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KYB APIKYB · UBO · 200+ registers
KYB API: automated global business verification
Know Your Business verification from official registers: legal existence, status, address, officers and ownership in one API call. No sales cycle. Sign up, get a key, run your first 150 checks free in week one.
7 dagen gratis proberen · Geen creditcard? Vraag een proefperiode op maat aan ↓ · ★ 9 op Kiyoh (88 reviews)
374M+
verifiable entities
200+
registers, one schema
150
free calls in week one
<200 ms
per check
GET /api/company/search?nationalId=07209813
Wise Payments Limited
London, United Kingdom
Registration (CRN)07209813
Status on registerActive
Address matchMatches register
Group parentWise PLC
OfficersListed on record
Source: Companies House · sample1 credit · 174 ms
The basics
What is KYB verification?
KYB (Know Your Business) verification confirms that a business customer legally exists and identifies who controls it. Regulators phrase it as verification against a reliable, independent source, and in practice that source is the national register: Companies House, the KVK, the Handelsregister and their counterparts in every other market.
This API is the registry side of KYB done properly: one request returns the entity record, status, address, officers and group structure, from 374M+ registry-sourced records in 190+ countries. Verifying the individuals behind the business is the KYC side, which has its own page.
A KYB check, in five steps
1 · Legal existenceThe registration number resolves to a record in the official register. If it does not, stop here.
2 · StatusThe entity is active: not dissolved, struck off or in liquidation. Status comes from the register, not from the customer.
3 · Registered addressThe address on the application matches the statutory address on file. Mismatches are the cheapest fraud signal you will ever get.
4 · Officers and controlDirectors, executives and group structure up to the ultimate parent, plus UBO detail where the register publishes it.
5 · Re-screen on a scheduleKYB is not a one-off. Bulk re-screening of your existing base catches dissolutions and officer changes after onboarding.
Try it live
Run a KYB check right now
Pick a business or search your own counterparty. No key needed for the sample.
- Registration, status, address and officers in one response
- Group structure up to the ultimate parent
- Same request shape in all 190+ countries
The KYB market
Why KYB never reached smaller teams
Business verification has been dominated by two excellent, expensive incumbents. That shaped who does structured KYB at all.
Dun & Bradstreet
The oldest name in business data, built around its proprietary DUNS number. The data is deep, but access runs through a sales cycle: annual contracts, per-module pricing quoted after the call, and a platform designed for procurement and enterprise credit teams. For a ten-person fintech that needs to verify merchants this week, that is a wall, not a product.
CompanyData vs Dun & BradstreetMoody's
Moody's assembled its KYB stack by acquisition, including kompany and the Orbis entity graph, and aims it squarely at banks: enterprise compliance suites, seat licences and implementation projects. Excellent if you are a tier-one bank. Out of reach if KYB is one feature in your onboarding flow rather than a department.
CompanyData vs Moody'sThe consequence: structured KYB stayed an enterprise habit, and smaller regulated teams fall back on manual register lookups or skip the check. That is the gap this API exists for.
| Legacy providers | CompanyData API | |
|---|---|---|
| Getting started | Sales call and onboarding cycle | Key issued instantly on signup |
| Trying it first | Demo on request | 150 free calls in week one, no card |
| Contract | Annual commitment, per-seat or per-module | Usage-based credits, from $34/month |
| Pricing | Quoted after the call | Public on the pricing page |
| Data source | Proprietary identifiers (DUNS, Orbis IDs) | Official registers, register IDs you can join on |
| Built for | Banks and enterprise compliance teams | Any team with a developer and an afternoon |
More than a check
More than just business checks
Screen UBOs, revenue, entities or entire groups in a single call. Search any of the 374M+ records, in any country, right here.
Try one:
Use cases
Where teams put the KYB API to work
Payment provider onboarding
Verify merchants before the first transaction. Registration, status and control structure in the signup flow itself.
Marketplace sellers
Screen sellers at scale on registration number and address, so the platform only carries legitimate registered businesses.
Lending and credit
Confirm the borrower exists and is active, then pull employees, revenue signals and group linkage for the risk model.
Supplier due diligence
Verify suppliers across markets before contracts are signed, and re-screen the vendor base on a schedule.
Ownership mapping
Walk group structures to the ultimate parent to catch shell constructions and circular ownership early.
Portfolio monitoring
Track status changes, dissolutions and officer churn across every entity you have already onboarded.
IntegrationREST APIJSONPython SDKJavaScriptSalesforceWebhooksZapier
Trusted sources
Registry-sourced, or it is not KYB
Every record traces back to an official register or a verified source, with the provenance documented per field. That is what a regulator, and your DPO, will ask to see.
- Official registers in 190+ countries, one schema
- GDPR-documented sourcing, DPA on request
- No scraping, no inferred records
Customer stories
Variance, Cellbunq and Sumsub run KYB on this API
Bulk registry feeds, onboarding checks and address verification in production, on the endpoints you just tried.
Variance · KYB infrastructure
KYB at bulk scale, in the hardest markets
Bulk registry feeds for India, Hong Kong and Mexico, normalised for direct ingestion.
Read the story
Cellbunq · KYB
Global KYB compliance on one integration
Up-to-date business details from around the world, screened straight inside the onboarding flow.
Read the story
Uber for Business · Supplier onboarding
Onboarding taxi firms the moment they register
A monthly registry feed of newly registered operators across 30+ European markets.
