How to verify your identity

As a customer, you can verify your identity using your Australian driver’s license or passport in one of the following ways:

• Use the latest version of our app on your mobile device and follow the prompts.
• Verify on your mobile device by entering the unique token in your letter or email.
• Call the number provided in your letter or email and have a reference from this letter or email handy.
• Email certified copies of your documents to the email address listed in your letter or email.
• Take your identification documents to your nearest NAB branch if:
• you’re a minor 
• you don’t feel comfortable verifying your ID online and can’t contact us via phone.

Note: Minors under the age of 16 cannot verify via QR code or the NAB app.​

Identification documents

If you do‘nt have a valid driver’s license or passport or a proof of age/identity card, then a combination of a primary non-photographic document and a secondary document will be accepted.

Primary non-photographic document:

• Birth certificate
• Citizenship certificate
• Pension,health care, or seniors card (Australian Government issued only)

Secondary document:

• Australia Taxation Office notice
• Financial benefits statements (e.g.. child care subsidy, Medicare benefit tax statement)
• Medicare card (cannot be expired)
• Australian Defence Force card (cannot be expired)
• Australia Firearms License (cannot be expired)
• Rates notice (must be less than 3 months old from the date of issue)
• Utility bill (must be less than 3 months old from the date of issue)

Certified copies

Where we ask for a certified copy, it must be a certified copy of the original document(s), certified within the last 4 months and the certifier must write the following on the copy:

• “This is a true copy of the original document(s) which I have sighted”
• Full name e.g. Michelle Helena Citizen 
• Date of certification
• Signature
• The capacity in which they have certified the document (e.g. judge, magistrate, police officer, etc.)
• Affix the official stamp or seal of the certifier’s organisation (if applicable).

Please have the approved certifier scan the certified documents and email them to specialised.identityprotect@nab.com.au either: 

• Directly from the professional email address of the approved certifier ensuring they include your customer reference number from the top of this letter; or
• By forwarding the original email from the approved certifier to you, including your reference number from the top of this letter. Please ensure no changes are made to the original email. 

To meet our regulatory obligations, we’re unable to accept certified documents digitally if we’re unable to confirm that they were originally sent from the certifier's professional email address (this includes if the original email is forwarded by you).

Certification can be done by any of the approved certifiers listed in the Certified ID Guide (PDF, 157KB), opens in new window and must strictly adhere to the standards outlined in this document.

If you're unable to get your documents certified, you can bring your original documents into a branch. The branch will take a copy and forward them to the NAB Identity Protect team for review. Find your nearest branch.

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Who needs to be verified

To meet our regulatory obligations, we’re required to confirm organisation ownership information and identify any individual who:

• is a beneficial owner
• is a senior managing official
• is a signatory
• holds non-beneficially held (NBH) shares.

Who is a beneficial owner (BO)?

A beneficial owner is any person who, either directly or indirectly, controls 25% or more of an organisation, via shares or voting rights. If there is no beneficial owner, then a senior managing official will need to be nominated.

Who is a senior managing official (SMO)?

A senior managing official (SMO) is an individual who makes (or assists in making) decisions that affect the business/organisation in a substantial way. This person will be identified in lieu of a beneficial owner and will need to provide their name, address, date of birth and required personal identification documents to be checked. An SMO is usually the CEO or managing director, who controls the organisation through their role and makes financial and operating policy decisions. For associations, if the chairperson/president, or other office bearer, does not own or control the association, then an SMO may need to be nominated.

How to nominate a senior managing official?

To nominate a senior managing official, an SMO Nomination Letter may need to be completed by a registered accountant or lawyer and provided to NAB Identity Protect to understand the ownership and control structure of the organisation. The SMO letter doesn’t need to be certified but it must include details of the attesting accountant or lawyer and their firm. Details required include their role, accreditation (e.g. CPA or CA), registration number, address and contact details. View the Senior Managing Official Nomination Letter (PDF, 785KB), opens in new window.

What are non-beneficially held (NBH) shares?

If an individual holds shares as trustee, executor, nominee or on account of another individual, these shares are shown as non-beneficially held shares, because the holder is holding the shares for the benefit of someone else.

An individual, partnership or company who holds shares in their name, on behalf of another individual or entity, is called a nominee shareholder (NS). The individual or entity that has effective ownership and control of those shares is the beneficial owner (BO).
 
