Finix requires a Social Security number to comply with federal "Know Your Customer" (KYC) regulations, which are part of the Patriot Act, to verify your identity and prevent fraudulent activity when opening an account.
Know Your Customer (KYC for short) is a due diligence process finance companies use to verify customers’ identities and assess customer risk.
KYC procedures help prevent money laundering, financial fraud, and other financial crimes.
Part of going live requires submitting certain identifying information, such as the name, date of birth, social security number and address of each applicable business owner, in order for Finix to comply with our KYC obligations.
Finix follows the federal "Know Your Customer" (KYC) regulations, which are part of the Patriot Act, to verify your identity and prevent fraudulent activity when opening a merchant account for your business; essentially, it's a way to ensure that the person applying for the account is who they say they are and not involved in illicit activities. The EIN is like the social security number for the BUSINESS, but the SSN is unique to the PERSON.
Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance:
Providing a Social Security number helps to combat money laundering by allowing the provider to screen against databases of known criminals.
Legal requirement:
Under the Patriot Act, most financial institutions, including merchant providers, are mandated to collect this information.
Here is a link to Finix's security and compliance details: https://finix.com/docs/guides/business/security-and-compliance-at-finix/
