Identity Verification Overview

Overview

The Cybrid Platform uses the Identity Verification API to verify customers, counterparties, and bank account ownership. This guide covers verification concepts, states, and return codes across all verification types.

For step-by-step implementation guides, see:

Verifying a Customer — Individual customer KYC
Verify a Business Customer with KYB — Business customer verification
Verifying a Counterparty — Counterparty screening
Verifying External Bank Accounts — Bank account ownership

Verification workflow

To verify customers or counterparties, use the Identity Verification endpoint. The workflow follows these steps:

Create an identity verification case for the customer.
Prompt the customer to complete the identity verification case through the Persona flow.
The platform runs database verification and AML screening.
The identity verification progresses through the states outlined below until it reaches completed with an outcome of passed or failed.

KYC (Know Your Customer)

Individual customers and beneficial owners of business customers must complete a KYC process to verify their identity. The KYC process collects the following information:

Government-issued identification card, including:
- Drivers license
- Passport
- Passport card
- Visa
- Residence Card
Selfie check that must match the photo on the government-issued identification card
Database verification that validates PII (Personally Identifiable Information) against voter, telco, utility, or credit databases
AML Screening, including:
- PEP / HIO report
- Watchlist / Sanctions report
- Adverse Media Report

SSN and Tax ID Collection

By default, the Persona KYC flow does not collect a Social Security Number (SSN) or equivalent tax identification number. To enable collection, set require_tax_id: true when creating the identity verification. When enabled, the tax ID collected defaults to SSN in the USA and SIN in Canada; it is not collected in other countries.

Retrieving KYC Data

To retrieve the PII collected during KYC — including name, address, date of birth, and identification numbers — use the include_pii=true query parameter when calling GET /api/customers/{customer_guid}. This requires the customers:pii:read scope in addition to customers:read.

KYC and KYB States

Identity Verification State	Description
storing	The identity verification is being created in our system.
waiting	The identity verification has a Persona Inquiry that has not yet been started by the customer.
pending	The identity verification has a Persona Inquiry that has been started by the customer but has not yet been completed by them (i.e. they have entered information but not finished the process yet).
reviewing	The identity verification has been pulled into review and is now with our Compliance team. If the customer fails either the Database Verification or AML Reports the KYC will go into review.
expired	The identity verification was not completed by the customer in time, or the government-issued ID used for KYC has expired; another identity verification can be created with a valid, unexpired ID.
completed	The identity verification has been completed and has an outcome of `passed` or `failed`.

⚠️
KYC expiry changes customer state
A customer's state may change from verified to unverified if their government-issued ID used for KYC expires. In such cases, a new identity verification must be initiated and completed with a valid, unexpired ID for the customer to regain verified status.

API Return Codes

The following Government ID and Selfie failures cause the customer to be rejected. If a customer is rejected and wants to attempt KYC again, contact support to update the customer's state to unverified.

Return Codes causing an account to be Rejected

Error	When this error could occur
id_mrz_check_failure	Failure due to an issue verifying the provided ID based on the machine-readable zone (MRZ).
id_presence_check_failure	Failure due to an issue verifying the provided ID based on the presence of the ID.
id_digital_replica_check_failure	Failure due to an issue verifying the provided ID based on it being a digital replica.
id_paper_replica_check_failure	Failure due to an issue verifying the provided ID based on it being a paper replica.
prohibited_person_check_failure	Failure due to a person being prohibited from accessing the service.
selfie_failure	Failure due to an issue verifying the provided selfie photo.
selfie_pose_check_failure	Failure due to an issue verifying the provided selfie photo based on incorrect poses.
selfie_quality_check_failure	Failure due to an issue verifying the provided selfie photo based on the image quality.
compliance_rejection	Failure due to compliance rejecting the identity verification.

The following failures cause the customer to remain unverified. The KYC can be attempted again without contacting support.

