KYC on a marketplace means that sellers are identified and verified before payout. For Swiss platforms, this is important because payment providers and financial intermediaries must fulfil AML and due diligence obligations in accordance with the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) and the GwV-FINMA. Anyone who forwards payments to sub-comerciantes as a marketplace operator must ensure that every seller is correctly verified – or outsource this obligation to a licensed Payment Service Provider (PSP).

This guide explains the legal basis, shows which data is required depending on the legal form, and describes how automated onboarding improves both compliance and conversion at the same time.

1. What is KYC and KYB?

Know Your Customer (KYC) refers to the legal obligation to verify the identity of a contracting party before establishing a business relationship or conducting a transaction. In the context of a marketplace, this primarily affects the sellers (sub-comerciantes) who receive payments via the platform.

Know Your Business (KYB) is the counterpart for legal entities. KYB refers to the verification of the corporate structure, ownership structures and beneficial owners. KYB is mandatory for marketplaces where GmbHs, associations or other organisations act as sellers.

In Switzerland, these obligations arise from Art. 3 AMLA (identification of the contracting party) and Art. 4 AMLA (determination of the beneficial owner). The specific design is regulated by FINMA's Anti-Money Laundering Ordinance (GwV-FINMA) and the regulations of the self-regulatory organisations (SROs).

2. Legal basis in Switzerland

Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA)

The AMLA defines who qualifies as a financial intermediary and which due diligence obligations must be met. According to Art. 2 para. 3 AMLA, persons who provide payment services on a professional basis are deemed to be financial intermediaries. The core obligations include identifying the contracting party (Art. 3 AMLA), determining the beneficial owner (Art. 4 AMLA), the obligation to keep records (Art. 7 AMLA) and the duty to report suspicions of money laundering to the Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland (MROS) in accordance with Art. 9 AMLA.

GwV-FINMA and thresholds

The GwV-FINMA specifies the due diligence obligations of the AMLA. Specific thresholds apply to electronic means of payment that serve exclusively for cashless payment transactions: according to Art. 11 GwV-FINMA, identification can be waived under certain conditions if no more than EUR 5’000 per calendar year and contracting party is paid and the funds are loaded exclusively via a bank account in Switzerland. If this threshold is exceeded, full identification is mandatory. For marketplaces, this means that as soon as a seller receives more than EUR 5’000 per year in payouts, their KYC must be completed.

Self-regulatory organisations (SROs)

Financial intermediaries that are not directly supervised by FINMA must join an SRO. The SROs enact their own regulations, which at least comply with the standard of the GwV-FINMA. For a PSP that performs KYC on behalf of a marketplace platform, SRO membership is a prerequisite for legal operations.

3. What data does a comerciante need during onboarding?

Natural persons (sole proprietorships)

For natural persons, the following information must be documented in accordance with the Agreement on the Professional Rules of Due Diligence (CDB 20, Art. 7): surname and first name, date of birth, nationality and actual residential address. Verification is usually carried out using an official photo ID (passport or identity card). Sole proprietorships registered in the commercial register are also identified on the basis of the commercial register excerpt.

Legal entities (GmbH, AG, association)

For legal entities such as a GmbH or AG, the following are required: company name (trade name), registered office, UID number, current commercial register excerpt (not older than 12 months) and the identity of the authorised signatories. In addition, the beneficial owner must be determined. Associations without a commercial register entry are identified on the basis of the articles of association and an extract from the association register or comparable confirmation.

Comparison: requirements by legal form

4. Beneficial owners

A beneficial owner is the natural person who ultimately owns or controls assets or a legal entity. Identification is mandatory in accordance with Art. 4 AMLA. For companies such as a GmbH or AG, anyone who directly or indirectly holds more than 25 percent of the shares or voting rights is deemed to be the beneficial owner.

In practice, the KYC process requires sellers on a marketplace to submit a declaration of beneficial ownership (the so-called Form A). In the case of complex shareholding structures – for example, a GmbH held by a holding company – the chain must be resolved down to the natural person. If no natural person with a shareholding of over 25 percent can be identified, the members of the executive body are deemed to be the beneficial owners.

Special rules apply to associations and foundations: here, the founders, board members and, if applicable, the beneficiaries must be identified as beneficial owners.

