Overview

This page introduces the onboarding process and the Know Your Business (KYB) requirements for a corporate customer. The Nium One platform onboards a corporate customer through a client. It verifies their identity and assigns them a wallet that holds the balance.

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NOTE

The term corporate customer includes:

  • Small and medium enterprise (SME)
  • Business
  • Business client

Introduction

Onboarding process flow

After you complete your client setup you need to onboard your corporate customer. You need to submit an application through an API so Nium can complete the customer's KYB verification according to regional regulatory guidelines.

Nium requires the customer to wait for the KYB process to complete before they can make transactions. Nium offers an eKYB flow to onboard a customer in most regions. The eKYB verification completes in a few minutes allowing the customer to transact quickly after submitting their application.

The corporate customer onboarding process is composed of the following parts.

Corporate customer onboardingDescription
Submission of required information:
  • Business details
  • Stakeholder details
  • Applicant details
  • Documented proof of the above
  • You need to collect the following information from the corporate customer and submit it to Nium via APIs:
  • Business name, registration number, registered addresses, etc.
  • Stakeholder name, shareholding details, etc.
  • Applicant name, contact details, shareholding details, etc.
  • Corporate customer business registration documents, shareholder or applicant ID documents, etc.
  • Information verification:
  • Corporate customer KYB
  • Stakeholder or applicant verification
  • After the information is received, Nium starts the verification process:
  • Nium verifies the information by eKYB or manual KYB.
  • For details, see the supported methods below.
  • Definitions

    Entity typeDefinition
    ApplicantAn applicant is an individual who is submitting the application on behalf of the corporate customer. Usually, an applicant is an authorized representative or signatory of the corporate customer. An applicant has to undergo Know Your Customer (KYC) verification as part of the KYB process.
    BusinessA business is a corporate customer that's being onboarded.
    StakeholderA stakeholder is an individual or entity that's declared in the registration documents of the business as an officer or shareholder. Information about all stakeholders needs to be submitted. Nium performs a KYC check on all stakeholders according to regulatory guidelines.

    Region-specific KYB and KYC offerings

    For detailed onboarding steps about your region, click the onboarding link next to the region's name.

    Australia — AU onboarding

    KYB offeringBusiness verificationApplicant verificationStakeholder verification
    eKYBReal time
  • E_KYC for AU resident via database verification.
  • E_DOC_VERIFY for non-AU resident via a live selfie photograph.
  • MANUAL_KYC manual submission of documents.
  • E_KYC for AU resident via database verification
  • MANUAL_KYC for non-AU resident via manual submission of documents
  • Manual KYBRequires Nium compliance review and manual submission of documents
  • E_KYC for AU resident via the database verification.
  • E_DOC_VERIFY for non-AU resident via a live selfie photograph.
  • MANUAL_KYC manual submission of documents.
  • MANUAL_KYC manual submission of documents, regardless of residence

    European Union — EU onboarding

    KYB offeringBusiness verificationApplicant verificationStakeholder verification
    eKYBReal timeE_DOC_VERIFY regardless of residence and is applicable via a live selfie photograph.N/A
    Manual KYBRequires Nium compliance review and manual submission of documentsE_DOC_VERIFY regardless of residence and is applicable via a live selfie photograph.MANUAL_KYC manual submission of documents, regardless of residence

    Hong Kong — HK onboarding

    KYB offeringBusiness verificationApplicant verificationStakeholder verification
    Manual KYBRequires Nium compliance review and manual submission of documents.
  • E_DOC_VERIFY regardless of residence and is applicable via a live selfie photograph.
  • MANUAL_KYC manual submission of documents.
  • MANUAL_KYC manual submission of documents, regardless of residence.

