Onboarding Friction for Mid-Tier Merchant Accounts and KYC
Hey everyone,
I'm curious about others' experiences lately with onboarding for merchant accounts, specifically in the mid-tier range (processing volumes generally between $50k-$200k/month). We've been trying to diversify our PSP relationships beyond our primary provider to mitigate risk, and it feels like the KYC/KYB process has become significantly more burdensome over the last 12-18 months. It's not just the amount of documentation, which I understand is necessary, but the lack of clarity on what's actually needed upfront, leading to multiple rounds of back-and-forth.
Are others finding the same, or is it just the specific PSPs we're engaging with? Any tips or best practices for streamlining this? It's becoming a real bottleneck when trying to scale or even just maintain redundancy in payment processing. Seems like some providers have automated systems that still get hung up on minor discrepancies, while others are entirely manual and slow.
I've noticed a similar trend, especially with some of the newer fintech players. It seems like the regulatory landscape is tightening, and they're all scrambling to enhance their due diligence, which unfortunately translates to more paperwork for us on the merchant side. Have you tried any smaller, specialized providers, or are you mostly looking at the larger institutions?