D-U-N-S number
If your mobile app is published under your business rather than under a person's name, both the App Store and Google Play want proof that the business legally exists. Both check it the same way, through a D-U-N-S number: a nine-digit business identifier issued by Dun & Bradstreet, free of charge.
Two things save most of the trouble. You may not need one at all, and you may already have one. Check both before you fill in anything.
Start early. Apple counts about a week; Google tells developers to allow up to 30 days. And if you do have to apply, the single most common failure is using your trading name instead of your registered legal name.
Do you need one?
It depends on whose name the app is published under, not on which store.
| How the app is published | App Store | Google Play |
|---|---|---|
| As your company, an organisation account | Required | Required |
| As a person, an individual or personal account | Not needed | Not needed |
| As a government organisation | Optional | Ask their support |
Apple does not accept a sole proprietorship or one-person business as a company. It asks you to enrol as an individual instead, and then no D-U-N-S number is involved. Google's rules are not the same, and an organisation account there does require one.
What makes it a decision rather than a shortcut is whose name the store shows the public. On an individual or personal account, the name beside your app is the person's legal name, not the business, and Google also displays your legal address once you start taking money. If you want your business name on the listing, tell us before you decide and we will work out what is possible for your case.
Neither store accepts a DBA, a fictitious business name, a trade name or a branch for a company enrolment. What gets checked is the registered legal entity. If your shop, restaurant or brand name is not the name on your registration documents, the registered name is the one that counts everywhere on this page.
You may already have one
Dun & Bradstreet assigns numbers on its own, so plenty of businesses have one without ever applying. There are two ways to look yours up:
- Dun & Bradstreet's own page, which is also where you apply if there is nothing there.
- Apple's lookup, if you are going through the App Store. Be ready for one thing: it asks you to sign in with an Apple ID before it shows you anything. Any Apple ID works, it is not the developer account itself, and creating one is free.
Search for your registered legal name, not your brand name.
A group can hold several D-U-N-S numbers, one for each legal entity in it. Use the one whose details match the business you want shown on the store listing, not whichever comes back first.
Applying, if there's no number
The application is free and asks for four things:
| What it asks for | What to enter |
|---|---|
| Legal entity name | Your registered company name, exactly as it appears on your registration documents, including the legal form. |
| Headquarters address | Your registered head office address. A D-U-N-S number is issued per location, so if you have several branches, this is the head office. |
| Mailing address | Where post reaches you. Often the same as above. |
| Work contact information | A name, a company email address and a phone number, someone who can answer questions about the business. |
Expect a phone call. A Dun & Bradstreet representative may ring the contact you gave, to confirm details like your business type or how many people you employ. The call may be in English. Have your business registration documents to hand before you apply, not after.
Screenshot the application before you send it, or write the four values down somewhere you will find them again.
When you later open the developer account, the store expects those details to match your D-U-N-S record exactly, down to how the company name and the address were written. Retyping them from memory weeks later, slightly differently, is a common way to fail verification after everything else is ready.
How long it takes
The two stores give different answers, so plan against the longer one:
- Apple counts up to 5 business days for Dun & Bradstreet to issue the number, then up to 2 business days more for Apple to receive it. Roughly seven business days.
- Google tells developers the process can take up to 30 days and to plan ahead.
Nothing you do makes it faster. Apple states plainly that paying to expedite will not shorten the wait, which is why we do not suggest it. There is nothing to chase in the meantime and no step you have missed.
If you are going through Apple and more than two weeks pass with no number, that is the point Apple says to email Dun & Bradstreet. Either way, tell support and we will follow it up.
"Your organization is not listed as a legal entity"
This is the error you are most likely to hit during enrolment, and it almost always means one of two things:
- The name doesn't match. A trading name, a brand or a branch was entered. Try again with the registered legal name, exactly as registered.
- The legal status isn't verified, or the business is registered as a sole proprietorship. If it is a one-person business, see the note further up: enrolling as an individual is one route, but it is worth a word with us first.
If you believe your business should be listed as a legal entity and it is not, Dun & Bradstreet needs your complete registration documents to verify it.
If you'd rather not do this yourself
Support can run the application on your behalf: you send the documents, and you get the number back. Ask your usual contact what that involves for your account.
Once the number is in place, the artwork and settings for the app itself are in Mobile app (App Settings).