    Singapore — SG onboarding

    KYB offeringBusiness verificationApplicant verificationStakeholder verification
    eKYBReal time
  • E_KYC for SG residents via Myinfo verification
  • E_DOC_VERIFY for non-SG residents and is applicable via a live selfie photograph.
  • MANUAL_KYC manual submission of documents
  • N/A
    Manual KYBRequires Nium compliance review and manual submission of documents
  • E_KYC for SG residents via the Myinfo verification
  • E_DOC_VERIFY for non-SG residents and is applicable via a live selfie photograph.
  • MANUAL_KYC manual submission of documents.
  • MANUAL_KYC (manual submission of documents, regardless of residence)

    United Kingdom — UK onboarding

    KYB offeringBusiness verificationApplicant verificationStakeholder verification
    eKYBReal timeE_DOC_VERIFY regardless of residence and is applicable via a live selfie photograph.
  • E_KYC for UK residents via the database verification
  • MANUAL_KYC for non-UK via manual submission of documents
  • Manual KYBRequires Nium compliance review and manual submission of documentsE_DOC_VERIFY regardless of residence and is applicable via a live selfie photograph.MANUAL_KYC manual submission of documents, regardless of residence

    United States — US onboarding

    KYB offeringBusiness verificationApplicant verificationStakeholder verification
    eKYBReal-time
  • E_KYC for US residents via database verification.
  • E_DOC_VERIFY for non-US residents and is applicable via a live selfie photograph.
  • MANUAL_KYC manual submission of documents.
  • E_KYC for US residents via the database verification.
  • MANUAL_KYC for non-US resident via manual submission of documents.
  • Manual KYBRequires Nium compliance review and manual submission of documents
  • E_KYC for US residents via database verification.
  • E_DOC_VERIFY for non-US residents and is applicable via a live selfie photograph.
  • MANUAL_KYC manual submission of documents.
  • MANUAL_KYC manual submission of documents, regardless of residence.

    Other Countries — SG onboarding

    Businesses which are not covered in any of the above regions can be onboarded through SG as the regulatory region. All the required parameters, required documents, and the onboarding flow are the same as that of SG. Currently, only Manual KYB is supported.

    KYB offeringBusiness verificationApplicant verificationStakeholder verification
    Manual KYBRequires Nium compliance review and manual submission of documents
  • E_DOC_VERIFY regardless of residence and is applicable via a live selfie photograph.
  • MANUAL_KYC manual submission of documents.
  • MANUAL_KYC manual submission of documents, regardless of residence.

    Implementation

    Follow the steps below to complete the onboarding of the corporate customer along with KYB verification.

    A diagram of the KYB onboarding process. (click to enlarge)

    A diagram of the KYB onboarding process. (click to enlarge)

    Submission of information

    You need to send the required information below by one or more APIs summarized in the table.

    RegioneKYB required steps                                                                   
    AU1. (Optional) Public Corporate Details using Business ID API
    2. Onboard Corporate Customer API
    EU / SG / UK1. Public Corporate Details using Business ID API
    2. Exhaustive Corporate Details using Business ID API
    3. Onboard Corporate Customer API
    USOnboard Corporate Customer API

    For MANUAL_KYB, you only need to call the Onboard Corporate Customer API.

    Onboard API response

    You can implement the following actions based on the status field in the response.

    HTTP codeStatusNext steps
    200IN_PROGRESS1. Use a redirect URL to complete KYC.
    2. Upload required documents using Upload documents API.
    3. Wait for the webhook response.
    400BAD_REQUESTCorrect the data and resubmit the application.

    200 response

    Once the application is submitted via the Onboard Corporate Customer API, a customer is created and you receive the following customer information in the response, along with any errors or remarks, to be stored for future use:

    • caseId
    • clientId
    • customerHashId
    • walletHashId

    The response also contains the status which is always IN_PROGRESS. One or both of the following can happen at this stage:

    • When a redirectURL is provided, it means the customer has to be redirected to the vendor's page for completion of the applicant's KYC. Refer to the individual region pages for more information. Once the process is completed, wait for webhook events to indicate the change in the corporate customers' application status. The filed expiry indicates the number of mins the redirectURL is valid for and is typically 1440 minutes. See Regenerate KYC URL for next steps on expiry.

    • Additional documents might be required, which can be submitted via the Upload Document for Corporate Customer API, regardless of a redirectURL. Refer to the individual regions for the complete list of documents required for eKYB and manual KYB flows. Also, you can make use of the remarks field in the response, which can be shown to the applicant, and collect documents accordingly.

    After either or both of the above-mentioned steps are completed as required, Nium initiates verification of the application. The application can either get verified in real time or through manual review. The status of the application changes to either ACTION_REQUIRED, COMPLETED, or REJECT, accordingly. Any change in status is communicated via webhook, so wait for the webhook event to complete.

