Onboarding Friction for PSPs – How Are You All Handling It?

Been wrangling with a new PSP onboarding recently for an international expansion, and it's brought back all the familiar headaches. The initial sales pitch always glosses over the fine print, naturally, but the sheer volume of documentation required for KYB these days is just staggering. It feels like every jurisdiction has its own unique flavour of 'we need proof of everything you've ever done'. We're talking company registries from three different continents, proof of address for every director going back five years, and the dreaded 'ultimate beneficial owner' flowchart that would make a seasoned cartographer weep.

It got me thinking – what are others' experiences with this? Are there any PSPs out there that genuinely streamline this process, or is it just the cost of doing business globally now? It feels like the industry talks a big game about API-driven solutions and seamless integration, but the foundational layer of getting approved to even use those APIs is still stuck in the postal era. And then there's the usual dance around settlement times and reserve requirements. Just curious if anyone has found a magic bullet, or if we're all just resigned to the bureaucratic gauntlet.