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What is KYC (Know Your Customer)?

Know Your Customer (KYC) is the process of verifying the identity of individual customers before establishing a business relationship. gu1’s KYC solution enables you to integrate identity verification into your application, allowing your end-users to complete the verification process seamlessly.

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API-First Approach

Our KYC API allows you to:
  • Programmatically create KYC validations for your customers
  • Generate verification URLs to share with your users
  • Receive real-time webhook notifications when verification completes
  • Query validation status at any time

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Typical Integration Flow

1

Create Person Entity

Create a person entity in gu1 with your customer’s basic information
2

Initiate KYC Validation

Call the API to create a KYC validation and receive a verification URL
3

Share URL with Customer

Send the verification URL to your customer via email, SMS, or embed it in your app
4

Customer Completes Verification

Your customer follows the URL and completes the identity verification process
5

Receive Webhook Notification

gu1 sends a webhook to your system when verification is complete
6

Check Verification Status

Query the API to get the final verification results and decision
Webhooks vs Manual Polling: While webhooks provide real-time notifications, you can also manually check the validation status at any time using GET /api/kyc/validations/:id. This is useful for:
  • Debugging or testing without webhook infrastructure
  • Displaying status updates to users in real-time
  • Recovering from webhook delivery failures
  • Building admin dashboards to monitor validation status

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Key Features

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Full KYC vs Individual Verifications

Which one should you use?
  • Full KYC (global_gueno_validation_kyc): Complete identity verification including document upload, selfie, face matching, and liveness detection. Recommended for financial services, banking, and regulated industries.
  • Individual Verifications: Separate API calls for specific checks like PEP screening, sanctions checking, or adverse media searches. Use when you only need specific data points or already have identity documents verified.

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Comprehensive Identity Verification (Full KYC)

  • Document Validation: Authenticate government-issued ID documents
  • Biometric Verification: Facial recognition and liveness detection
  • Face Matching: Compare selfie with document photo (see security note below)
  • AML/Sanctions Screening: Check against global watchlists
  • Data Extraction: Extract and verify personal information
Why Face Matching is Critical for Banks and FintechFace matching (comparing a live selfie to the photo on an ID document) is essential for regulated financial institutions because it:
  1. Prevents Identity Theft: Confirms the person presenting the document is the rightful owner, not someone using a stolen/fake ID
  2. Regulatory Requirement: Most financial regulators (FinCEN, FCA, FATF) mandate biometric verification for remote onboarding
  3. Fraud Prevention: Detects presentation attacks (holding up a printed photo, video replay attacks, deepfakes)
  4. Liveness Detection: Ensures a real person is present, not a static image or video
  5. Audit Trail: Provides verifiable proof of identity for compliance investigations
When is face matching required?
  • ✅ Digital banking and neobanks
  • ✅ Cryptocurrency exchanges and wallets
  • ✅ Payment service providers (PSPs)
  • ✅ Lending platforms and peer-to-peer finance
  • ✅ Any service transmitting money or holding customer funds
When can you skip it?
  • ❌ Low-risk marketplaces (non-financial)
  • ❌ Services where you verify identity in-person
  • ❌ Ongoing monitoring of existing customers (use PEP/sanctions only)
If you’re unsure whether your use case requires face matching, consult with your compliance team or legal advisor.

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Automated Document Processing

  • OCR Technology: Automatically extract data from identity documents
  • Multi-Language Support: Process documents in 100+ languages
  • Document Authentication: Detect fake or tampered documents
  • Data Extraction: Pull verified information into your system

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Real-Time Webhooks

  • Instant Notifications: Receive updates as soon as verification completes
  • Status Changes: Get notified of approval, rejection, or manual review
  • Secure Delivery: Webhook signatures for security validation
  • Retry Logic: Automatic retries for failed deliveries

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Compliance Ready

  • AML/CFT Compliance: Meet anti-money laundering requirements
  • GDPR Compliant: Data protection and privacy standards
  • Audit Trail: Complete history of verification attempts
  • Data Retention: Configurable retention policies

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Use Cases

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Fintech Applications

  • Digital Banking: Verify users during account opening
  • Payment Apps: Comply with financial regulations
  • Lending Platforms: Verify borrower identities
  • Crypto Exchanges: Meet KYC requirements for traders