    Response example for IN_PROGRESS with redirectUrl

    {
        "clientId": "NIM1679801521238",
        "caseId": "c800e2e0-1add-4c34-8244-b7baa4924a0e",
        "status": "IN_PROGRESS",
        "remarks": "SHAREHOLDER -> VERIFIED|BUSINESS -> KYC : SCREENING COMPLETED, ALIAS_KYC : SCREENING COMPLETED|Application is being reviewed by our compliance agent|VERIFIED|APPLICANT -> KYC : SCREENING COMPLETED|VERIFIED",
        "customerHashId": "88464f2d-8caa-4cd4-a1db-346d9defde05",
        "walletHashId": "91cb0636-c30a-4304-ba47-a589dead86c9",
        "redirectUrl": "https://integrationspreprod.partners.instarem.com/preprod/compliance/callback/load?referenceNumber=18afec3f-c8fe-491a-bf4f-28651df943ec&token=eyJhbGciOiJIUzUxMiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiI0MDhjZDlmNS1hN2I5LTQ2YTYtYjE1YS0zOWY2NzE5ZjdiMTd8fGVjNWQ4OGUzLTg2ZGItNDc0ZS04ZDg1LWQxZmNiYzQ4MzllNnx8MTY3OTgwMTUyNSIsImV4cCI6MTY3OTgwMjQyNSwiaWF0IjoxNjc5ODAxNTI1fQ.dHaxPZlGyYnclIuuZ9Miu56gtBSqL3YoYSYLFQJ4lEafHGAHV1fs_63HwToJ3kb1E6FYn6SF2YGCfnkiwoFfiA",
        "expiry":"1440"
        "errors": []
    }
    

    400 response

    In case of any basic validation failures, Nium returns an HTTP 400 Bad Request response status code to the Onboard Corporate Customer API. You need to look at the errors field and resubmit with the correct customer details.

    {
        "status": "BAD_REQUEST",
        "message": "Unable to create customer v1: Validation failed for input provided",
        "errors": [
            "[\"The maximum length of email is 60 characters\"]"
        ]
    }
    

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    CAUTION

    All corporate customers are required to have a unique business name and business registration number.

    Bad request example with a non-unique name:

    {
        "status": "BAD_REQUEST",
        "message": "Unable to create customer v1: Corporate customer already exist with customerHashId 88464f2d-8caa-4cd4-a1db-346d9defde05",
        "errors": [
            "[\"Corporate customer already exist with customerHashId 88464f2d-8caa-4cd4-a1db-346d9defde05\"]"
        ]
    }
    

    The errorDetails object

    In addition to the above basic errors, more detailed errors are presented in the below format with code and description. For details on the different error codes, see Onboarding error codes.

    {
        "status": "BAD_REQUEST",
        "code": "unable to initiate CaaS Corporate Onboarding",
        "message": "{\"errors\":[{\"code\":\"E100\",\"description\":\"Tax Details is Missing  for Business Entity MONEYWISE PARTNERS324905\"},{\"code\":\"E100\",\"description\":\"Tax Country is Missing  for Business Entity MONEYWISE PARTNERS324905\"},{\"code\":\"E100\",\"description\":\"Registered Address Line 1 is Missing  for Business Entity MONEYWISE PARTNERS324905\"},{\"code\":\"E100\",\"description\":\"Address Registered Country is Missing  for Business Entity MONEYWISE PARTNERS324905\"},{\"code\":\"E100\",\"description\":\"Address Post Code is Missing  for Business Entity MONEYWISE PARTNERS324905\"},{\"code\":\"E200\",\"description\":\"Share percentage is Missing  for Stakeholder Ultimate Beneficial Owner Mila John Jekovar\"}],\"custAdtlInfoNeeded\":false,\"statusCode\":\"400\",\"errorMessage\":\"Compliance Request Validation Failed with Errors - Tax Details is Missing , Tax Country is Missing , Tax Number is Missing , Registered Address Line 1 is Missing , Address Registered Country is Missing , Address Post Code is Missing for Business entity  MONEYWISE PARTNERS324905. \\n Share percentage is Missing for stakeholder Ultimate Beneficial Owner Mila John Jekovar. \\n Please provide the required information.\",\"isCustAdtlInfoNeeded\":false}",
        "errorDetails": [
            {
                "code": "E100",
                "description": "Tax Details is Missing  for Business Entity MONEYWISE PARTNERS324905"
            },
            {
                "code": "E100",
                "description": "Tax Country is Missing  for Business Entity MONEYWISE PARTNERS324905"
            },
            {
                "code": "E100",
                "description": "Address Registered Country is Missing  for Business Entity MONEYWISE PARTNERS324905"
            },
            {
                "code": "E100",
                "description": "Address Post Code is Missing  for Business Entity MONEYWISE PARTNERS324905"
            },
            {
                "code": "E200",
                "description": "Share percentage is Missing  for Stakeholder Ultimate Beneficial Owner Mila John Jekovar"
            }
        ]
    }
    

