# Wise-performed KYC Wise-performed KYC and customer onboarding for unlicensed institutions. For unlicensed partners using the Embedded Solutions integration model, your customers must first complete the customer onboarding process before you can offer them Wise financial services embedded in your platform. Wise is responsible for performing KYC and KYB checks on your customers. Wise Platform offers a **hosted onboarding** method, an **API onboarding** method, and a **hybrid** method (using elements of both hosted and API). These onboarding methods allow you to build a branded customer onboarding experience directly into your application. Wise recommends using hosted onboarding or hybrid onboarding. as these methods handle changing requirements automatically. ## Compare methods Each customer onboarding method allows different customisation levels, integration effort, and maintenance needs. | | Hosted | API | Hybrid | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | **Description** | Redirect your customers into a flow hosted by Wise | Build your own customized onboarding flow using the Wise API | Combine API-led onboarding with hosted onboarding | | **Customisation** | Platform logo and theme | Full control | Full control to your preferred level | | **Customer journey** | Limited control | Full control | Full control to your preferred level | | **Integration effort** | Minimal | High | Moderate | | **Maintenance*** | Out of box, supported immediately | Requires updates when new compliance requirements emerge | Out of box, supported immediately | **Maintenance in this context means supporting compliance changes and expanding to new regions*. ### Hosted In the hosted onboarding method, your customers are directed to a Wise-hosted onboarding workflow that is branded with your company logo and theme colors. Wise manages the portal logo and theme based on files and specifications you provide to your onboarding team. With hosted customer onboarding, you don't build the verification screens or collect the KYC requirements yourself, since your customers are entering their information into Wise created and managed forms. Wise provides you with the hosted link, which you then direct your customer to at the point in the journey you decide to initiate the hosted onboarding process. Once directed to the hosted page, your customer is guided through steps to enter the required KYC/KYB details. They may also be required to perform liveness checks or instructed to upload documents, like an image of a government-issued ID. ### API In the API method, your customers remain in your application for the onboarding process using a flow designed and controlled by you. You then send the gathered information through the Wise API to verify. With API only onboarding, you are responsible for collecting all current and future information to verify your customer. As new compliance requirements are introduced, you will be responsible for updating your integration to support them. Failure to do so can result in customers being unable to complete onboarding. ### Hybrid The hybrid method enables you to own your customer onboarding experience through our API, while using Wise-hosted flows to handle requirements that cannot be collected via API. The hybrid method also ensures you can handle changing requirements without breaking your onboarding flow. Wise *strongly recommends* the hybrid method for most integrations. It allows you to customise your onboarding experience while ensuring you meet all compliance requirements as they evolve. Using a hosted fallback also enables you to expand to new regions more quickly, as new or region-specific requirements can be handled without requiring changes to your integration. ## Initiating the onboarding process Customer onboarding must be complete before the customer can send their first transfer. You can initiate onboarding at any moment before the first transfer using **proactive KYC** (available for business accounts in **EU, UK, United States, Canada, Singapore, Japan, and Australia** markets), or you can wait for KYC Review to be initiated automatically when your customer makes their first transfer request. If you are uncertain which option is best for your business, discuss with your implementation team for a recommendation. ## Prerequisites Before sending your customers through the customer onboarding process, be sure to note the following: - Your customer must have a [profile resource created](/api-reference/profile) before you can initiate the onboarding flow for them. - You must subscribe to the KYC review webhook for status updates, as much of the workflow relies on these webhook event payloads. - If customer onboarding is initiated when the customer attempts their first transfer (as opposed to proactive KYC), the transfer must be in a [funded state](/guides/product/send-money/funding) to ensure review by a Wise agent. - The proactive KYC option is available for business accounts in **EU, UK, United States, Canada, Singapore, Japan, and Australia** markets only. ## Customer onboarding requirements The requirements for any specific customer depends on factors such as their: - Country of residence - Customer type (personal or business) - Action being taken (for example, creating a transfer) Certain scenarios may cause Wise to ask for additional information after the customer onboarding process, for example if the customer address or risk level changes. ## Webhook for KYC state change events Before initiating onboarding for any of your customers, you must [create an application webhook subscription](/api-reference/webhook/webhookapplicationsubscriptioncreate) for the `kyc-reviews#state-change` event type. The state change event notification tells your system when a customer must go through the onboarding process, what data is required, and when the customer has passed the review. In the request body, set the `triggers_on` value to `kyc-reviews#state-change`. Your system will then receive event notifications when the KYC review status changes for any of your customers’ profiles as well as when a requirement changes. When the KYC review status is `WAITING_CUSTOMER_INPUT`, KYC data is required for the customer identified in the `profileId` field. For the full event payload schema, see [KYC review state change event type](/guides/developer/webhooks/event-types#kyc-review-state-change). ## Choose an onboarding method Select which method you’d like to learn about for a step-by-step guide. Hosted Create a branded onboarding experience, hosted by Wise, to verify your customers’ identities. API & hybrid Build the exact verification experience you want for your customers, powered by the Wise API. Redirect to Wise (No longer available) Seamlessly redirect to Wise's standard KYC programme.