§ Banking

Know Your Customer

also called KYC

The identity and address checks banks must run before opening or keeping an account.

Right, in plain English

The set of identity and address checks a bank must run before it opens an account for you, and to keep it open. It is why you get asked for documents proving who you are and where you live. Proof of address is one piece it demands, not the whole thing; KYC is the wider process, and failing any part of it can get an account refused or frozen.

Someone with no settled address and only foreign documents applies for a local account and cannot satisfy the bank's checks. Later, an account they already had gets frozen when the bank asks for updated proof they cannot provide from the road, cutting off their money until they sort it out.

Why it matters

Without a stable address or local documents, nomads can fail KYC and get accounts frozen or refused.

Not to be confused with

The difference is the whole point, so here is each one in a line.

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