KYC/AML procedure

For merchants/customers who only work with cryptocurrency (no fiat), we only ask you to pass the KYB/KYC procedure in a rare case when a certain transaction is marked as suspicious. See below why that may happen and what you can do.

For our merchants who would like to use the fiat options , it’s a bit different. These options include charging your customers with fiat and getting paid in crypto, and cashing out to fiat. To preserve the highest level of security and in compliance with the law, we will ask you to pass the KYC/KYB procedure to start working with fiat. This includes a quick ID verification and won’t take you long. Contact us for details and to start the process!

Why may we ask you to pass the KYC?

In the cryptocurrency market, people usually prefer to stay anonymous. The whole industry was built on the ideas of freedom from banks and governments, free value exchange without any regulation.

At the same time, we strive to do everything we can to protect our partners and their clients from any form of risk or fraudulent activity. These efforts are called anti-money laundering (AML), and NOWPayments is proud to actively participate in the common AML efforts.

But how do we recognize fraudulent activity? Algorithms employed by our partners ChangeNOW can detect potential money laundering. This is an extremely rare case, but when a transaction is marked as suspicious, we put it on hold and ask the user to verify their identity and prove the legality of the transaction. This includes providing a photo of an ID, a source of deposited funds, and a selfie with the ID and a printout of the note provided by our support team.

This is called the KYC/AML (“know your customer”) procedure and is a widely recognized way to protect the market from scams. Implementing it is required by a number of regulations active in the cryptocurrency market, but we don’t do it simply because the law obliges us — we believe in the bright future of the crypto industry and make everything to make it a safe place.

If you are asked to undergo this procedure but do not want to reveal your identity, we respect your choice. We will refund the withheld sum, blacklist the address, thus rendering it non-eligible for making deposits on the service.

For details, see the complete official NOWPayments’s Policy on Anti-Money Laundering and Combating The Financing Terrorism compliance control.

How do we store your documents after the KYC/AML procedure? See here.