KYC/KYB and Underwriting Coordinator

The KYC & Underwriting Coordinator plays a vital role in onboarding new merchants by coordinating the collection, review, and verification of Know Your Customer (KYC) and Know Your Business (KYB) documentation, while supporting risk and underwriting teams in evaluating merchant eligibility. This is a hybrid role combining compliance operations, risk assessment support, and direct communication with merchants.

The Coordinator acts as the first point of contact for merchants during onboarding, ensuring that information is complete, accurate, and compliant with regulatory and internal requirements. The role liaises between sales, compliance, risk, and operations teams to enable smooth and timely merchant activation.

Job description

1. Merchant Communication & Onboarding

• Act as the main contact during the onboarding phase for merchants.
• Guide merchants through document submission requirements and clarify KYC/KYB processes.
• Respond to merchant queries about status, missing documentation, and compliance requests.
• Maintain a clear, professional, and responsive communication trail.

2. Document Collection & Verification

• Request and collect documentation from merchants including:
  • Business registration documents
  • Director/shareholder IDs and proof of address
  • Bank statements
  • Proof of domain ownership or business activity
  • Beneficial ownership information (UBO)
• Verify documents for authenticity, completeness, and alignment with legal requirements.
• Upload and organise documentation in internal systems.

3. KYC/KYB Screening Support

• Initiate automated KYC/KYB checks using third-party tools (e.g. Verify, ComplyAdvantage, Onfido, Sumsub).
• Perform basic reviews of screening results:
  • Sanctions and PEP screening
  • Adverse media results
  • Company ownership structures
• Escalate potential hits to compliance or risk teams for further review.

4. Underwriting Coordination

• Prepare merchant application files for underwriting review.
• Provide summary notes on merchant risk factors and business model.
• Track application status and coordinate decision turnaround.
• Support the underwriting team by chasing missing items or clarifications.

5. Compliance & Regulatory Support

• Ensure adherence to applicable regulations (e.g. AMLD, PSD2, FCA, GDPR).
• Flag unusual or suspicious activity to compliance for potential SARs.
• Maintain audit trails of all KYB/underwriting-related communication and actions.

6. Operational Excellence

• Update CRM and internal dashboards to reflect real-time onboarding status.
• Maintain SLA targets (e.g. 24–48h turnaround on KYB files).
• Contribute to process improvement by identifying common issues or bottlenecks.
• Participate in regular feedback loops with product and risk teams to refine onboarding flows.

Required Skills & Competencies

Knowledge Areas. Basic understanding of KYC, AML, merchant risk, payment processing, and business structures. Awareness of scheme rules (Visa, Mastercard) is an advantage.

Tools Familiarity. CRM (e.g. Salesforce, HubSpot), KYC tools (e.g. Verify. ComplyAdvantage, LexisNexis, Sumsub), document management systems.

Communication Skills. Clear, professional written and verbal communication with clients and internal stakeholders.

Organisation. Ability to manage multiple merchant files simultaneously, ensuring accuracy and speed.

Attention to Detail. Vigilance in document verification and data accuracy.

Team Collaboration. Ability to work cross-functionally with Sales, Risk, Compliance, and Product teams.

Discretion & Integrity. Maintains confidentiality when handling sensitive information. Demonstrates sound judgement, compliance-first thinking, and a strong ethical standard in all interactions and decisions.