Payments glossary
KYC (know your customer)
KYC (know your customer) is the identity verification a financial services provider performs before taking on a customer or merchant - confirming who they are, that the business is real, and who ultimately owns it. It is required under anti-money-laundering law.
What KYC involves for a merchant
Onboarding with a payment provider means proving the business exists and identifying the people behind it: company registration documents, the identity documents of directors and beneficial owners, proof of address, and confirmation of the bank account that will receive settlements. The provider screens those names against sanctions and watchlists and risk-rates the business - its industry, its products, where it sells. For businesses this is often called KYB (know your business), but the principle is the same: know who you are dealing with before money moves.
Why payment providers ask for so much
A provider that onboards a merchant is vouching for that merchant to acquiring banks and card schemes. If the merchant turns out to be a fraud front or a money-laundering vehicle, the provider carries the losses, the fines and the scheme penalties - and can lose the banking relationships every other merchant depends on. That is why document requests are non-negotiable, and why KYC does not end at onboarding: providers refresh their checks when a business changes ownership, changes what it sells, or starts transacting in ways that do not fit its profile. Clean paperwork up front is the fastest route through - on LekkaPay as anywhere else.
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