You may need to provide information about non-beneficially held shares (NBH) to help us identify their beneficial owner(s) which may include:

• A share certificate or nominee agreement which details on whose behalf the shares are being held, their address and date of birth.
• A trust deed, including any amending deeds or variations if shares are held on behalf of a trust, that shows the shareholder as a trustee.
• An attestation from a registered accountant or lawyer with details of the ownership structure and ultimate beneficial owner(s). View Attestation of Beneficial Ownership (PDF, 822KB), opens in new window, including detailed instruction for its return.

Additional requirements for customers with trusts

Checking your trust deed is complete

When providing your trust deed, check it’s complete with the following:

• It’s been properly executed, i.e. is fully signed and dated.
• You’ve provided any amendments or variations since the original deed was created, or a letter from a registered accountant/solicitor attesting to any subsequent changes.
• In the section where the deed lists trustees, if it lists only their names, then:
  • for individuals, please also provide their full legal name, residential address and date of birth
  • for non-individuals (e.g. a corporate entity, association, partnership), please provide their full legal name, registered address and Government Issued Identification Number (ACN, ARBN or ABN).
• In the section where the deed lists beneficiaries, if it lists only their names, then:
  • for individuals, please also provide their full legal name, residential address and date of birth
  • for non-individuals (e.g. a corporate entity, association, partnership), please provide their full legal name, registered address and Government Issued Identification Number (ACN, ARBN or ABN).
• If your trust has an ABN (Australian Business Number), please also provide this.

What if you can’t find or access a valid copy of the trust deed?

If you can’t find or access a valid copy of the trust deed, you may provide an attestation from a registered accountant or lawyer who has already seen an original or certified copy of the trust deed, providing all the current details of the trust.

This letter doesn’t need to be certified but it must include details of the attesting accountant or lawyer and their firm. Details required include their role, accreditation (e.g. CPA or CA), registration number, address and contact details.

You can find a copy of the Attestation of Trust Details (PDF, 601KB), opens in new window, including detailed instruction for its return.

Additional requirements for associations 

When providing information about your Association, please ensure that all details listed below are provided:

• Association Minutes of Meeting. Provide a certified copy which has occurred in the last 12 months and has the following information included in the minutes:
  • The Association’s full legal name
  • Unincorporated or incorporated status
  • Your ABN or any other equivalent Government issued ID (or advise that your association has no ABN or equivalent)
  • Principal office address ormailing address, it can’t be a PO Box
  • Office bearer details (chairperson or president, secretary, treasurer, or equivalent roles within your Association).

• For each office bearer provide the:
  • office bearer role (if an individual performs more than one role, please list each role they perform against their name)
  • full name
  • residential address
  • date of birth.

• Main activity of the association: describe in a few words, for example, industry body, charity, sports club.

Additional requirements for partnerships

When providing your partnership information, please ensure that all details listed below are provided:

• Partnership document. Provide one of the following documents which lists the full partnership legal name, each partner and their percentage of shareholding:
  • Partnership Agreement (certified copy), all pages, including signed and dated execution page
  • Minutes of a Partnership Meeting, which has occurred within the last 12 months (certified copy); or
  • A letter of attestation from a registered accountant or lawyer describing the partnership
• Details of each partner:
  • Their full legal name
  • Residential/registered address
  • Date of birth
  • ABN (where applicable)
• If your partnership has no ABN, then if applicable please advise:
  • whether its joint venture or a partnership for commercial purposes
  • any registered number, if it’s a regulated partnership, and a member of a professional association or any other government issued identification number.
• The description of Nature of Business / Industry (main business activity – for example, beef cattle growing, café operation or investing in residential property)
• The current Principal Place of Business Address, the registered office address for the partnership.It can’t be a PO box.

Providing your verification documents

You can provide your documents to the NAB Identity Protect team by:

• emailing certified copies of your documents to the email address listed in your letter/email 
• visiting a NAB branch.

Emailing certified trust deeds, attestation letters and other business/organisation documents

When providing documents via email, you must include your full name and the reference number provided in the letter or email we sent you. 

It’s important that the copies you send to us meet all the certification requirements. These include being certified only by an authorised certifier within the last 4 months. You’ll find more information on who can certify copies of your documents and the certification requirements in the Certified ID Guide (PDF, 157KB), opens in new window.

We must receive your certified identification document from the certifier via one of two options, each of which includes a clear author trail:

• Have the certifier email us directly from their professional email address with the certified, digital copy of your original document, your name and customer reference number
• Have the certifier email you, and you can forward the certifier’s email to us with your customer reference number.

