Know Your Business (KYB)Copy Anchor Link

The Know Your Business (KYB) module enables organizations to vet corporate entities before onboarding merchants, partners, or corporate customers. Prembly connects directly to official corporate registries, tax authorities, and anti-money laundering databases globally to retrieve authoritative company filings, verify active operating status, and unpack complex ownership structures.

1. Supported Corporate Registries & ChannelsCopy Anchor Link

Prembly supports both regional business registry authorities and universal multi-jurisdiction search engines:

Regional Corporate AuthoritiesCopy Anchor Link

• Nigeria (NG):
  • CAC Basic / Advanced / Premium: Direct query against the Corporate Affairs Commission. Returns company name, registration date, company classification (BN Business Name, RC Registered Company, IT Incorporated Trustees, LP Limited Partnership, LLP Limited Liability Partnership), registered address, share capital, and director profiles.
  • Business Tax Verification: Query Nigerian tax identification numbers against federal tax records (FIRS).
  • SCUML Verification: Verification of compliance certificates issued by the Special Control Unit Against Money Laundering for designated non-financial businesses and professions.
• Kenya (KE): Direct verification of Kenyan corporate registrations via the Registrar of Companies and business credit profiles via Credit Reference Bureau (CRB).
• Ivory Coast (CI): Official business search and verification through the RCCM (Registre du Commerce et du Crédit Mobilier).
• Tanzania (TZ): Business registration checks via the Business Registrations and Licensing Agency (BRELA) and corporate Tax Identification Number (TIN) validation.

Global Multi-Jurisdiction CoverageCopy Anchor Link

• Global Business Search (global_business_search): Query commercial registries across 100+ countries—including the United States (state and federal), United Kingdom (Companies House), Canada, and member European registries—by providing the company registration number and two-letter ISO country code.

2. Initiating a KYB VerificationCopy Anchor Link

Corporate verifications can be dispatched manually by compliance officers or automated via direct API integration and onboarding workflows.

Option A: In-App Dashboard VerificationCopy Anchor Link

When verifying an entity through the Prembly web app:

1. Navigate to Products > Verification > KYB in the sidebar.
2. Click Verify Business in the top right corner.
3. Select the Country of Registration.
4. Choose the target Verification Service (e.g., CAC Advanced, SCUML Verification, or Global Business Search).
5. The modal dynamically displays the required fields defined in that service's schema (e.g., Nigerian CAC requires rc_number and company_type; Global Search requires company_number and ISO country_code).
6. Click Run Check to execute the query against the official registry.

Option B: Verification Services REST APICopy Anchor Link

Integrate corporate vetting directly into your merchant onboarding flow using the channel endpoints from the Verification Services Directory.

Example 1: Nigerian CAC Advanced VerificationCopy Anchor Link

POST https://api.prembly.com/api/v1/verification/api/cac_advance/
X-API-Key: <your_api_key>
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "rc_number": "7339654",
  "company_type": "RC"
}

Example 2: Global Business SearchCopy Anchor Link

POST https://api.prembly.com/api/v1/verification/api/global_business_search/
X-API-Key: <your_api_key>
Content-Type: application/json

{
  "company_number": "3385281",
  "country_code": "GB"
}

Option C: Automated WorkflowsCopy Anchor Link

Automate end-to-end corporate onboarding by designing pipelines in Workflows. You can configure a workflow to verify the corporate registry first, automatically extract the directors, and conditionally trigger identity and sanctions screening on each key executive.

3. Directors, UBOs & Chained KYCCopy Anchor Link

A critical component of corporate due diligence is uncovering Ultimate Beneficial Owners (UBOs)—individuals holding 25% or more equity or significant managerial control.

• Automated Director Extraction: Advanced KYB endpoints return the full registry-declared list of officers, secretaries, directors, and major shareholders, including their full legal names, appointment dates, and registered addresses.
• Spawning Linked KYC: Inside the Directors & UBOs tab of any KYB report, compliance officers can click Run KYC next to any director's name. This triggers an individual identity check via Prembly's KYC module, automatically establishing a parent-child relationship between the business entity and the individual in Customer 360.

4. Reading the KYB Report & Verification StatusesCopy Anchor Link

The KYB Report groups corporate telemetry into dedicated audit views:

• Company Overview: Legal business name, registration date, registered office address, and live registry status.
• Operating Status Flags: Highlights whether the company is actively trading (Active) or poses compliance risk (Inactive, Dissolved, Struck Off, or Under Receivership).
• Directors & Shareholders: Complete ownership breakdown with action buttons to launch chained KYC or AML sanctions checks.
• Document Proofs: Digital certificates of incorporation, memorandum copies, or official filing status receipts when returned by the registry.

Response Status CodesCopy Anchor Link

5. Compliance Management & EscalationCopy Anchor Link

• Customer 360: Aggregates business registry data, merchant transaction metrics, and director risk profiles into a centralized corporate view.
• Case Management: If a corporate check reveals a dissolved status, high-risk sanctions flag, or unregistered business name, the record automatically routes into Case Management for senior compliance officer review.
• Audit Exports: Generate stamped compliance dossiers (PDF) or export verified corporate cohorts (CSV/XLSX) for regulatory submissions and banking partner audits.