Return Codes causing an account to stay Unverified

Error	When this error could occur
id_check_failure	Failure due to an issue verifying the provided ID.
id_quality_check_failure	Failure due to an issue verifying the provided ID based on the image quality.
id_expiration_check_failure	Failure due to an issue verifying the provided ID based on the expiration date.
id_double_side_check_failure	Failure due to an issue verifying the provided ID based on both sides not being provided.
id_type_allowed_check_failure	Failure due to an issue verifying the provided ID based on the type provided.
id_country_allowed_check_failure	Failure due to an issue verifying the provided ID based on the issuing country.
phone_number_check_failure	Failure due to an issue verifying the phone number of the person.
email_address_check_failure	Failure due to an issue verifying the email address of the person.
document_type_check_failure	Failure due to the type of document provided not being the correct type.
document_quality_check_failure	Failure due to an issue verifying the document based on the image quality.

The following Government ID, Database, and AML Report failures trigger a manual compliance review. The compliance team determines whether to approve or reject the customer KYC.

Return Codes causing Review

Error	When this error could occur
database_check_failure	A match for the customers name, address, date of birth, or SSN cannot be found in any of the government databases. Databases searched include Telco, Credit, Voter and Utility database.
id_barcode_check_failure	Failure due to an issue verifying the provided ID based on the barcode.
id_number_check_failure	Failure due to an issue verifying an identification number of the person.
duplicate_person_check_failure	Failure due to a customer already existing for this person.
country_comparison_check_failure	Failure due to the customer verification being performed out of country.
name_check_failure	Failure due to an issue verifying the name of the person.
address_check_failure	Failure due to an issue verifying the address of the person.
dob_check_failure	Failure due to an issue verifying the date of birth of the person.
review_required	The verification is inconclusive and requires a manual review.
pep_check_failure	If the individual is a known Politically Exposed Person (PEP) they may show up on this AML report.
media_check_failure	If the individual shows up on Adverse Media they may show up on this AML report.
watchlist_check_failure	If the individual is on a known government or international watchlist or sanctions list, they may show up on this report.

Additional Documentation Request for KYC

As part of a compliance review, the compliance team may request additional documents to verify a customer.

Type of Document Requested	When do we request this document
Bank Statement from last 90 days	If an issue occurs with validating the Date of Birth (DoB) during KYC (or if a utility or telephone bill cannot be supplied for address issues).
Utility or Telephone Bill	If an issue occurs with validating the address during KYC. This includes address verification failures related to Government ID checks or Database Verification checks.

For Businesses (KYB)

Information Collected

Businesses go through a KYB process to verify their identity, and each beneficial owner must complete KYC.

The KYB process includes, but may not be limited to, the following:

Name of Business and Doing Business As (DBA)
EIN Number
Address
Phone Number
Website
Database Verification
- Validates name, EIN, address
KYC of Beneficial owners with 25% or more of the business
- All beneficial owners subject to standard KYC checks
AML screening of business
- Watchlist / sanctions report
- Adverse Media Report

States

KYB identity verifications follow the same states as KYC. See KYC and KYB States above.

API Return Codes

AML Report Failures

Error	When this error could occur
media_check_failure	Failure due to the person being on Adverse Media list.
watchlist_check_failure	Failure due to the person being on a known government or international watchlist or sanctions list.

Tax Identification Failures (EIN)

Error	When this error could occur
database_check_failure	Failure due to an issue verifying the provided information against authoritative data sources.

Webhooks and KYC Expiry

There is currently no webhook notification for customer state changes caused by KYC expiry (for example, when a customer transitions from verified to unverified due to a government-issued ID expiring). To proactively manage KYC renewals, track the expiry date of the government-issued ID used during KYC and implement logic to prompt customers to renew their verification before expiration.

Related resources

Persona Theming — Customize the Persona verification UI
Resume Persona Inquiry Session — Handle incomplete sessions
Persona Inquiry Expiry — Session expiration reference
Enhanced Due Diligence — Additional verification for higher limits
Document Submission — Submit additional documentation
PII and IDV Documents — Retrieve verification data