Read the story
Sumsub · KYB platform
Verifying the address and the director, at scale
350M statutory addresses and registry director records inside Sumsub's global KYB flows, so shell offices and nominee directors get caught at onboarding.
Read the story
Ignite Procurement · Supplier verification
Supplier checks inside the procurement platform
Registry-sourced records verify suppliers across markets, straight in the spend-management flow.
Read the storyKYB API Pricing
Transparent, credit-based pricing. Start with a free trial.
Free trial
Verify your first 150 counterparties free
- 150 lookups and 10 exports in week one, key issued instantly
- 1 credit per verification, usage-based after the trial
- No card, no contract, no sales call
Questions? Ask a human.
No ticket queue. Your question lands with our data team and you get an answer within 24 hours.
Amsterdam HQVijzelgracht 53D · +31 20 705 2360
BerlinFriedrichstraße 123 · +49 30 21480480
DubaiBuilding A1, Dubai Digital Park, Dubai Silicon Oasis
Mon to Fri 9:00 to 17:30 CET · info@companydata.com
Wat klanten in Nederland zeggen
Echte reacties van bedrijven die onze lijsten elke dag gebruiken.
★★★★★
Erg tevreden
Ik ben erg te spreken over de echtheid van de records. Normaliter ervaar ik veel 'waste' in mijn bestanden maar hier is dit aanzienlijk minder. 95% van de adressen zijn in bedrijf en zijn potentiele klanten.
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Zeer positief, goede data en handig voor salesteams
De contactgegevens zijn zeer nauwkeurig. Dit scheelt ons een hoop tijd met bellen. Ik beveel bold data ten zeerste aan als je veel koud moet bellen.
Frequently asked questions
What is KYB verification?
KYB (Know Your Business) verification is the process of confirming that a business customer is a real, legally registered entity, and identifying the people who control it. It covers legal existence, registration status, registered address, directors and ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs). It is a regulatory requirement for most fintech, payments, lending and regulated B2B services.
What is a KYB API?
A KYB API is a programming interface that runs Know Your Business checks automatically. Instead of manually querying each country's register, your application sends a single request with a business name or registration number, and the API returns verified entity data: registration, status, address, officers and ownership structure, in under 200 ms.
What are the KYB requirements?
The core requirements are the same under most AML frameworks: establish that the entity legally exists, verify its registration number and status against a reliable independent source, confirm the registered address, identify directors, and identify ultimate beneficial owners above the ownership threshold (typically 25%). Higher-risk relationships add enhanced due diligence and ongoing monitoring.
The reliable independent source is the operative phrase: registry-sourced data satisfies it, a scraped profile does not.
What is the difference between KYC and KYB?
KYC (Know Your Customer) verifies individuals, typically with ID documents and biometrics. KYB (Know Your Business) verifies businesses: their legal registration, directors and UBOs. Most regulated B2B onboarding needs both: you KYB the business, then KYC the humans who own or control it. For the customer side, see the KYC API.
What data does a KYB check return?
The API returns the legal entity record (name, registration number, legal form, status), registered address, officers and executives, group structure up to the ultimate parent, industry classification codes, and financial signals such as revenue and employee counts. Where the local register publishes ownership, UBO detail is included.
Which KYB API provider is best?
The right KYB provider depends on coverage and use case. CompanyData offers the broadest global coverage (374M+ businesses in 190+ countries) with transparent sourcing and self-serve, usage-based pricing. Legacy providers like Dun & Bradstreet and Moody's are strong at enterprise scale but sell through annual contracts. Middesk is US-focused, Persona and Sumsub are IDV platforms first.
We keep honest comparison pages if you want the detail: CompanyData vs Dun & Bradstreet and CompanyData vs Moody's.
How much does a KYB API cost?
CompanyData uses credit-based pricing starting at $34/month with 2,000 credits per year. A KYB verification costs 1 credit for the entity record. The trial is free: 150 business lookups and 10 exports in the first week. Self-serve signup takes a card at the Stripe step; if you would rather not put one down, request a custom trial instead. Volume discounts apply at higher tiers.
Is there a free KYB API?
Every account starts with a free week: 150 lookups and 10 exports against the full API, key issued instantly on signup. That is enough to verify a real sample of your customer base before you pay anything. National registers also publish free APIs, but each covers one country and rarely includes structured financials or group linkage.
Does KYB cover Ultimate Beneficial Owners (UBOs)?
Yes, where the jurisdiction publishes it. The response includes directors, group structure up to the ultimate parent, and beneficial ownership where the register maintains a UBO record. You can use this to fan out KYC checks on the relevant individuals without a second integration.
How do I integrate a KYB API?
It is a standard REST API with JSON responses, authenticated with an x-api-key header. Sign up for a key, send a GET request to the search endpoint with a business name or registration number, and export the full record by ID. SDKs for Python and JavaScript are available; the quickstart walks the first call in five minutes.
What compliance frameworks does CompanyData support?
CompanyData is GDPR compliant with transparent data sourcing from official registries and verified partners. The data supports KYB requirements under AMLD5/6, FinCEN's CDD Rule, the UK Money Laundering Regulations and similar AML frameworks. Data Processing Agreements (DPAs) are available on request.
Local registers
KYB against the local register, country by country
Test the KYB API on your own use case, no credit card
Tell us who you need to verify and how many checks you expect. You get a trial key for a few weeks with up to 1,000 free calls, plus a real sample response for your target market, within 24 hours.
* Card-free trials are for teams that fit a custom plan: platforms, higher volumes, or many end users on one key. Self-serve plans start a 7-day trial at signup.
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