What is KYC verification for businesses?

KYC — Know Your Customer — is the process of establishing who you are actually dealing with, and keeping evidence of it. In B2B it covers both the entity and the people authorised to act for it.

What business KYC typically covers

The entity

• PAN — the tax identity
• GSTIN — GST registration, checked for active status
• CIN or LLPIN, for incorporated entities
• Incorporation certificate or equivalent constitution document
• Registered address, and the operating address if different
• Bank account, in the entity's own name

The people

• Identity of the authorised signatory
• Evidence they are authorised — board resolution, partnership deed, or equivalent
• Individual identity documents, verifiable rather than merely uploaded

Why it happens before the transaction

KYC after the fact is not KYC, it is reconciliation. The point is to know who you are dealing with while you can still decide not to. Verification performed once a payment has gone out is documentation of a decision already made.

What KYC does not prove

Solvency, capability, or good faith. A fully verified business can still deliver badly. KYC establishes that there is a real, identifiable, accountable entity behind the conversation — which is a floor, not a guarantee.

What people get wrong

Collecting documents without verifying them. An uploaded PDF is a file, not a verified fact. Verification means checking against the issuing source.

Verifying the entity but not the signatory. The commonest B2B fraud is a real company and a person who does not represent it.

Treating KYC as one-time. Registrations lapse, signatories change, companies get struck off.

On Bidancer

Both sides of every engagement complete KYC before they can transact — buyers, suppliers and sales agents alike. Verification is a precondition of participation rather than a badge some listings carry. See the verification guide.