# BRD-020 — Submit the US EIN hyphenated

> A US EIN must be submitted in the hyphenated XX-XXXXXXX form.

- **Rule ID:** BRD-020
- **Layer:** Brand (`BRAND`)
- **Checks:** `brand.ein`
- **Severity:** BLOCKING — Breaking this rule gets the submission rejected outright.
- **When it bites:** Gates approval — get this wrong and registration is refused
- **How it is detected:** Deterministic (settled in code from the submitted values)
- **Fix type:** Fix the field — a better value in the form clears it
- **Required by:** Twilio, Telnyx, Sinch
- **Applies:** Applies to every 10DLC registration.
- **Canonical URL:** https://ekas.io/rules/10dlc/brand/brd-020/

## Why this rule exists

Several providers match the EIN as a string rather than as a number, so an unhyphenated one misses a record that is sitting right there — and the rejection says the business could not be verified, which sends people off to check their address and their name. The hyphen is free to add and every provider that does not require it accepts it anyway.

## How to fix it

Reformat the EIN as two digits, a hyphen, then seven digits. Done when the value reads 12-3456789 rather than 123456789.

## Example of a compliant value

```text
ein: 12-3456789
```

## Notes

Three providers require the hyphen and the rest accept it, so this is authored universally rather than provider-tagged: the strict-superset form costs nothing and a tag here would silently drop the requirement for the providers that do enforce it. Distinct from BRD-019, which checks there are nine digits at all — the catalog says explicitly not to merge them.