Note: Our regulatory obligations don’t allow us to accept a digital copy of the certified documents without this trail.

Providing your documents in branch

If you're unable to get your documents certified or emailed, you can bring them into your nearest branch. To provide your identification in branch, you can either:

• show your original documents for us to take a copy; or
• give us certified copies, making sure they meet all the requirements in the Certified ID Guide (PDF, 157KB), opens in new window.

Who can provide verification documents?

To meet our regulatory obligations, only the following roles are able to provide updated information for each of the following organisations:

• For companies: a Director, Company Secretary, beneficial owner or a senior managing official.
• For trusts: a trustee, a beneficial owner or a senior managing official
• For partnerships: a partner, beneficial owner or a senior managing official
• For associations and registered cooperatives: an office bearer (chairperson or president, secretary, treasurer, or equivalent), beneficial owner or a senior managing official
• For a sole trader: the individual sole trader
• For government bodies: a beneficial owner (if foreign government body), senior managing official, or office bearer or executive board member, including (but not limited to) CEO, chairperson or president, secretary, treasurer, or equivalent.

An authorised delegate or agent for an organisation can also provide updated information.

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If you‘ve been asked to verify your identity, whilst located overseas, please refer to your letter or email for a phone number to contact us on from overseas. If personal verification is required, then only the person it is addressed to can complete identification.

If the information requiring verification relates to an organisation, and the third party is a director or company secretary, they can provide this information directly to us. Otherwise, they’ll need to give us a letter of written authorisation from you that evidences your consent for the third party to provide information on your behalf. The letter should include:

• full name of the agent acting on the customer’s behalf
• date of birth or residential address of the agent acting on the customer’s behalf (where available)
• evidence of the written authorisation of the agent to act on behalf of the customer (signed by the customer).

Please refer to the identity verification for business customers section for specific verification requirements.

How to certify your documents whilst overseas

Certified copies of documents which aren’t in English must be accompanied by an English translation prepared by an accredited translator and certified by an approved certifier within the last 4 months.

If you're overseas, you can get your documents certified by:

• An employee of ATIC (Australian Trade and Investment Commission) or an employee of the Commonwealth (e.g., Australian consular officer or Australian diplomatic officer) who has the requisite authority under section 3(c) or (d) of the Consular Fees Act 1955.
• A person authorised as a notary public in a foreign country. 
• A bank or building society officer or a finance company officer with 2 or more continuous years of service (includes acceptable internal banks). 
• A person who is authorised by law in that foreign country to administer oaths or affirmations, or to authenticate documents.

If you want to arrange to have documents certified by one of the approved certifiers, please refer to the Certified ID Guide (PDF, 157KB), opens in new window and follow the instructions on information which the certifier needs to include.

Note: Overseas NAB branches are unable to certify identification documents.

How to send us your certified documents

Certified documents should be emailed directly to NAB Identity Protect to the email address contained in your letter or email.

We must receive your certified identification document from the certifier via one of two options, each of which includes a clear author trail:

• Have the certifier email us directly from their professional email address with the certified, digital copy of your original document, your name and customer reference number; or
• Have the certifier email you, and you can forward the certifier’s email to us with your customer reference number.

Note: Our regulatory obligations don’t allow us to accept a digital copy of the certified documents without this trail.

Also learn more about why we collect foreign tax residency information.

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If you have a banking relationship manager, they can work with you to help verify your identity.

Please note, if you have changes to your full legal name or particular company details, your banking relationship manager will need to help you gather the appropriate documentation needed to make those changes.

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We’re committed to taking extra care with customers who are experiencing vulnerability. We may only become aware of your circumstances if you tell us about them.

If you’re experiencing an unplanned life event or vulnerability that impacts your ability to complete your re-verification, or you need an interpreter, contact our NAB Assist Customer Support hub on 1300 308 175. 

Learn how we can support you if you’re experiencing vulnerability.

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As subsidiaries of our bank, these financial organisations are governed by the same anti-money laundering regulations as the parent company. Every bank is legally required to routinely verify that the customer information held is up to date. This process is managed by National Australia Bank (NAB) on behalf of its subsidiaries. If you have been contacted by us to verify your details, this means that in our review, we’ve found that some information NAB holds for you or your organisation is not complete or does not match with publicly available information from government bodies such as ASIC, ATO or other government registers.

Please follow the instructions provided in our communication with you to verify your identity.

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