KYC, or "Know Your Customer," is a legal requirement in the financial industry. It ensures that banks and other regulated companies verify who their clients are, assess risks, and confirm they’re doing business with legitimate individuals.

All admins, any individuals who own 10% or more of the business and any user whose role permissions allow them to run payroll and initiate the movement of funds must complete KYC verification. 

Learn how to complete KYC

1. Government-issued photo ID
2. Be prepared to take a few selfies

This process takes about 5 minutes. Your identity will be verified within 1–3 business days.

Click here to review our step-by-step guide.

KYB stands for "Know Your Business." This process is similar to KYC (Know Your Customer), but focuses on verifying the legitimacy and integrity of businesses rather than individuals. KYB procedures are increasingly important in the financial and corporate sectors to prevent business-related fraud, money laundering, and other illicit activities. The process is especially critical when establishing B2B (business-to-business) relationships and transactions.

Here are the key components of KYB:

1. Business Verification: This involves confirming the business exists and is legally registered. Verification can include checking the company’s registration details, such as its legal name, registration number, and registered address through governmental databases or third-party sources.
2. Understanding Business Structure: KYB processes often involve understanding the company's ownership structure, identifying significant shareholders, and determining the ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs). This is crucial to prevent money laundering activities conducted through complex corporate structures.
3. Assessing Business Reputation: KYB might also involve assessing the reputation of the business; which can include analysis of media coverage, legal disputes, and financial health. This helps in understanding any potential risks associated with doing business with them.
4. Compliance Checks: KYB includes ensuring that the business complies with local and international regulations, including anti-money laundering (AML) laws and sanctions lists. This could involve checks against blacklists and politically exposed persons (PEPs).

If your company has the Payroll module enabled, then you are required to complete the KYB process from your account through Persona. Any user with the default Admin role can complete this process, but it's recommended that the Signing Officer do so.

To learn how to complete KYB, click here.

To verify your business, you will need:

1. Business Information
   • Legal business name
   • Business tax identification number
   • Year of incorporation
   • Business address
   • Entity structure (Sole proprietorship, Corporation, Partnership, Co-operative)
2. Associated people:
    
   • Directors (if corporation)
     You'll need to provide their name, occupation, country of residence, and address.

   • Signing Officers and UBOs
     There are individuals authorized to bind the company through their signature legally. You'll need to provide their name, job title, email address, and percentage ownership.
      

     What's an Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO)?

     UBOs are individuals who hold 10% or more ownership of your business. 
     
     Each UBO must be linked to the business and complete identity verification with a photo ID and selfies. If they're also an EH administrator, they only need to do KYC once. 
     Accepted IDs for UBOs: 
     Driver’s License
     Passport 
     National ID

3. Pay verification documents: 
   
   You’ll need to provide one of the following documents which includes the company name, a bank institution, an account, and a branch/transit number.
   • A void cheque
   • A bank verification letter, etc.
   • A direct deposit form from your bank
4. Place and History of Business Documents:
   
   You’ll need to provide a utility bill showing your business's legal name and address exactly as they appear in Employment Hero.
   If there’s a suite number, ensure it’s included and matches the bill before completing KYB.
5. Payor Relationship Documents: This document should detail the UBO as the signing officer or director of the company.
   
   You’ll need to provide one of the following:
   • Articles of incorporation
   • Business registration
   • Bank verification letter confirming signing authority
      

Click here to review our step-by-step guide to walk you through the KYB process.  

FINTRAC (Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada) is Canada's national financial intelligence unit.

Established in 2000 under the Ministry of Finance, FINTRAC’s role is to detect, prevent, and deter money laundering, terrorist financing, and other threats to Canada's security.

FINTRAC helps protect Canada’s financial system from illicit activity. Learn more here.

Persona is an industry-leading provider of KYC and KYB verification services. Through Employment Hero’s partnership, Persona supplies tools and technology to verify client identities for compliance purposes.

Persona is used across industries like finance, healthcare, and online marketplaces to meet regulatory requirements and prevent fraud.

Key features of Persona’s verification services used by EH:

1. Document Verification: Checks the authenticity of government-issued IDs such as passports and driver’s licenses.
2. Biometric Verification: Uses facial recognition to match a live selfie with the ID photo.
3. Database Checks: Cross-references information against credit databases, public records, and government databases.

Learn more about Persona.

We must know exactly which user is running payroll and initiating fund transfers — both for legal compliance and risk management. Payroll access is restricted when signed in as another user. Please log in with your own verified account.

Yes. Your data is securely stored with Persona, which uses bank-grade security and is SOC 2 Type II certified. Read more here.

If sensitive information changes, you’ll need to re-verify. This includes:

You can still complete KYC if you live outside Canada. In the first step, you’ll choose your government ID’s country — default is Canada, but Persona supports IDs from many countries.

No. This process does not affect your credit score, and Employment Hero does not conduct credit checks.