Business KYB Overview

Requirements and steps to onboard a business customer and its UBOs so they can transfer.

Introduction

KYB (Know Your Business) is a legal identity and compliance verification process required before a business customer can send or receive funds through SpherePay. It is mandated by anti-money laundering (AML) and regulatory requirements and must be completed once per business.

SpherePay requires the following information to verify a business customer's identity:

Subject

Field	Source	Notes
Legal name, trade name & business description	API	`businessInformation.legalName`, `tradeName`, and `description` in the customer creation request
Entity type & NAICS industry code	API	`businessInformation.entityType` and `naicsCode` in the customer creation request
Website & incorporation date	API	`businessInformation.website` and `incorporatedOn` in the customer creation request
Physical & mailing address	API	`addresses` array in the customer creation request — both `physical` and `mailing` address types required
Business identification number	API	`businessInformation.identificationNumber` in the customer creation request — accepted types vary by country, see Business Identification Types by Country
Estimated annual revenue & expected monthly payments	API	`businessInformation.estimatedAnnualRevenueInUsd` and `expectedMonthlyPaymentsInUsd` in the customer creation request
Account purpose & source of funds	API	`businessInformation.accountPurpose` and `primarySourceOfFunds` in the customer creation request
Regulated activities & compliance details	API	`businessInformation.regulatedActivities` and related compliance fields in the customer creation request
Incorporation certificate	Document	Uploaded via the document upload endpoint — see Business Document Guideline for accepted formats
Shareholder registry	Document	Uploaded via the document upload endpoint — see Business Document Guideline for accepted formats
Directors registry	Document	Uploaded via the document upload endpoint — see Business Document Guideline for accepted formats
Proof of business address	Document	Uploaded via the document upload endpoint — see Business Document Guideline for accepted formats
Terms of Service acceptance	TOS Link	Business representative completes via the hosted TOS page generated by the Generate TOS Link endpoint
Merchant Service Agreement signature	TOS Link	Business representative signs via the hosted MSA form, automatically presented after TOS acceptance
Name, residential address & date of birth	API	Provided in the business representative registration request
Tax identification number	API	`personalInformation.taxIdentificationNumber` in the business representative registration request — accepted types vary by country, see Tax ID Numbers by Country
Ownership percentage & role (UBO, director, signer, control person)	API	`representationDetails.ownershipPercentage` and `roles` in the business representative registration request
Government-issued identity document	Document	Uploaded via the document upload endpoint with `target: "business-representative"` — see Document Guideline for accepted formats
Face liveness verification	Liveness Link	UBO completes via the face verification link generated by the Request Face Liveness Verification endpoint

Additional documentation may be required

In certain circumstances, SpherePay may request additional documentation beyond the standard fields listed above. This typically applies to businesses in regulated or high-risk industries, those with complex ownership structures, or those operating in higher-risk jurisdictions. If triggered, SpherePay will contact you directly to clarify what is needed.

KYB Flowchart

To better understand how the KYB process works, please refer to the flowchart below.

User / Customer Merchant / Integrator SpherePay

Choose an onboarding method

SpherePay offers two methods for onboarding business customers. You can choose to onboard the customer via API or via link.

KYB via API (full control)

Use this when you want to manage onboarding UX inside your own product and have full control over the onboarding process.

KYB via Link (hosted)

Use this when you want the fastest integration with SpherePay's hosted onboarding experience.

Supporting Guidelines

On the process of onboarding a business customer, SpherePay requires the business's identification number and supporting documents. For accepted business identification types by country, see Business Identification Types by Country. For the complete list of acceptable documents for both the business entity and its UBOs, see Business Document Guideline.

Readiness Checklist

A business customer is ready to transfer when at least one verification profile in the Get Customer response reaches status: "approved". Different verification profiles unlock different transfer capabilities — see the Verification Profile reference for a full breakdown of what each profile requires.