5. Why KYC must happen before the first payout

A common mistake on marketplaces: sellers are allowed onto the platform, orders are processed, but identity verification is postponed. This is not only a compliance risk, but can also have consequences under criminal law.

According to Art. 3 para. 1 AMLA, the identification of the contracting party must take place when the business relationship is established. For marketplaces processing through a PSP, this means in practice: before the first payout is made to a sub-comerciante, their KYC must be completed. Funds must not flow to an unverified account.

Example: An online marketplace for handicrafts registers a new seller. The seller can list products immediately. Only when an order is received and a payout is pending does the KYC have to be completed. If the seller is a GmbH, this includes the commercial register excerpt and the determination of the beneficial owner. As long as KYC is pending, payouts are blocked. The customer has already paid – the funds are held in escrow by the PSP.

6. What happens to inactive or high-risk merchants

The GwV-FINMA requires ongoing monitoring of business relationships. For a PSP managing sub-comerciantes on a marketplace, this results in concrete action plan obligations:

Inactive comerciante: Sellers who do not carry out any transactions over a longer period of time (e.g. 12 months) are usually deactivated. Before reactivation, it must be checked whether the KYC data is still up to date. In the event of significant changes (new owner, new registered office), re-identification is required.

High-risk comerciante: If a comerciante shows unusual patterns – such as suddenly increasing sales, many chargebacks, or transactions with high-risk countries – enhanced due diligence obligations apply in accordance with Art. 6 AMLA. This can mean additional document requirements, a personal meeting or even blocking and reporting to the MROS.

A professional PSP takes care of this monitoring automatically and thus relieves the marketplace operator of the burden. Nevertheless, the platform also shares responsibility: those who knowingly permit high-risk sellers without appropriate control cannot hide behind the PSP.

7. How automated onboarding increases conversion

Manual KYC onboarding – i.e. collecting documents via email, manual verification by a compliance team and feedback to the seller – takes several days on average. For a marketplace that relies on fast seller growth, this is a conversion killer.

Automated solutions combine several advantages: the seller uploads their ID document directly, the verification is carried out via OCR and database comparison (e.g. against the Swiss Official Gazette of Commerce SOGC or sanction lists), and approval is granted in minutes instead of days. For legal entities, the commercial register excerpt is automatically retrieved and the ownership structure is checked.

Concrete effect: Platforms that switch from manual to automated KYC onboarding report a 30 to 50 percent reduction in the drop-out rate. The reason is simple: the fewer steps and the shorter the waiting time, the higher the likelihood that a seller will complete the process.

Checklist: What you should check before starting

• Clarify whether your payment model triggers its own AMLA obligation or whether you process via a licensed PSP.

• Define which legal forms (sole proprietorship, GmbH, AG, association) are permitted as sellers on your marketplace.

• Ensure that the KYC process is completed before the first payout – not after.

• Check whether your PSP supports automated identification for Swiss identity documents and commercial register excerpts.

• Clarify how beneficial owners are handled: from what ownership threshold is verification required (standard: 25%)?

• Define rules for inactive comerciante: after how many months without transactions are they deactivated?

• Establish monitoring criteria for high-risk comerciante (e.g. chargeback rate, sales spikes, country risk).

• Ensure that all KYC documents are kept for at least 10 years in accordance with Art. 7 AMLA.

• Check whether your PSP supports Swiss payment methods (TWINT, PostFinance, QR-bill) for sub-comerciantes.

• Document the entire onboarding process in writing as part of your internal compliance documentation.

How Payrexx supports you with comerciante onboarding

As a Swiss PSP, Payrexx offers a marketplace payment solution that fully handles the KYC and onboarding of sub-merchants. Sellers go through an automated verification process directly in the platform, including ID check, commercial register comparison and determination of the beneficial owners.

The payout to verified comerciantes is made via split payment: the platform commission goes to the marketplace operator, the remaining amount directly to the seller. This means the platform never touches customer funds. Payrexx supports all common Swiss payment methods – TWINT, PostFinance, credit cards and QR-bill – and can be integrated into existing systems via API.

Payrexx is your sales partner for Swiss marketplaces.