What is KYB (know your business)? Definition and example

KYB (know your business)

KYB (know your business) is the due diligence a payment provider, acquirer or marketplace runs on a business customer, verifying its registration, directors, beneficial owners and activity before it can take payments or receive payouts.

Also called: KYB, know your business, business verification, corporate KYC, know your business checks

Updated 19 October 2026

How does KYB work?

The business supplies its details and documents, and the provider checks them against registers and other independent sources. The UK Money Laundering Regulations, regulation 28, show the typical scope for a company customer: obtain and verify its name, registration number and registered office address, take reasonable measures to verify the law it is subject to, its constitution and the names of its directors and senior managers, and understand its ownership and control structure. Beneficial owners are then identified and verified, usually by running KYC on them. Many providers also review licences, the website and what the business actually sells.

Who runs KYB, and why?

Anyone onboarding a business customer: acquirers and PSPs on merchants, payment facilitators on sub-merchants, and marketplaces on the sellers they pay out to. Adyen’s documentation says payment industry regulations require it to verify the users of a platform before it can process payments or pay out their funds. Stripe says it collects information about the business and the individuals who ultimately own or control it because its regulators require it. As an illustrative example: a marketplace onboards 400 new sellers a month. If 25% submit incomplete ownership details and each correction takes five days, 100 sellers a month wait almost a week longer for their first payout.

What are the limits?

KYB is a snapshot. Ownership, directors and activity change, so providers repeat reviews and ask merchants to keep their information up to date. Requirements differ by country and provider, so the same documents may not satisfy everyone.

Where does Omno use it?

Omno is not a KYB vendor and does not acquire. Each connected PSP runs its own checks on the merchant under its own rules. For marketplaces, seller verification comes from the merchant’s own systems and reaches Omno as customer verification levels and customer groups, which eligibility rules and payout verification gating use to decide which providers and payout routes a seller can use.

Frequently asked questions

Is KYB different from KYC?

It applies the same due diligence to a company instead of a person. KYC verifies an individual's identity. KYB verifies that the business exists, who runs it and who ultimately owns or controls it, and then usually runs KYC on those individuals. Required documents and checks vary by country and by provider.

Who counts as a beneficial owner?

It depends on the country. Under the UK Money Laundering Regulations, regulation 5, the beneficial owner of an unlisted company includes any individual who ultimately owns or controls, directly or indirectly, more than 25% of the shares or voting rights, any individual who exercises ultimate control over its management, and any individual who otherwise controls it. Other countries use similar but not identical tests.

Does a merchant go through KYB once or with every provider?

Usually with every provider. Each PSP or acquirer that holds the merchant relationship runs its own checks under its own rules, although most ask for similar documents. Keeping a ready company pack, with a registry extract, an ownership chart, director identity documents and any licences, shortens each onboarding.