KYB and KYC for Crypto Payments: What to Expect
Onboarding asks who you are and what you sell, because whoever serves you has to answer that question about you to somebody else.
Everyone finds onboarding tedious. It is worth understanding why it exists, because that makes it faster.
Whoever serves you has to answer questions about you to somebody else: a banking partner, a licensed ramp, a regulator. They cannot answer for a merchant they do not understand. So they ask you first.
The two halves
KYC verifies people. Identity document, proof of address, often a liveness check. It applies to directors and to beneficial owners above a threshold.
KYB verifies the company. Incorporation, registered address, ownership structure, directors, and what the business actually does.
A merchant account normally needs both. The people who control the company are part of understanding the company.
What is usually asked for
- Certificate of incorporation and registration number.
- Proof of the registered address.
- Directors and beneficial owners, with identification for each above the threshold.
- A plain description of the business model: what you sell, to whom, in which markets.
- Something corroborating it: a live website, a bank statement, invoices.
Why it stalls
Almost never because a business is suspicious. Three causes cover most of it.
The description does not match the site. You say software, the website sells something else. This is the most common single cause and it is entirely avoidable.
The ownership chain is long. A holding company owning a holding company takes time to trace, especially across jurisdictions. Send the structure up front rather than waiting to be asked layer by layer.
Documents disagree. An address on one document that does not match another. Fix the inconsistency before submitting rather than explaining it afterwards.
How to make it fast
- Describe the business the way your website does. Same words if possible.
- Send the ownership structure before it is requested.
- Use current documents. Certificates and utility bills have expectations about age.
- Name a single contact who can actually produce documents rather than forward requests.
- Answer the volume question honestly. Underestimating to seem simple causes reviews later when reality does not match the file.
What it buys you
A provider that onboards nobody carefully will eventually lose its own banking and ramp relationships, and its merchants lose service with it. The checks are the reason the rail keeps working. Tedious once, and worth it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between KYC and KYB?
KYC verifies an individual: identity documents, address, sometimes a liveness check. KYB verifies a business: incorporation documents, ownership structure, directors, and what the company actually does. A merchant account normally requires both, KYB for the company and KYC for the people who control it.
What documents are needed to onboard a business?
Typically a certificate of incorporation, proof of the registered address, identification for directors and beneficial owners above a threshold, a description of the business model, and often a bank statement or website showing the company trades as described.
Why does a payment provider ask what my business sells?
Because the provider is accountable to its own partners for the flows it carries. The business model determines the risk profile, and an answer that does not match what the website says is the single most common cause of onboarding delay.
How long does onboarding take?
Usually days rather than weeks when documents are complete and consistent. Delay almost always comes from a mismatch between the stated model and the visible one, or from an ownership structure that takes time to trace.