DUNS Number for Apple Developer & Google Play, Step by Step

Do you actually need one?

Apple asks companies and educational institutions for a DUNS number registered to their legal entity. It's optional for government organisations, and individuals don't need one at all. Google Play asks every organisation account for one, though known government bodies can verify without it.

What a Malaysian business needs, by account
If you are	Apple Developer Program	Google Play Console
Sdn Bhd or Bhd	Organisation account. DUNS required.	Organisation account. DUNS required.
PLT	Organisation account. DUNS required.	Organisation account. DUNS required.
Enterprise, sole proprietor (ROB)	Individual account. No DUNS. Your legal name shows as the seller.	Organisation account if it's for business use, so DUNS required
Partnership registered under ROB	May not pass as an organisation: Apple wants a legal entity, and SSM says an ROB partnership isn't one. Ask Apple Developer Support first.	Organisation account. DUNS required.
Government body	Organisation account. DUNS optional.	Known government bodies can verify without one
Just you, no registered business	Individual account. No DUNS.	Personal account. No DUNS.

Legal-entity status comes from SSM's comparison of business types: companies and PLTs are separate legal entities, while sole proprietorships and partnerships registered under the Registration of Businesses Act 1956 are not.

Enterprise (sole proprietor) owners

Apple's instruction for sole proprietors is short: enrol as an individual. You won't need a DUNS number, and you can pay for the membership during enrolment instead of waiting for verification.

The catch is the seller name. The App Store shows your personal legal name, not your business name. Use that same legal name in your Apple Account's first and last name fields, because Apple warns that an alias, nickname or company name there will delay approval.

Getting the business name onto the App Store means the business has to be a legal entity first, which in practice means a Sdn Bhd or a PLT. That's a bigger decision than a seller name, with its own costs and paperwork, so don't make it for the App Store alone.

Apple: using the D-U-N-S lookup tool

Apple's lookup lives at developer.apple.com/enroll/duns-lookup/. Have your SSM profile open before you start, because the name and addresses you type should match it word for word.

Open Apple's D-U-N-S lookup and sign in with your Apple Account. The tool won't open without one, and Apple wants two-factor authentication turned on for enrolment anyway.
Type your legal entity name exactly as your SSM profile prints it. Not the brand, and not the app's name.
Enter your headquarters and mailing addresses. Take them from your SSM profile so every record says the same thing.
Add your work contact details. Use your company-domain email address, since Apple requires one for organisation enrolment.
If Apple finds your company, note the nine-digit number and carry on with enrolment. If it doesn't, you'll be offered the option to submit your details to D&B for a free number.

If your company isn't found

Try the search once more with small variations in the name, such as "Sdn. Bhd." against "Sdn Bhd". Then submit it. That part is free.

A D&B representative may contact you as part of their checks, for example about your business type or how many people you employ. Apple's advice is to have your business registration documents ready, so keep your SSM profile within reach.

How long: up to 5 business days, then up to 2 more

Apple asks you to allow up to 5 business days for D&B to issue the number. Expediting the request "will not shorten this waiting period". Once the number arrives, allow up to 2 more business days for Apple to receive it, then enrol as an organisation. If two weeks go by with nothing, Apple tells you to contact D&B through its Apple support form.

Business-day calculator

Date you submitted your company to D&B through Apple

D&B should have issued your number by: Wed 30 September 2026
Apple should have it, and you can enrol, by: Fri 2 October 2026
Still nothing? Contact D&B after: Wed 7 October 2026

These are the latest dates if each step takes the full time Apple allows. The calculator skips Saturdays and Sundays and nothing else. It doesn't know about public holidays, so push the first two dates back one day for every holiday that falls inside the window.

"Your organization is not listed as a legal entity"

Apple shows this message when D&B lists your business with a different legal status, such as a sole proprietorship, or hasn't verified its status yet.

The legal-entity error: meaning and fix
Your situation	What it means	What to do
Enterprise (sole proprietor)	D&B has your status right. Apple doesn't take sole proprietors as organisations.	Enrol as an individual. That's Apple's own instruction.
Sdn Bhd, Bhd or PLT	D&B has the wrong status, or hasn't verified it.	Email D&B through the support form Apple links to. Apple says you'll need complete business registration documents.
You typed a brand, trading name or branch	Apple doesn't accept DBAs, trade names or branches.	Search again with the legal entity name from your SSM profile.
Partnership registered under ROB	Not a separate legal entity under SSM's rules.	Ask Apple Developer Support before going further. A PLT or Sdn Bhd would be a legal entity.

Once D&B corrects your record, allow the same 2 business days before Apple sees the change.

Other Apple enrolment checks that trip people up

The DUNS number only gets you past one check, and Apple's enrolment requirements list several more for organisations.

Authority comes first. Whoever enrols becomes the Account Holder and must be able to sign legal agreements for the company: an owner or founder, a member of the executive team, a senior project lead, or an employee a senior person has given that authority. If you aren't the owner or founder, Apple will want a reference who can confirm it.

The email and website rules go together. The email has to be on the organisation's own domain, so a Gmail or Yahoo address won't do, and the website has to be public, working and on that same domain. Apple turns away social media pages, sites with minimal content and registrar holding pages, so a Facebook page or a Shopee shop link won't pass.

Two more things can come up. Apple may ask for business documents notarised as true copies, by a solicitor, notary public, municipal office or another method depending on the country. And organisations only pay after Apple Developer Support has verified them and emailed the next steps. Membership is US$99 a year, shown in local currency during enrolment, and Apple publishes no ringgit price. Eligible nonprofits, accredited educational institutions and government entities can ask for a fee waiver.

