Finding or Requesting Your D-U-N-S Number

What is a D&B D-U-N-S number?

The Dun & Bradstreet D-U-N-S number is a number that globally and uniquely identifies a specific company. The DUNS acronym stands for "Data Universal Numbering System".

Why do you need a D-U-N-S number?

Both Google and Apple require you to have a D-U-N-S number for your business if you want to register an organizational developer account (i.e. a developer account for your business). They want the number to verify the identity of your business and to prevent people from registering multiple developer accounts.

Benefits of Organizational Developer Accounts

With an organizational Apple developer account, your developer account will have the name of your company. This developer account name will be shown in the App Store where users download your app. This is preferable over just having your name there, as would be the case with an individual developer account. Aside from that, you will also be able to publish apps related to highly regulated industries. For example, you would not be allowed to publish an app that contains medical information in an individual developer account, but with an organizational developer account it's possible. Additionally, organizational developer accounts can grant other users more access, which is useful if you need support from us.

Google has recently introduced the requirement for extensive app testing for individual developer accounts. They now require you to have 20 people test your app before you can publish it. This testing is a bit complicated for users, since you need to invite their Google e-mail address so they can download the app. This makes it extremely tricky for small businesses to publish their apps in an individual developer account. Organizational developer accounts are exempt from this rule for now, so we highly recommend registering an organizational Android developer account.

Finding Your D-U-N-S Number

Depending on how large your company is and how long it has been in business, it might've already been assigned a D-U-N-S number. You can search for your company on Dun & Bradstreet's website by selecting "Find My Dun & Bradstreet D-U-N-S Number" in the dropdown on this page: https://service.dnb.com/home?TAB_ID=TAB_02

It seems like there they only link searches for specific countries though. If your country is not listed, you can also search for your company using this search form where you need to select "Business Directory": https://www.dnb.com/site-search-results.html

Apple also provides a D-U-N-S search which seems to work for all countries: https://developer.apple.com/enroll/duns-lookup/#!/search

Apple says they only accept D-U-N-S numbers from legal entities, so even though you might be able to register a D-U-N-S number, Apple might not accept it for your enrollment into the Apple developer program as an organization. Google doesn't mention such a limitation.

Requesting a D-U-N-S Number

You might be able to request a D-U-N-S number right away when you use Apple's search from the previous section. Alternatively, you can claim a D-U-N-S number for your business here: https://www.dnb.com/duns/get-a-duns.html

There you can start the process by clicking either "I'm an Apple developer" or "I'm a Google developer" since that is the reason you're requesting the number. Please note that it can take up to 30 days for you to receive the D-U-N-S number. You can complete the whole process completely for free, even though you might be offered to pay for a faster processing time.