Overview
How to create and verify individual and business customers before they can initiate transfers.
Before a customer can send or receive funds through SpherePay, they must be created and verified.
Onboarding Models
SpherePay supports two onboarding models that determine how compliance steps — identity verification, liveness checks, legal agreements, and contact verification — are handled.
- Sphere-Managed (Default) — Sphere handles compliance in-flow using hosted links and the Sumsub SDK. Available to all new integrations out of the box.
- Platform-Managed (Opt-in) — Your platform handles compliance upstream and passes results to Sphere via API. Requires Sphere Compliance approval.
Sphere-Managed is the default
All new API integrations use the Sphere-Managed model. Platform-Managed onboarding is opt-in and requires qualification — see the Onboarding Guide for details.
Why Onboarding is Required
SpherePay operates under anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) regulations. Every customer who initiates or receives a transfer must have their identity confirmed before any funds move.
This applies to both types of customers SpherePay supports:
- Individuals — verified through KYC (government-issued ID, tax identification)
- Businesses — verified through KYB (company documents, shareholder registry, UBO identity verification)
Prerequisite for Transfers
A customer whose verification profile is not approved cannot initiate or receive transfers. Complete onboarding before building any transfer logic.
Customer Types
SpherePay supports two customer types. Choose the type that matches your end user.
| Individual | Business | |
|---|---|---|
| Verification process | KYC (Know Your Customer) | KYB (Know Your Business) |
| Identity documents | Government-issued ID, tax identification number | Incorporation certificate, shareholder registry, UBO IDs |
| UBO verification | Not applicable | Required for all individuals with ≥ 25% ownership |
| Typical review time | 0–2 business days | 2–7 business days |
Onboarding Flow
Both customer types follow a structured path from creation to approval. Business onboarding includes additional steps for document collection and UBO verification.
The flow below shows the Sphere-Managed path (default). In Platform-Managed integrations, TOS acceptance and liveness verification are handled by your platform upstream instead of via hosted redirects — see the Onboarding Guide for details.
Liveness Verification
Liveness verification confirms the customer is physically present and who they claim to be. How it is fulfilled depends on your onboarding model:
- Platform-Managed (default) — Upload a liveness report document produced by your platform's identity verification provider via the Upload Document endpoint with
documentType: "liveness_report". - Sphere-Managed (opt-in) — Generate a face verification link and redirect the customer to complete an interactive liveness check via the Sumsub SDK. The link is generated by the Face Verification Link endpoint.
Choose an Integration Method
Both customer types support two integration methods.
| API | Link | |
|---|---|---|
| You control | Every data collection and submission step | Only the redirect — SpherePay handles the rest |
| Frontend effort | High | Minimal |
| Best for | Custom onboarding UX embedded in your product | Fastest time to integration |
After Approval
Once a customer's verification profile status reaches approved, they can:
- Register a bank account — Bank Accounts
- Register a crypto wallet — Wallets
- Initiate a transfer — Transfers
For a full breakdown of what each verification status means and what triggers state changes, see the Verification Profile.
Last updated on