Glossary · compliance and risk
What is KYB?
KYB, or know your business, is the process of verifying a company rather than a person. Who owns it, who controls it, what it actually does, and whether any of that is a problem. It is what you go through when you open a business account with a regulated provider.
What is actually being established
KYC asks whether a person is who they say they are. KYB asks a harder question, because a company is a legal construct that can be owned by other companies, in other countries, several layers deep.
So KYB has four parts. Confirming the entity exists and is in good standing. Identifying the ultimate beneficial owners, meaning the real people at the end of the ownership chain. Identifying who controls the company day to day. And understanding the business model well enough to judge whether the payment activity makes sense.
That last part is the one businesses find intrusive and it is the one that matters most. A provider that does not understand what you sell cannot tell a normal month from an anomaly, which means it will either miss real problems or freeze legitimate ones.
The onboarding experience follows from this. Creating an account takes minutes. Verification takes as long as it takes your documents to arrive, and how quickly you supply ownership evidence is the single biggest variable.
Compare
KYC, KYB and what each one asks
Two processes that share a family name and a very different amount of work.
| KYC | KYB | |
|---|---|---|
| Subject | A person | A legal entity |
| Core question | Are you who you say you are | Who owns and controls this, and what does it do |
| Evidence | Identity document, liveness, address | Registry extract, ownership chain, beneficial owner identification, business model |
| Depth | One level | As many levels as the ownership has |
| Who goes through it here | Individuals | Every business account |
A business account involves both, because the people behind the entity are verified as well as the entity itself.
How to get through it faster
Three things that shorten verification more than anything else.
Have ownership documented before you start
Registry extracts, shareholder registers and identification for beneficial owners. Layered ownership takes longer, so front-load it.
Frequently asked questions
How long does KYB take?
It depends on your ownership structure and how fast your documents arrive, not on a fixed processing time. Simple structures are quick. Multi-layer international ownership is not.
Why does a payment provider need my ownership details?
Because it is a regulated obligation for a licensed entity, and because knowing who controls a business is how anomalies get spotted. It is not commercial curiosity.
Can I test before verification completes?
Yes. The sandbox runs the full payment lifecycle without it.
Is KYB the same as KYC for the directors?
It includes that, and it is more. Identifying the people is one part. Understanding the entity and its activity is the rest.