    Webhooks

    After receiving the response from the Onboard Corporate Customer API, for all cases where status = IN_PROGRESS, Nium sends a webhook event to the configured client URL, under Notification Webhook.

    You need to look for the corresponding template within the webhook event's response CARD_CLIENT_KYB_STATUS_WEBHOOK at Client KYB Status.

    To know more about the webhook features, see Webhooks overview.

    The complianceStatus field

    In the webhook response, the complianceStatus field can have one of the following values.

    complianceStatusDescription
    ACTION _REQUIREDWait for the next state while your compliance agent is reviewing the application.
    COMPLETEDThis is not a terminal state. RFIs can be raised even after this state. Transactions are not allowed yet. Look at status field for confirmation of approval.
    REJECTEDThe corporate customer needs to resubmit the application to reinitiate the process along with clientId and customerHashId. This is not a terminal state.
    RFI_REQUESTEDIf the compliance agent finds insufficient information in the application, they raise a request for information (RFI) to you to collect the missing information from the corporate customer.
    RFI_RESPONDEDAfter you gather the missing information, send it via the Respond to RFI API. After the missing information is received, you receive this webhook event.

    Note: complianceStatus only tells about the progress of the application but doesn't not confirm the approval. RFIs can be raised after any complianceStatus and it is advisable to keep the RFI process open in any state.

    The status field

    This field can have the following values.

    StatusDescription
    PendingThis state indicates that the application is under review. This is not a terminal state.
    ClearThis is a terminal state and is the confirmation of approval. Client can communicate the approval to customers and transactions are allowed only in this state. In rare scenarios of post-approval due diligence, RFIs can be raised even after this state, which can be inferred from the change in complianceStatus
    FailedThe corporate customer needs to resubmit the application to reinitiate the process along with clientId and customerHashId. This is a terminal state and Compliance agent might not entertain the resubmission.

    The same status can also be found in Customer Details API.

    RFI process

    While the application status is ACTION_REQUIRED, the compliance agent may request additional information by raising an RFI request, which sets the complianceStatus as RFI_REQUESTED in the webhook response. Then, you need to call the Fetch Corporate Customer RFI Details API to fetch the RFI templates requested by using the clientID and caseID parameters or by using only the customerHashId.

    There can be multiple RFI templates in the response.

    The Respond to RFI for Corporate Customer API should be used to respond to all required fields for each RFI template raised. The required fields are different for each RFI template but are a subset of the Onboard Corporate Customer API. For the complete list of RFI templates and required fields or documents by region, see the RFI templates page. After an RFI template is responded, the status of the template changes to RFI_RESPONDED in the Fetch Corporate Customer RFI Details API.

    Once all the RFI templates are responded, the status of the application changes from RFI_REQUESTED to RFI_RESPONDED and you will receive a webhook with complianceStatus=RFI_RESPONDED

    After the application, the complianceStatus can again become RFI_REQUESTED or one of the terminal states becomes COMPLETED or REJECTED.

    Terms and Conditions

    Regenerate KYC URL API

    The KYC URL, which is returned in the response of the Onboard Corporate Customer API, has an expiration time. Once expired, the link cannot be used to complete applicant KYC. Use the Regenerate KYC URL API to generate a new URL with a new expiration time.

