What is KYC (Know Your Customer)?
Identity verification — typically ID document upload + selfie liveness check — to confirm a signer is who they claim to be.
Know Your Customer (KYC) is the process of verifying the identity of a party to a transaction. In signing, KYC adds a layer above plain eSignature: the signer must produce a government-issued ID and pass a liveness check (a real face matching the ID, not a static photo) before the document is unlocked. KYC is required for high-value contracts, financial-services onboarding, real-estate, and many regulated industries. PDF Verified integrates Smile ID for KYC verification on documents flagged kyc_required.
What gets verified
Government-issued photo ID (passport, driving licence, national ID), face liveness (passive 3D-depth + active blink/turn challenges), document authenticity (hologram detection, OCR cross-check, tamper detection), and optional sanctions/PEP screening on Enterprise tier.
KYC + signature linkage
When KYC is required on a document, the signer's verified identity is stored alongside the signature on the audit trail. The audit certificate then shows: "Signer identity verified via Smile ID at YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS UTC, document ID match score 98%, liveness check passed."
KYC pricing on PDF Verified
KYC is a per-document add-on for Free and Premium tiers (one credit per document, regardless of signer count). Premium Plus includes unlimited KYC verifications.