> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.caratuva.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Buyer KYC > What we ask buyers, why, and how it shapes the payment experience. Every buyer who pays through Caratuva goes through identity verification once. After that, they pay future invoices — from any Caratuva seller — in seconds. This page explains what the buyer experiences, what determines individual vs. business KYC, and how a seller can support a buyer who's stuck. ## Why KYC is mandatory Cross-border payment infrastructure is regulated. Anti-money-laundering, counter-terrorist-financing, and sanctions-screening rules require us to know who is paying us before we move money on their behalf. Caratuva does not offer a skip-KYC path for any amount, any country, or any payment surface — including API-created invoices. This is a deliberate, non-negotiable design. The trade-off is asymmetric: a few minutes of buyer friction on first payment, then a frictionless experience on every subsequent payment. ## Individual vs. business KYC The KYC flow forks based on whether the buyer is paying as a person or on behalf of a company. * **Individual** — sole proprietors, freelancers, or anyone paying with personal funds. * **Business** — companies. Triggered when the invoice's buyer name looks like a legal entity, or when the buyer self-identifies as a business on the first KYC step. The buyer can switch between the two at the start of the flow. ## Individual KYC For an individual buyer, we collect: | Step | What we ask | | ---------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Terms of service | Acceptance of buyer terms (one click). | | Identity | Full legal name, date of birth, country of residence. | | Address | Residential address. | | Documents | Government-issued photo ID (passport, national ID, or driver's licence), plus a short selfie captured by the device camera — both collected in the same step — to confirm the ID belongs to the submitter. | Most individual KYC submissions clear within minutes. ## Business KYC For a business buyer, we collect everything in individual KYC for the *signing officer*, plus: | Step | What we ask | | ----------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Business identity | Legal entity name, business tax/registration ID (e.g. CNPJ), company website, country of incorporation, address. | | Beneficial owners | Anyone with 25%+ control. | | Documents | Articles of incorporation, proof of ownership, and proof of business address. | | ID for owners | Government ID for each beneficial owner. | Business KYC takes longer than individual — typically a few hours, sometimes up to a business day for complex ownership structures. ## What the buyer experiences The page walks the buyer through the steps one at a time, with progress saved between steps. They can: * Pause and resume — sessions are saved server-side and resume on the next sign-in. * Re-take photos directly in the browser if the first attempt is blurry. * Skip back to fix a mistake before submitting. Each document upload uses a one-time secure URL. Files are encrypted in transit and at rest, and accessible only to authorized compliance reviewers. ## Status flow The buyer (and you, on the dashboard) see one of: | Status | Meaning | | ------------- | --------------------------------------------------- | | `not_started` | Buyer hasn't begun KYC yet. | | `pending` | Buyer has submitted; awaiting verification. | | `verifying` | Under active review. | | `approved` | Cleared. Buyer can pay this and any future invoice. | | `rejected` | We can't verify this buyer. The invoice fails. | You see the same status on the invoice detail page. Webhooks fire only on the **terminal** KYC outcomes — `payment_intent.buyer_kyc_approved` / `payment_intent.buyer_kyc_rejected` (and the `invoice.buyer_kyc_*` equivalents) — not on the intermediate `pending` / `verifying` transitions. ## Reuse across sellers KYC is per-buyer, not per-invoice or per-seller. Once a buyer has cleared KYC for any Caratuva seller, they reuse it for every subsequent payment, with any seller. They do not re-upload documents. They do not re-take selfies. They click pay. This is the platform effect — every additional buyer who clears KYC reduces friction for the whole network. ## When a buyer asks "why is this needed?" A short answer that works: > "Caratuva is regulated cross-border payment infrastructure. We're required to verify everyone who pays through the platform. This is a one-time process — you'll never have to do it again, with us or any other seller using Caratuva." Most professional buyers are familiar with the requirement; many of their banks ask for the same documents. The selfie is the only step that's distinctive, and it exists because document-only KYC is straightforwardly forgeable. ## When a buyer can't clear KYC If KYC fails or the buyer can't complete it (lost ID, jurisdictional issue, etc.), the invoice transitions to `buyer_kyc_rejected` and you'll see the reason on the dashboard. Common scenarios: * **Sanctioned jurisdiction** — we cannot onboard buyers in countries under comprehensive sanctions. * **Politically exposed person** — flagged for enhanced due diligence; we may onboard, may not. * **Document quality** — phone photos work, but the document must be in focus, well-lit, and uncropped. Most rejections at this stage are recoverable: contact support and the buyer can re-submit. If a specific buyer is stuck, message support from the dashboard with the buyer's email. We'll surface what's missing without putting you in the middle. ## What buyers see vs. what sellers see | Surface | What appears | | ----------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Buyer's payment page | Step-by-step KYC walkthrough. Personal data is theirs. | | Seller's invoice detail | Just the status. Sellers never see the buyer's documents, address, or ID. | | Webhooks | Status transitions only. Personal data is never carried in webhook payloads. | This separation is deliberate — sellers shouldn't have access to their buyers' private documents, and Caratuva enforces that at the data layer.