KYB is used to verify businesses, just as KYC is used for individual entities.

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This doc has been updated with Priority specifications.

Key Differences from Individual KYC

• Business Members
  • An individual entity linked to a business entity is referred to as a "business member"
  • Each business entity requires at least one individual entity to be linked to it
  • There are three different roles that can be assigned to business members - check the Business Members and Roles section below for details
• Registration requirements
  • Both a business entity and at least one individual entity need to be registered
  • Registration information required for a business entity is different from what is required for individuals
  • Additional registration information may be required for the individuals
  • Check out our /register doc for details
• Certification
  • An additional step after KYB has been fully passed in order to begin transacting with the business entity, or its members
  • A compliance requirement confirming that the business and all business members have been registered with the correct PII and ownership stakes, and all appropriate members have been linked to the business.

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Business Members and Roles

Business Member

Individual entities that are linked to business entities are known as "business members."

They are linked using /link_business_member endpoint. The role the member holds is also assigned when this call is made.

Business Roles

KYB requires that the ownership structure of a business be expressed in such a way that the identity of beneficial owners and controlling officers can be related back to the business.

There are three total roles, two of which are required for every business. An individual entity can hold all three roles if appropriate, so all businesses only require one entity to be linked as a member.

Beneficial Owner Requirements by Business Type

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Certification

Certifies that the business and all business members have been registered with the correct PII and ownership stakes, and all appropriate members have been linked to the business.

Must be completed before transacting.

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Recommended Webhooks

• kyc_status: fires when a verification_status transitions to either passed or failed
• kyc_action: fires when a verification_status transitions to documents_required or review

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Endpoint Flow Overview

Step One - Registration

Begin by registering your business entity, and the individual entity or entities that will be linked as members. Be sure to include the id_document registration data for individuals that will be linked as a CO or a BO.

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No document needs to be provided at this step. id_document requires only the information to be provided.

• Endpoint used: /register
• If you need to add id_document registration data after calling /register, use /add/id_document

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Businesses Without an EIN

We only support onboarding businesses that do not have an EIN if that business is a Sole Proprietorship. Otherwise, an EIN must be provided.

If a Sole Prop without an EIN needs to be onboarded:

• Register the business entity without an SSN or EIN - leave the identity block out completely from the /register call.
• Link members and call /kyc on the business as normal. We will use the SSN provided for the BO.

Step Two - Link Business Members to Business, Assign Roles

Next, use /link_business_member to link all required individual entities to the business and assign roles to those business members

• Endpoint used: /link_business_member
• Every business is required to have and admin and a CO. Only some business types require a BO - see table above for requirements.
• Begin by linking the admin first, since you need a designated admin to link a CO or a BO.

Step Three - Begin KYB

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Linking business members that have already passed KYC to a new business

Though the ideal scenario is for all individuals to be linked first and for all entities to go through KYC together, individuals that have already passed through KYC can still be linked to a business before calling /kyc on that business.

• Make sure the correct members are linked and then call /kyc on the business
• New verification records are not created for individuals that have passed
• Additional wallets are not created for the KYC-passed individuals

To initiate the verification process, call /kyc ONLY on the business itself. This kicks off unique verification records for all entities: the business and all linked members. Priority ledger accounts are also created when /kyc is called - a unique wallet with unique account and routing numbers for both the business and all linked members. These remain frozen until KYC is fully passed.

• Endpoint used: /kyc
  • Customers using legacy Classic KYC will call /request_kyc instead
• The /kyc response WILL include the verification uuid for each entity - you will need this uuid if documents are needed for further verification (see step four).
• The /kyc response WILL NOT include the uuid of the newly created wallets. If you need to retrieve this information before KYB is fully passed, you can do so with /get_payment_methods or /get_wallets. Otherwise, it is returned by the kyc_status webhook when KYB is passed.

Step Four - Pass KYB

Happy path: All entities pass without providing further verification. Proceed to the next step.

Unhappy path: One or more of the entities go into a verification status of documents_required and further verification must be provided to pass.

• Useful endpoints and documentation:
  • /get_verifications: Returns the verification uuid for a single entity
  • /get_verifications/<verification_uuid>: Returns full details for the provided verification uuid.
  • /add/<registration_data>: Can be used to add missing registration info.
  • /update/<registration_data>: Can be used to update incorrect registration info.
  • /documents: To upload docs for further verification.
  • /document_types: Doc provides mapping to help determine what type of doc to upload.
• Use the reasons strings returned by /get_verifications/uuid and the mapping provided in the /document_types doc to determine the type of doc to upload for each entity that requires further verification.
• Once uploaded, verification_status updates to documents_received and Priority reviews (24-business-hour turnaround). If the documentation provided is not satisfactory, the status will transition back to documents_required.
• Once satisfactory docs have been provided, the verification_status will update to passed.

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Do not poll /get_verifications

Please use our webhooks instead of polling the /get_verifications endpoint. We reserve the right to impose rate limits as we deem necessary.

Step Five - Certification

Unless the business is a Sole Proprietorship or a Public Corporation, you will need to certify linked BOs and the business to proceed with transacting.

Sole Props and Public Corps do not require certifying either the business or any linked BOs.

• Endpoints used:
  • /certify_beneficial_owner
  • /certify_business
• You can confirm by checking certification_status in the /get_verifications/uuid response if certification is required or not
• BOs are required to be certified before certifying the business

On linking external bank accounts:

• We advise waiting until KYB has been fully passed to begin linking external bank accounts, but you are not blocked from doing so before then.
• Bank accounts will remain frozen until KYB has been fully passed and any necessary certification has been completed.