KYC and merchant onboarding for Swiss marketplaces: Which obligations apply?

KYC in the marketplace means that sellers are identified and verified prior to payout. For Swiss platforms, this is crucial because payment providers and financial intermediaries must comply with anti-money laundering and due diligence obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) and the AMLO-FINMA. Anyone forwarding 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 framework, shows which data is required depending on the legal form, and describes how automated onboarding improves both compliance and conversion simultaneously.

1. What are KYC and KYB?

Know Your Customer (KYC) refers to the statutory obligation to verify the identity of a contractual party before entering into a business relationship or executing 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 equivalent for legal entities. KYB refers to the verification of the corporate structure, ownership arrangements, and ultimate beneficial owners. For marketplaces where LLCs (GmbHs), associations, or other organisations act as sellers, KYB is mandatory.

In Switzerland, these obligations arise from Art. 3 AMLA (identification of the contracting party) and Art. 4 AMLA (establishing the identity of the beneficial owner). The specific implementation is governed by the FINMA Anti-Money Laundering Ordinance (AMLO-FINMA) as well as the regulations of self-regulatory organisations (SROs).

2. Legal framework in Switzerland

Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA)

The AMLA defines who qualifies as a financial intermediary and which due diligence obligations must be met. Pursuant to Art. 2 para. 3 AMLA, persons who provide payment services on a commercial basis are deemed to be financial intermediaries. Core obligations include identifying the contracting party (Art. 3 AMLA), determining the beneficial owner (Art. 4 AMLA), the duty of documentation (Art. 7 AMLA), and reporting suspicions of money laundering to the Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland (MROS) pursuant to Art. 9 AMLA.

AMLO-FINMA and thresholds

The AMLO-FINMA specifies the due diligence obligations under the AMLA. Specific thresholds apply to electronic means of payment used exclusively for cashless payment transactions: According to Art. 11 AMLO-FINMA, identification may be waived under certain conditions if no more than EUR 5’000 is paid per calendar year and contracting party, 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: As soon as a seller receives more than EUR 5’000 in payouts per year, their KYC must be completed.

Self-regulatory organisations (SROs)

Financial intermediaries that are not directly supervised by FINMA must affiliate with an SRO. SROs issue their own regulations, which meet at least the standard of the AMLO-FINMA. For a PSP carrying out KYC on behalf of a marketplace platform, SRO affiliation is a prerequisite for legal operation.

3. What data does a comerciante need for onboarding?

Natural persons (sole proprietorships)

For natural persons, according to the Agreement on the Swiss banks’ code of conduct with regard to the exercise of due diligence (CDB 20, Art. 7), the following details must be documented: first name and surname, date of birth, nationality, and the 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 additionally identified using an excerpt from the commercial register.

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 authorised signatories. In addition, the beneficial owner must be established. Associations without an entry in the commercial register are identified on the basis of their articles of association and an excerpt from the register of associations or comparable confirmation.

Comparison: Requirements by legal form

4. Beneficial owners

A beneficial owner is the natural person who ultimately owns or controls the assets or a legal entity. Identifying this person is mandatory pursuant to Art. 4 AMLA. In the case of corporations such as a GmbH or AG, any person holding directly or indirectly more than 25 percent of the shares or voting rights is deemed to be a beneficial owner.

In practice, the KYC process requires sellers on a marketplace to provide a declaration of beneficial ownership (so-called Form A). In complex ownership structures – such as a GmbH owned by a holding company – the chain must be traced down to the natural person. If no natural person with more than 25 percent ownership can be identified, the members of the highest management body are deemed to be the beneficial owners.

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

5. Why KYC must precede the first payout

A common mistake on marketplaces: sellers are admitted to the platform, orders are processed, but identity verification is deferred. This is not only a compliance risk, but can also lead to criminal consequences.

Pursuant to Art. 3 para. 1 AMLA, the identification of the contracting party must take place upon entering into the business relationship. For marketplaces processing through a PSP, this specifically means: 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 admits a new seller. The seller can list products immediately. Only when an order is placed and a payout is due must KYC 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 with inactive or high-risk merchants

The AMLO-FINMA requires ongoing monitoring of business relationships. For a PSP managing sub-comerciantes on a marketplace, this results in specific operational duties:

Inactive comerciantes: Sellers who do not process transactions over an extended period (e.g. 12 months) are generally deactivated. Prior to reactivation, it must be verified whether the KYC data is still up to date. In the event of material changes (new owner, new registered office), re-identification is required.

High-risk comerciantes: If a comerciante displays unusual patterns – such as sudden surges in turnover, numerous chargebacks, or transactions with high-risk countries – enhanced due diligence obligations under Art. 6 AMLA apply. This may require additional documentation, a personal interview, or even blocking and reporting to MROS.

A professional PSP handles this monitoring automatically, thus relieving the marketplace operator. Nevertheless, the platform also shares responsibility: anyone who knowingly permits high-risk sellers without adequate controls cannot hide behind the PSP.

7. How automated onboarding boosts conversion

Manual KYC onboarding – collecting documents via email, manual review by a compliance team, and communicating back to the seller – takes several days on average. For a marketplace reliant on rapid seller growth, this is a conversion killer.

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

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

Checklist: What to check before launch

• Clarify whether your payment model triggers an AMLA subordination of its own 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 afterwards.

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

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

• Define rules for inactive comerciantes: after how many months without transactions are accounts deactivated?

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

• Ensure that all KYC documents are retained for at least 10 years pursuant to 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 manages the KYC and onboarding of sub-comerciantes. Sellers undergo an automated verification process directly on the platform, including ID verification, commercial register cross-checks, and beneficial ownership identification.

The payout to verified comerciantes is carried out via split payment: the platform commission is transferred to the marketplace operator, while the remaining balance goes directly to the seller. Consequently, the platform never touches customer funds. Payrexx supports all common Swiss payment methods – TWINT, PostFinance, credit cards, and QR-bill – and integrates seamlessly into existing systems via API.