Your business address

What you need

• Your operating address: number, street, area and city, as it is printed on your bills.
• Your state, and your postcode if you have one. Nigeria’s new postcodes are listed at postcode.gov.ng. The postcode is optional.
• A recent proof of address: a utility bill (electricity, water or waste), a tenancy agreement, or a bank statement or bank letter. It must be in your business’s name or one of your directors’ names. The address step shows how recent it must be.

How it is checked

1. Our document reader reads your proof: the address on it, whose name it is in, and its date.
2. It checks that the address you typed is on it, that the name is your business’s or a director’s, and that it is recent. Anything that doesn’t match is shown to you straight away, so you can fix it.
3. A member of Acreed’s team then confirms your business is really at that address. They may call you to confirm it.
4. Once they confirm it, funders see your address as verified by Acreed’s team, and it counts toward your score.

Your score waits for the check

When you ask for your score while Acreed’s team is still confirming your address, you see Your score is paused. There is nothing more you need to do. The moment they confirm it, your score is worked out and your certificate issued, and we email you.

If something doesn’t match

• The address doesn’t match. Check the address you typed, or upload a proof for that address.
• It is in someone else’s name. Upload one in your business’s name or a director’s name.
• It is too old. Upload a newer one.
• Acreed asked for a new proof. The email and the address step say why. Upload a new one.
• Acreed couldn’t confirm it. The email says why. You can upload a different proof, or carry on without it. Your address then doesn’t count toward your score.

You can always remove the proof and carry on without a confirmed address. It then doesn’t count toward your score.

When you renew

Every renewal needs a new proof of address, read by our document reader. If your address hasn’t changed since Acreed’s team confirmed it, nobody needs to check it again and nothing waits. If you have moved, a member of the team confirms the new address.