    This API can be used when applicantDetails.kycMode is the following:

    • E_DOC_VERIFY in any region
    • E_DOC_VERIFY or E_KYC in Singapore
    An image of the proposed journey for applicant KYC

    A diagram of the proposed journey for applicant KYC. (click to enlarge)

    Identifying an expired link

    An expired link can be identified in the below ways:

    1. When an applicant is trying to click on the link, you can check the expiry based on the expiry field in the response of Onboard Corporate Customer API. In case of expiry, you can regenerate a new URL using the Regenerate KYC URL and direct the applicant to the new redirect URL.
    2. When an applicant is redirected to the redirect URL received in the Onboard Corporate Customer API, despite being expired, the applicant lands on the browser and is redirected back to the client to the configured client KYC redirect URL with the following parameters. Customer do not see the vendor UI in this case.

    Example of a redirect to the client in a failed case

    https://www.clientRedirectURL.com/?clientId=NIM1681898211881&caseId=4ff53849-3d30-45c8-af11-
    f95c315ce83c&errorCode=R408&errorMessage=redirectURLExpired&isSucces=false
    

    For URL expired scenario, the redirect URL contains:

    • errorCode=R408
    • errorMessage=redirectURLExpired

    When you detect the above values, regenerate a new URL using the Regenerate KYC URL API and advise the applicant accordingly. You can save this URL and redirect the applicant until it is expired again.

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    CAUTION

    Once a new redirectURL is generated, the old URL is auto-expired and cannot be used anymore.

    Update Corporate Customer API

    After the onboarding is complete and the customer is approved, the Update Corporate CustomerAPI allows you to perform the following actions on a corporate customer:

    • Update business details and risk details of a corporate customer.
    • Add new stakeholders and update information for existing stakeholders.
    • Replace and update existing applicant information.
    • Add new documents for business details, stakeholder details, and applicant details.

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    CAUTION

    This API can be called only if the compliance status is COMPLETED; any other status results in a validation error.

    All the fields in the request body of the Update Corporate Customer API are the same as the Onboard Corporate customer API except authenticationCode. Clients of EU and UK must pass the authentication code submitted by the end customer. This is a regulatory requirement in the UK and US.

    Important points to Note

    • You do not need to pass the entire request body. Send only the fields that need to be updated. If any field is not passed in the request body, it will remain unchanged.
    • Any parameter which is an array will be entirely replaced by the input values passed in the API, such as the tax_details and professionalDetails arrays.
    • You can either add a new stakeholder or update and existing stakeholder. To add a new stakeholder, you needn't send a referenceId; or if you do, you need to send a new referenceId. When updating details of an existing stakeholder, you need to pass the referenceId of the existing stakeholder.
    • You can either replace the applicant or update the existing applicant. To replace the applicant, you needn't send a referenceId; or if you do, you need to send a new referenceId. When updating details of an existing applicant, you need to pass the referenceId of the existing applicant.
    • After the Update Corporate Customer API is called, the status of the application changes to ACTION_REQUIRED and the application goes to manual review. After Nium's compliance team completes verification, the status changes to COMPLETED and the data is updated in the database. RFIs may be raised by our compliance officer to complete the verification.

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    Note:

    Once the Update Corporate Customer API the complianceStatus changes to ACTION_REQUIRED, the customer status remains CLEAR which will allow the customer to transact.

    Region businessType matrix

    businessTypeAUEUHKSGUKUS
    ASSOCIATIONYesYesYesYesNo
    CORPORATIONNoNoNoNoYes
    ESTATENoNoNoNoYes
    GENERAL_PARTNERSHIPNoNoNoNoYes
    GOVERNMENT_ENTITYYesYesYesYesNo
    LIMITED_LIABILITY_COMPANYNoNoNoNoYes
    LIMITED_LIABILITY_PARTNERSHIPNoYesNoYesYes
    OTHERSNoNoYesYesNo
    PARTNERSHIPYesNoYesNoNo
    PRIVATE_COMPANYYesYesYesYesNo
    PUBLIC_COMPANYYesYesYesYesYes
    REGULATED_TRUSTYesNoNoNoNo
    SOLE_TRADERYesNoYesYesYes
    TRUSTNoYesYesYesYes
    UNICORP_ASSOCIATIONNoNoNoNoYes
    UNICORP_PARTNERSHIPNoNoNoYesNo
    UNREGULATED_TRUSTYesNoNoNoNo