Why Corporate KYC Feels Broken
If you ask corporate treasurers, relationship managers or KYC analysts how KYC feels today, you’ll hear a consistent mix of words:
“Slow. Confusing. Repetitive. Risky. Necessary – but painful.”
KYC isn’t going away. But the way we manage it can absolutely change. At the centre of that change is something surprisingly simple: a collaboration layer.
The current state: KYC by email and spreadsheet
A typical KYC onboarding or review for a business client looks like this:
The institution sends a KYC pack – sometimes a PDF, sometimes a spreadsheet, sometimes a portal link plus “a few extra questions by email”.
The client forwards it internally to finance, legal, local entities and external advisers.
People respond in different formats, at different times, with different levels of completeness.
The institution chases missing items and clarifies ambiguous answers – again, mostly over email.
Meanwhile, nobody has a single, up-to-date view of what is done, what is pending and what changed since last time.
For regulated financial institutions, this is frustrating but familiar. For non-FIs now being asked to “do KYC” on their suppliers or customers, it’s downright overwhelming.
Why this model is failing everyone
1. It hides the workflow
KYC is not just “information + documents”.
It’s a workflow:
Who needs to provide what?
Who reviews it?
Who approves it?
What happens if something changes?
Email and static forms hide this structure. Nobody sees the full picture; everyone sees their piece.
2. It duplicates work
The same information is retyped, reformatted and re-explained multiple times:
The client writes their legal name and registration details into three separate bank forms.
The institution copies/pastes key data into internal systems.
Internal teams recreate the same lists and charts in different formats.
Every time there is a KYC review, the process starts from near-zero.
3. It breaks auditability
Regulators, internal audit and risk committees increasingly ask:
“How did we onboard this client?”
“What did we know at that point?”
“Who approved this relationship and on what basis?”
When the answer lives across dozens of email threads and a few shared folders, answering those questions becomes a project in itself.
What a collaboration layer looks like
A KYC collaboration layer is not a “magic AI engine” or a new data provider. It’s a place where the actual work happens between institution and client.
Done well, it looks like this:
One workspace per relationship
All requests, documents, comments and approvals live in the same shared space.
Structured checklists
Instead of free-form email, there’s a clear list of required items, each with a status, owner and due date.
Contextual conversations
Clarifications happen right next to the item they refer to, not across separate email threads with half the information missing.
Role-based access
Internal teams (e.g. front office, KYC, risk) and client users have permissions aligned with their responsibilities.
Full audit trail
Every action is logged: who requested what, who provided it, who changed it, who approved it.
That’s the core idea behind Veridable’s KYC Collaboration Space.
Why this matters for different players
For financial institutions
Shorter cycle times – fewer back-and-forth emails, clearer visibility of what’s outstanding.
Less RM frustration – relationship managers spend less time as “KYC postmen” and more time advising clients.
Better files – KYC analysts get structured information and a complete trail rather than fragmented attachments.
For business clients
One place to manage KYC with that institution – no hunting through inboxes.
Less duplication – once a document is uploaded, everyone who needs it can see the same version.
More transparency – they can see what is blocking progress and who needs to act.
For non-FIs doing KYC on suppliers/customers
Professional process without a huge team – they can run KYC like a bank does, but with a right-sized workflow.
Less friction for counterparties – suppliers get a clear, guided process instead of vague email requests.
Collaboration first, automation second
It’s tempting to jump straight to automation: “Can we screen everything and assign a risk score at the push of a button?”
Automation has a role. But if the underlying collaboration is broken, automation mainly speeds up… the mess.
A better sequence is:
Fix the collaboration layer – one workspace, structured workflow, clear ownership.
Introduce reusable KYC profiles – so you’re not starting from zero each time.
Layer in automation and managed KYC where it truly adds value.
That’s the path we believe in at Veridable. KYC doesn’t need more chaos. It needs a place where everyone involved can see the same picture and work together.