KYC
KYC — Know Your Customer — is the process of verifying who a customer actually is before doing business with them. In regulated sectors it is a legal obligation under anti-money-laundering law, not a courtesy check.
A modern KYC flow combines document and data. The customer submits a government ID and a liveness capture; the provider validates document authenticity, matches the face to the document, and screens the name against sanctions and politically exposed person (PEP) lists. The result is risk-scored, recorded, and kept current through ongoing monitoring. For companies, the equivalent process is KYB: registry checks plus identification of ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs).
The EU legal basis is the AML framework. AMLD6 defines which sectors are obliged entities — real-estate agents among them — while the new AML package tightens the rules: the directly applicable AMLR single rulebook applies from mid-2027, and AMLA, the EU-level AML authority, has been ramping up since 2025.
Why it matters in real estate
Property businesses onboard strangers who then move serious money. A letting agent signs a tenant into a €1,200-per-month lease; a crowdfunding platform accepts a €10,000 investment; a developer takes staged payments from an overseas buyer. Verifying identity before the first euro moves protects against fraud, satisfies obliged-entity duties, and avoids unwinding relationships after funds arrive.
UrbanPay's Verify product runs this as one flow: KYC from €2.50 per check, KYB from €9.99 with registry checks in more than 100 jurisdictions, UBO identification, AML and sanctions screening, and ongoing monitoring. Verification chains directly into eIDAS e-signature of the lease and the first payment, so onboarding, contract, and cash arrive as one auditable sequence.
Key facts
- Real-estate agents and related businesses are obliged entities under the EU AMLD framework.
- The AMLR single rulebook applies from mid-2027; AMLA has been ramping up since 2025.
- KYC includes sanctions and PEP screening, record-keeping, and ongoing monitoring — not only a one-off ID check.
- Qualified electronic signatures under eIDAS are legally equivalent to handwritten signatures across the EU.
Related terms
KYC sits inside the broader AML framework, is mandatory for platforms under the ECSP crowdfunding regime, and is a precondition for releasing funds from escrow.
Frequently asked questions
Do landlords have to run KYC on tenants?
Obligations attach mainly to intermediaries: real-estate agents and certain property businesses are obliged entities under EU AML rules, with scope varying by country and activity. Beyond strict obligation, verifying tenants before signing reduces identity fraud and non-payment risk, which is why professional operators increasingly verify every applicant as standard.
What is the difference between KYC and KYB?
KYC verifies a natural person: identity document, liveness, sanctions and PEP screening. KYB verifies a business: company registry data, legal status, and the ultimate beneficial owners behind it, each of whom is then KYC-checked. Property transactions often need both — for example, a corporate tenant with two UBOs.
How much does identity verification cost?
With UrbanPay Verify, KYC starts from €2.50 per check and KYB from €9.99, including registry checks in more than 100 jurisdictions, UBO identification, AML and sanctions screening, and ongoing monitoring. Both run via no-code dashboard or API, and chain into e-signature and first payment.
Verify tenants, buyers, and investors: Identity verification.