> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.conduit.financial/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Customers > This guide explains what a customer is and how to add one to your account. ## **What is a Customer?** A **customer** is the business or entity that we onboard directly to our platform and offer money movement capabilities. Put simply, a customer can either be you if you're using Conduit directly for money movement, or a customer can be your end user (ie - the business you serve) who you wish to onboard to Conduit. A customer can have a named Virtual Account with Conduit for true banking like functionality while a counterparty cannot. If your company facilitates payments on behalf of other businesses and use Conduit to power these flows, you will be our client and these businesses will be our customers under your client entity. **Example:** If you run a marketplace and help merchants receive payments, each merchant is a Customer that needs to be onboarded. **Why is customer onboarding required?** * **Compliance**: Conduit must verify business entities for regulatory compliance * **Risk Management**: Understanding your customers helps prevent fraud * **Payment Processing**: Only verified customers can send and receive payments ## **Onboarding methods** You can onboard customers in two ways: 1. **Hosted onboarding (KYB link)** * Generate a secure hosted link for your customer to complete KYB in the browser. * Best when you prefer Conduit to collect and manage KYB details on your behalf. 2. **Direct onboarding (API-first)** * Use `POST /customers` with `onboardingFlow: direct` to create the customer programmatically * Provide control persons and documents programmatically, then submit for review. * Best when you already capture KYB data in your product and want a fully embedded flow. For implementation details and request/response formats, see the [API Reference](/api-reference/customers). ## **Customer onboarding process** The onboarding process consists of four main phases (applies to both methods): ### **Phase 1: Registration** Register the customer's business information and corporate details ### **Phase 2: Control Person Identification** Identify key personnel who have significant control (25%+ ownership) Prepare for individual verification (KYC) ### **Phase 3: Document Verification** Upload and verify required compliance documents ### **Phase 4: Review & Activation** Submit for compliance review and activate the account * Compliance team reviews all information * Account is activated upon approval **Key terms:** | Term | Definition | | ------------------ | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Customer** | Your direct client - the business using Conduit to send/receive payments | | **Control Person** | As part of the KYC process, liveness checks are required for individuals who are authorized representatives of the company with authority to open bank accounts, as well as for directors of the company (if applicable). Authorized Representative (Auth Rep) — for a business — is the person who is legally permitted to act on the company's behalf in specific matters | | **KYB** | Know Your Business - verifies the business entity with documents like articles of incorporation | | **KYC** | Know Your Customer - verifies individual control persons with documents like passports | | **Counterparty** | The business or individual your customer sends money to or receives money from | *** ### **What You'll Need** Gather the required information and documents before beginning. See [Compliance Requirements](/guides/compliance-requirements) for a comprehensive list of required documents and checks for KYB and KYC verification. *** ## **Onboarding flows** ### **Direct onboarding (API-first)** Full workflow for onboarding a customer when KYB data is collected directly through your product: ```mermaid theme={null} flowchart TD %% Nodes A([Start]) --> B[Create Customer: onboardingFlow: direct] B --> C[Add Control Persons] C --> D[Upload Documents] D --> E[Submit for Review] E --> E1["Liveness links returned per control person (only if roles include authorized representative)"] E1 --> E2[Complete Liveness Checks] E2 --> F{Review} F -- Approved --> G((Active)) G --> H([Done]) F -- Rejected --> E ``` ### **Hosted KYB link (browser-based)** Workflow for onboarding a customer via Conduit’s hosted KYB form: ```mermaid theme={null} flowchart TD A([Start]) --> B[Create Customer] B --> C[Create Customer with onboardingFlow: kyb_link] C --> D[Customer Completes Hosted Form : Business details, control persons, and documents, KYB/KYC] D --> E[Submit for Review] E --> X[Liveness links returned per control person] X --> Y[Complete Liveness Checks] Y --> F{Review} F -->|Approved| G((Active)) G --> H([Done]) F -->|Rejected| E ``` #### What happens in the hosted flow * Share a secure, time-limited link with your customer (via email or within your app). * The customer completes the hosted form with business details, control persons, and required documents. * After submission, Conduit returns liveness verification links per control person that require completion before review. * Conduit automatically validates submissions and updates the customer’s status in real time. * Track progress through your dashboard or via webhooks. * If the link expires or additional information is needed, generate a new link or request missing documents. #### When to use each method * **Direct onboarding**: You already collect KYB data and want a fully embedded experience * **Hosted link**: You want Conduit to gather KYB inputs and documents directly from the customer **Timeline:** 1-3 business days for compliance review Customers can have one of the following statuses: * **Active**: Verified and able to send and receive payments. * **Pending**: Verification is in progress. * **Rejected**: Verification failed; cannot send or receive payments. * **Expired**: Verification has expired and must be renewed. * **Missing Information**: Required information is incomplete and needs updating. * **Account Onboarding Pending**: Verification is completed and customer is in the process of being onboarded. ### **Submitting for review and liveness checks** When you submit a customer for onboarding, the submission response can include liveness verification links for each control person (only if roles include authorized representative) that must complete liveness before review proceeds. * **Endpoint**: `POST /customers/{id}/submit` * **Response includes** `livenessLinks` with a `verificationUrl` per control person. Use each `verificationUrl` to prompt the corresponding control person to complete liveness checks as this is a mandatory step in the onboarding process. ## **What's next?** Now that you know what a customer is and how to onboard one, follow our [Onboarding a Customer](/guides/customer/onboarding-customer) guide to quickly get started. Virtual accounts are automatically provisioned during onboarding (not created directly via API). Learn more in [Virtual USD Accounts](/core-concepts/virtual-accounts). ## API Reference See the [API Reference](/api-reference/customers) to learn how to create and manage customers using our API. ## Support Reach out to our [support team](https://support.conduitpay.com/) to get help and share your feedback.