Google Play Console: DUNS for organisation accounts

Google won't create an organisation developer account without a DUNS number. Its Play Console help says getting one "can take up to 30 days", so request it before you start.

On account type, Google's rule of thumb is an organisation account for business use. It says you should choose one if your app offers financial products or services, is a health app, is approved to use the VpnService class, or is a government app.

Where Google uses it: your payments profile

Google takes your organisation name and address from the Google payments profile you link when creating the account, and checks them against your D&B profile. They have to match, and keep matching.

Watch for this banner

If Google finds a mismatch later, you'll get an email and a Play Console banner saying "Your organization name or address is no longer verified". Fix it by the deadline Google gives. Otherwise the account is restricted, which Google says "would remove all of your apps from Google Play".

Google also asks for an organisation phone number: the one people would find if they looked you up on the web or in a public registry such as D&B. Google uses it to verify you and doesn't show it on Google Play. Don't confuse it with the developer phone number. That's a separate field, and it is shown on Google Play along with your legal name, legal address and developer email address.

Timeline: "up to 30 days", so plan ahead

Play Console Help gives up to 30 days. The newer Android Developer Console Help gives up to 28. Call it a month. For a Malaysian business the number comes through D&B Malaysia, whose own estimate is up to 30 working days, closer to six weeks.

If D&B can't cover you, or you're a government body

Google offers another way to verify only to organisations that can't get a DUNS number at all, such as those in regions D&B doesn't support. Malaysia is covered through D&B Malaysia, so a Malaysian company shouldn't plan on it. Google also says it won't give extensions to organisations that fail to provide one.

Known government organisations and agencies can verify without a DUNS number. If you're asked for one anyway, and only if you really can't provide a number, contact Play support and ask them to enable verification without it.

Using the right number when a group has several

Large groups can hold several DUNS numbers, one for each entity. Use the one whose name and address belong to the entity that will own the developer account. If a subsidiary publishes the app, that's the subsidiary's number, not the holding company's.

Android developer verification starts 30 September 2026

This is separate from signing up for Play Console. Under Android developer verification, apps installed from participating app stores (Google Play, Samsung Galaxy Store, Xiaomi GetApps and four others) must be registered by a verified developer. It starts on 30 September 2026 for users in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand, and Google plans to extend it to all apps on certified Android devices globally in 2027. Malaysia isn't in the first group.

Organisations registering need a DUNS number, which Google says can take up to 28 days. For apps already on Google Play, the Android Developers Blog says 99% were registered automatically, and developers should register any remaining apps from the Play Console home page by 30 September 2026 to avoid removal from Google Play worldwide.

Make your details match everywhere

Several problems on this page trace back to details that don't match. D&B's lookup fails on them, Apple turns away trading names, and Google restricts accounts that leave a mismatch unfixed past its deadline. Pick the SSM version of each detail and use it everywhere.

One version of each detail
Detail	Use this	Who checks it
Legal name	Exactly as your SSM profile prints it, including "Sdn. Bhd." or "PLT"	Apple (it becomes your seller name) and Google (payments profile must match D&B)
Address	Your SSM address, written the same way each time	D&B's lookup, Apple's lookup, Google's payments profile
Phone	A company number someone answers, the same one D&B holds	D&B's lookup, Google's organisation phone check
Email	An address on your company's domain	Apple enrolment. Google also says organisation contact emails shouldn't be generic or personal.
Website	A live site on that same domain	Apple enrolment

Fix mistakes at D&B first. Apple and Google both compare against the D&B record, and Apple says D&B takes up to 2 business days to pass an update on.

Quick answers

I'm a contract developer. Can I use my client's DUNS number?

You shouldn't need to. Apple's advice for contract developers is that the client enrols its own organisation and adds you to its team. The app is listed under the client's name, and the client submits it for review, though you can help.

Does paying D&B speed up Apple?

No. Apple says expediting won't shorten its 5-business-day wait, and D&B's paid express service is a US product anyway.

Do I use the same DUNS number for Apple and Google?

Yes, if the same legal entity owns both accounts. The number belongs to your company in D&B's records. Just check that the name and address you give each platform match what D&B holds.

Where do I get the number if it isn't for Apple?

Through D&B Malaysia. The guide to getting a DUNS number in Malaysia covers the request form, the documents and D&B Malaysia's contact details.

Sources

All checked on 23 September 2026.

Apple: D-U-N-S Number helpWho needs one, lookup fields, 5 + 2 business days, the legal-entity error, updates.
Apple: Become a memberIndividual and organisation requirements, website and email rules, US$99 a year.
Apple: Program enrollment helpSeller names, notarised documents, payment timing, contract developers.
Apple: D-U-N-S lookup toolRedirects to Apple Account sign-in.
Google Play Console Help: Required information to create a developer accountD-U-N-S for organisations, up to 30 days, payments profile matching, phone number, exceptions.
Google Play Console Help: Choose a developer account type
Android Developer Console Help: Understanding Android developer verificationCountries, dates, up to 28 days.
Android Developers Blog: Android developer verificationPosted 18 June 2026, updated 15 July 2026.
D&B: D-U-N-S for Google developersMalaysia links to D&B Malaysia.
D&B support for Apple developers
SSM: Perbandingan entiti perniagaan (PDF)Dated 11 March 2022.