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Marketplaces & Platforms

  • Peer-to-Peer Platforms: Verify buyers and sellers
  • Sharing Economy: Validate service providers
  • Gig Economy: Onboard freelancers and contractors
  • Rental Platforms: Verify tenants and hosts

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Gaming & Gambling

  • Age Verification: Confirm users are of legal age
  • Responsible Gaming: Implement self-exclusion programs
  • Regulatory Compliance: Meet gaming authority requirements
  • Fraud Prevention: Verify player identities

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Supported Documents

Our KYC solution accepts various identity documents from a wide set of countries that Gu1 can enable for your organization:
  • National ID cards
  • Passports
  • Driver’s licenses
  • Residence permits
  • Government-issued documents

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Countries Gu1 can enable for KYC validation

Document coverage depends on the issuing country. Gu1 can enable KYC validation for the countries below (grouped by continent). Contact Gu1 to activate the set that matches your markets.
Anguilla; Antigua and Barbuda; Aruba; Bahamas; Barbados; Belize; Bermuda; Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba; Canada; Cayman Islands; Costa Rica; Cuba; Curaçao; Dominica; Dominican Republic; El Salvador; Greenland; Grenada; Guatemala; Haiti; Honduras; Jamaica; Mexico; Montserrat; Nicaragua; Panama; Puerto Rico; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Martin (French part); Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Sint Maarten (Dutch part); Trinidad and Tobago; Turks and Caicos Islands; United States of America; Virgin Islands (British); Virgin Islands (U.S.)
Argentina; Bolivia; Brazil; Chile; Colombia; Ecuador; Falkland Islands (Malvinas); Guyana; Paraguay; Peru; Suriname; Uruguay; Venezuela
Algeria; Angola; Benin; Botswana; Burkina Faso; Burundi; Cameroon; Cape Verde; Central African Republic; Chad; Comoros; Côte d’Ivoire; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Djibouti; Egypt; Equatorial Guinea; Eritrea; Eswatini; Ethiopia; Gabon; Ghana; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Kenya; Lesotho; Liberia; Libya; Madagascar; Malawi; Mali; Mauritania; Mauritius; Morocco; Mozambique; Namibia; Niger; Nigeria; Republic of the Congo; The Gambia; Rwanda; Saint Helena; Sao Tome and Principe; Senegal; Seychelles; Sierra Leone; Somalia; South Africa; South Sudan; Sudan; Tanzania; Togo; Tunisia; Uganda; Western Sahara; Zambia; Zimbabwe
Abkhazia; Afghanistan; Armenia; Azerbaijan; Bahrain; Bangladesh; Bhutan; Brunei Darussalam; Cambodia; China; Christmas Island; Cocos (Keeling) Islands; Hong Kong; India; Indonesia; Iraq; Iran (Islamic Republic of); Israel; Japan; Jordan; Kazakhstan; Kuwait; Kyrgyzstan; Lao People’s Democratic Republic; Lebanon; Macao; Malaysia; Maldives; Mongolia; Myanmar; Nepal; North Korea; Oman; Pakistan; Palestine; Philippines; Qatar; Russia; Saudi Arabia; Singapore; South Korea; Sri Lanka; Syrian Arab Republic; Taiwan; Tajikistan; Thailand; Timor-Leste; Turkey; Turkmenistan; United Arab Emirates; Uzbekistan; Vietnam; Yemen
American Samoa; Australia; Cook Islands; Fiji; French Polynesia; Guam; Kiribati; Marshall Islands; Micronesia (Federated States of); Nauru; New Caledonia; New Zealand; Niue; Northern Mariana Islands; Palau; Papua New Guinea; Samoa; Solomon Islands; Tonga; Tuvalu; Vanuatu
Availability of specific document types (national ID, passport, driver’s license, etc.) can vary by country. Gu1 enables the country set for your organization during onboarding or on request.

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Getting Started

Ready to integrate KYC verification into your application?

Create KYC Validation

Start a new verification session

Get Verification URL

Obtain the URL to share with users

Webhook Integration

Receive real-time notifications

Check Status

Query verification results

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API Endpoints Summary

Best Practice: Use webhooks for production to receive instant notifications, but also implement GET /api/kyc/validations/{id} as a fallback for:
  • Initial status check after creation
  • User-initiated refresh in your UI
  • Webhook failure recovery
  • Admin/support tools

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Next Steps

  1. Create your first KYC validation
  2. Learn about webhook integration
  3. Get your API credentials