements: PDF statements from your primary business checking account. These are the core underwriting document — they show us your actual revenue inflows, expense patterns, and cash flow consistency.
- Basic Business Information: Business name, business address, industry type, and date founded. This takes approximately 3 minutes to enter in the online application.
Helpful Optional Documents
These are not required for initial review, but providing them may accelerate approval or support a larger funding amount:
- Merchant processor statements (Square, Stripe, PayPal, Toast, Clover, etc.)
- Point-of-sale system revenue reports
- Profit and Loss statement for the last 12 months
- Accounts receivable aging report (for B2B businesses with invoice-based revenue)
Documents You Do NOT Need
This list is equally important to understand:
- Visa copy or I-94 travel record
- Passport (not required for application)
- Immigration attorney letter or visa petition documents
- USCIS approval notices
- Business plan or projections
- Personal tax returns (IRS Form 1040)
- Business tax returns (IRS Form 1120 or 1065)
- Collateral appraisal or property documents
- US citizen co-signer identification
- Audited financial statements
Why Bank Statements Are Sufficient
Traditional lenders require extensive documentation because they are trying to predict your future based on your past tax filings and your stated collateral value. Tax returns are a lagging indicator — they reflect last year's performance, reported through an accounting lens that may differ significantly from your actual cash flow. Collateral appraisals introduce a separate dimension of risk assessment that has nothing to do with whether your business can afford repayment.
Bankable's model is different. We look at your bank statements because they show us real cash — real money that actually moved through your business account over the last 90 days. Monthly gross inflows, average daily balance, consistency of revenue, and the absence of extreme volatility are the actual signals that matter for predicting repayment capacity.
Bank statements also cannot be retroactively falsified the way other financial documents can. They are primary source documents from a regulated financial institution. This makes them more reliable for underwriting purposes than documents prepared or compiled by the applicant.
How to Prepare Your Bank Statements
Download PDF statements directly from your business bank's online portal. Do not scan paper statements if a PDF download is available — PDF-native statements are cleaner and process faster through our verification system.
Ensure the statements show your business name (not your personal name) and your business account number. If you have multiple business accounts, you may include all of them — this often strengthens your application by showing a fuller picture of your revenue.
Do not redact or edit your statements. Altered or incomplete statements will trigger a review delay or disqualification. If you have concerns about specific transactions, contact our team before applying.
Connecting Your Bank Account Digitally
As an alternative to PDF uploads, Bankable supports secure bank account connection through Plaid — the same technology used by thousands of US financial applications. Connecting your bank account digitally allows us to pull your statement data directly, eliminating the upload step entirely.
Plaid connection is read-only. We can see your transaction history and account balance, but we cannot initiate transfers or move money without your explicit authorization. Your bank credentials are never stored by Bankable.
For Larger Funding Amounts
For funding tranches above $500,000, our underwriting team may request additional documentation to support the larger amount. This typically includes:
- 12 months of bank statements (instead of 3)
- Most recent year's business tax return or P&L statement
- Accounts receivable report or invoice summary (for B2B businesses)
Even at these larger amounts, immigration documents and collateral appraisals are not required. The additional requests are purely about verifying revenue at greater depth.
Document Submission Methods
All documents are submitted through Bankable's secure online application portal using 256-bit SSL encryption. You can also connect your bank account digitally via Plaid during the application to expedite the process. Our support team is available to assist with document questions by phone at (786) 443-5511 or via the online chat on our application portal.
Frequently Asked Questions
The core requirements are your SSN, EIN, and 3 months of business bank statements. No immigration documents, tax returns, or collateral are required for the initial application.
No. Bankable does not require visa copies, passport scans, I-94 records, or any immigration documents as part of the funding application.
Not for most applications. Bank statements are the primary underwriting document. Tax returns may be requested for larger tranches above $500K.
No. Working capital tranches do not require collateral pledges or property liens. Funding is based on revenue, not asset backing.
Statements should cover the last 3 months of business activity. Make sure they are PDF-native downloads from your bank portal rather than scanned paper copies.
Yes. Bankable supports secure read-only bank account connection through Plaid. This eliminates the upload step and often speeds up the underwriting process.
You may include statements from all business accounts. Multiple accounts often strengthen your application by providing a more complete picture of your revenue.
The online application takes approximately 12 minutes to complete. This includes entering basic business information, uploading or connecting bank statements, and providing your SSN and EIN.
Yes. All documents are submitted through 256-bit SSL encryption. Bankable applies strict data security and privacy policies.
Your EIN appears on your IRS EIN assignment letter, business tax returns (Form 1120 or 1065), or on business bank account paperwork. If you cannot locate it, the IRS Business and Specialty Tax Line can provide it.