Startup & Venture Banking
SVB Go: how do I get access and set up user roles, permissions, and dual-approval workflows?
7 min read
Quick Answer: To get access to SVB Go, you’ll typically start with your SVB business checking relationship, enroll in digital banking, and designate an administrator. From there, you can configure user roles, permissions, and dual-approval workflows directly in SVB Go to match your internal controls and audit requirements.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get access to SVB Go for my company?
Short Answer: If you have an SVB business checking account, you can enroll in SVB Go as your digital banking platform and designate an administrator to manage access. If you are not yet an SVB client, you’ll need to open an eligible account first.
Expanded Explanation:
SVB Go is the digital operating layer for your relationship with Silicon Valley Bank, a division of First Citizens Bank. It’s designed for high-growth startups, scale-ups, and fund managers that need to move money quickly, manage liquidity, and maintain strong internal controls. The on-ramp starts with your core banking relationship: once your business checking account is active, SVB can provision SVB Go so your finance team can move money via bill pay, check, or ACH, gain real-time visibility into transactions, and integrate with tools like QuickBooks, NetSuite, and Xero.
During onboarding, most companies appoint at least one SVB Go administrator (often the controller, CFO, or head of finance) who will own user setup, roles, permissions, and approval workflows. This structure helps you keep governance aligned with your capital structure, investor expectations, and audit requirements as you grow.
Key Takeaways:
- You need an SVB business checking relationship to access SVB Go.
- An SVB Go administrator is designated to manage users, roles, and approvals.
How do I set up user roles and permissions in SVB Go?
Short Answer: In SVB Go, your administrator defines who can view accounts, initiate payments, approve transactions, and manage settings by assigning role-based permissions aligned with your internal finance and compliance policies.
Expanded Explanation:
User roles and permissions in SVB Go are designed to mirror how high-growth companies actually operate—especially as teams scale and responsibilities split across founders, finance, operations, and fund controllers. Instead of a single “all-access” login, your admin can segment access by job function, entity, account, and payment capability. That might mean read-only access for board reporting, payment initiation rights for AP, and full treasury controls for the CFO.
From a controls perspective, roles and permissions are the foundation of your risk posture in SVB Go. Clear separation of duties—between who can set up beneficiaries, who can initiate payments, and who can approve or release them—helps reduce fraud risk and supports audit and investor due diligence. As your company progresses from Pre-Seed and Seed through Series A, Series B/C+, and Corporate Banking, updating roles as you hire a controller or build an in-house treasury function is a critical maintenance step.
Steps:
- Designate an SVB Go administrator: Choose a senior finance or operations leader to own access and controls.
- Map roles to responsibilities: Decide which roles you need (e.g., read-only, initiator, approver, admin) and align them to team members and entities.
- Assign and review regularly: Set initial permissions in SVB Go, then schedule periodic reviews to adjust access as your team, funding stage, or structure changes.
What’s the difference between user roles, permissions, and dual-approval workflows in SVB Go?
Short Answer: User roles define what a person can generally do in SVB Go, permissions specify the exact actions and accounts they can access, and dual-approval workflows govern how many people must review and approve critical payment activity before it’s released.
Expanded Explanation:
These three concepts work together but solve different parts of your control framework:
- Roles are your high-level access types—admin, approver, initiator, viewer—aligned to job functions in your finance and operations teams.
- Permissions are the granular settings you apply within each role—such as which accounts are visible, which payment types (bill pay, ACH, wires, checks) a user can initiate, and whether they can manage beneficiaries or templates.
- Dual-approval workflows define the approval chain and thresholds for payment releases. For example, you may require two approvals for any payment above a specific dollar amount or for international wires.
For a Pre-Seed or Seed startup, this might be as simple as one founder initiating payments and another approving them. At Series B/C+ or Corporate Banking scale, you may branch approvals by entity, region, or transaction size, with stricter requirements for high-value, international, or sensitive payments.
Comparison Snapshot:
- Option A: Roles & Permissions: Control who can see and do what inside SVB Go.
- Option B: Dual-Approval Workflows: Control how payments must be reviewed and approved before funds are released.
- Best for: Companies that want both tight access control and robust separation of duties, especially as transaction volume and complexity grow.
How do I configure dual-approval workflows in SVB Go?
Short Answer: Your SVB Go administrator sets dual-approval rules by defining which payment types, amounts, or accounts require one or more approvers before the payment is released.
Expanded Explanation:
Dual approval is a core mechanism for reducing operational and fraud risk as your payment volume increases. In practice, this means that the person who initiates a payment cannot unilaterally release funds—another authorized user (or multiple users) must review and approve the transaction. This is particularly important for larger-value wires, cross-border payments, and time-sensitive vendor settlements tied to revenue or production milestones.
As you move from founder-managed banking at Pre-Seed and Seed to a more structured finance organization at Series A and beyond, dual-approval workflows support better governance and can help you meet board, investor, and audit expectations. They also complement ISO 20022-driven, data-rich payment information by ensuring that strong controls are built into the workflow, not added after the fact.
What You Need:
- An SVB Go administrator with permission to modify approval and security settings.
- A defined approvals policy (e.g., thresholds by amount, entity, payment type) that reflects your risk tolerance, stage, and investor expectations.
How should high-growth companies design roles, permissions, and approvals in SVB Go to support scale?
Short Answer: Build your SVB Go setup around clear separation of duties, stage-appropriate controls, and the expectation that transaction volume, entity structure, and audit scrutiny will increase as you grow.
Expanded Explanation:
For the innovation economy, payment operations are not just a back-office function—they’re tied directly to runway, revenue recognition, and investor confidence. Designing your SVB Go roles and workflows thoughtfully can help you maintain straight-through processing, reduce manual interventions, and keep fraud and error rates low as transaction counts climb.
- Pre-Seed and Seed: Focus on basic separation of duties (e.g., one initiator, one approver) and limit admin rights to founders or the earliest finance hire. Keep account visibility tight and ensure that only a small, trusted group can release funds.
- Series A: As you introduce a controller or finance lead, transition admin responsibilities, broaden read-only access for investors or department leads if needed, and establish formal payment thresholds and approval matrices.
- Series B/C+: Introduce role specialization (AP, AR, treasury) and layered approvals for higher-value or international payments. Integrate SVB Go with your ERP and expense systems so payment initiation and approval data flows cleanly for reconciliation and audit.
- Corporate Banking / Later Stage: Align SVB Go roles with a mature treasury function, using multi-level approvals and entity-level segmentation, and leverage structured remittance data and reporting for compliance, sanctions screening, and internal controls.
Thoughtful configuration in SVB Go can support smoother closes, faster audits, and more credible financial reporting, which may be scrutinized in fundraising, M&A, or IPO preparation.
Why It Matters:
- Strong configuration can reduce fraud and operational errors while supporting board- and investor-level governance expectations.
- A scalable role and approval structure helps your finance team maintain control and cash visibility as volume and complexity grow.
Quick Recap
SVB Go is the digital banking platform for SVB clients, designed for the speed and control requirements of high-growth companies and funds. Access starts with your SVB business checking relationship and the designation of an SVB Go administrator. From there, you can configure user roles, granular permissions, and dual-approval workflows to embed separation of duties, reflect your risk tolerance, and support scale as you move from early-stage to corporate-level complexity.