Search restrictions in green ID Business allow you to control the extent of automated register searches performed when creating the business structure, and the costs associated with doing so.
Why you would use this feature
The primary reason for you to use search restrictions is to control costs.
Search restrictions limit the volume of searches automatically performed against a business register when creating a verification, and thereby the number of sub-businesses created. If you are charged either per register search or per business created, limiting the searches therefore limits your spend.
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If cost is not an issue (e.g. for NZ businesses), you may still choose to use search restrictions to make searches for large businesses quicker. This may be of interest if you don't usually require the full business structure.
What you need to know:
- Search strategies do not enable you to limit their spend to a specific dollar amount. If you are charged per search or per business created, you may still incur varied costs for a verification based on the size and structure of the business.
- Search restrictions enable you to focus your spend based on what is important for your business processes.
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Search Restriction settings can be defined on a 'per register' basis, so you can choose to apply different restrictions to ASIC searches vs NZBN searches. You can can also opt for your searches of a particular register to be 'full searches' (i.e. no search restrictions applied).
When search restrictions are applied when creating a business, any sub-businesses which are not searched for due to the restrictions will be created as 'search restricted'. Only the business's name will be available for these.
You can then choose to manually run a search for these 'search restricted' sub-businesses.
What you need to know:
- The search restrictions defined for your account will be applied to all businesses created via a register search - you cannot override the restrictions or apply different restrictions on a 'per business lookup' basis.
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Search restrictions need to be configured for an account by our Engineering Support and a release is required for them to take effect.
There are 4 'search restriction strategies' available to choose from:
- Restrict by Level - this restricts the search to a maximum number of 'levels' deep. It controls how deep into the structure we drill.
A 'maximum search depth threshold' must be specified. A setting of 1 means only the business number entered by the user will be searched for (i.e. level 1 = the number entered), a setting of 2 means the number entered and its direct sub-businesses will be searched etc - Restrict by Ownership Percentage - this restricts the search based on the ownership percentage of the relationship in which the business occurs (e.g. the shareholding percentage). An 'ownership percentage threshold' must be specified. This can be a decimal value.
- Restrict by Level and Ownership Percentage - this restricts the search based on BOTH the ownership percentage and maximum number of 'levels'. A 'maximum search depth threshold' AND an 'ownership percentage threshold' must be specified.
- Always Search - with this option, no search restrictions are applied and searches of the entire structure are performed.
What you need to know:
- There is no 'default' strategy. Your account must be configured with your required strategy for each business register that you use
- It is possible to define a different strategy, and different 'thresholds' for the strategy for each business register (e.g. NZBN may be 'Always Search, but ASIC may be 'Restrict by Level and Ownership Percentage)
- If you have an account setup prior to the availability of search restrictions, it will be set to 'Always Search'. A request can be submitted to change this.
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The below screenshots are an example of a customer with a 'Restrict by ownership percentage' strategy for ASIC searches, so only information relevant to this strategy is presented. (If they had a combined strategy, information on ownership percentage and max search depth thresholds would be included):
What you need to know:
- There is no 'override' facility available for the user to change the thresholds for a particular search only. The strategy configured for your account is always applied.
- Search restrictions will be applied to all businesses created via a search i.e. creation of a top level business, creation of a related business (e.g. when manually adding a business shareholder), and when submitting a search for a related business marked as 'in error' (this is a rare scenario)
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When you create a business via a search, related businesses (also known as sub businesses) within the structure will only be searched for if they meet the criteria to be searched as dictated by the 'search restriction strategy' in effect for the business register.
The criteria to be searched is as follows for each strategy:
Restrict by Level - A sub-business must be found at a depth equal to or less than the 'maximum search depth threshold' configured.
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If a sub-business does not meet the criteria to be searched anywhere in the business structure, then it is created as 'search restricted'. There will be no information available for it, apart from its name.
Identifying Search Restricted sub-businesses:
The location of any search restricted businesses is clearly indicated throughout the business structure with the aid of a 'search restricted' icon. If any of these need to be verified, a warning banner is displayed at the top of the verification.
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The billing of customers is determined outside of the greenID Business system. The system produces defined types of 'billing events'.
This section outlines when key billing events will be created if search restrictions are applied. How these impact the cost to you will depend on the billing model applied to your account (e.g. whether charged per search, per related business, or a fixed fee per verification).
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