KYB is the corporate counterpart to Know Your Customer. Verifying an individual is relatively direct. Verifying a business is harder, because a company can sit on top of other companies and trusts, and you have to work through them to reach the people who actually own or control it.
The three steps of KYB
| When | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1. Verify the entity | Registration, status, details |
| 2. Map ownership | Structure and UBOs |
| 3. Screen | Entity + owners vs risk data |
The three steps of KYB: verify the entity is real and registered, map its ownership and control to identify ultimate beneficial owners, then screen the entity and those owners against risk data.
KYB works in three steps: verify the business, map its ownership to the ultimate beneficial owners, then screen the entity and those people.
Why KYB matters
Without KYB, a corporate customer can pass onboarding while a sanctioned or high-risk person sits behind it. KYB is central to onboarding business customers under AML obligations, and it is a core requirement for many of the sectors newly captured by Tranche 2, such as accountants and real estate professionals dealing with corporate clients and trusts.
Ultimate beneficial owner KYC vs KYB vs CDD vs EDD Full AML glossary
How MemberCheck handles this
MemberCheck's KYB verifies corporate entities and their beneficial owners in the same platform as individual screening, so a business customer and the people behind it are checked in one workflow.