Identity verification (KYC, consumer) + business verification (KYB) + sanctions screening + onboarding decisioning. Tracked in a single bucket because most vendors (Alloy, Persona, Sumsub, Stripe Identity) sell both; KYB specialists like Middesk and Baselayer sit alongside them. Fraud-orchestration and transaction-monitoring vendors (Sardine, Sift, Forter, ComplyAdvantage) belong to this compliance layer but are counted in a separate bucket, so they don't appear in the ranking below. Compliance vendors are the most under-disclosed layer — see Section 05.
Identity verification providers check an ID document and a selfie, match details against credit bureaus and government records, and screen against sanctions and watch lists. KYB adds company registry checks and identifies the people who own or control a business.
Compliance vendors are among the least-disclosed layers in the Index, because companies rarely name them outside subprocessor lists. Fraud and transaction-monitoring vendors are counted in a separate bucket and do not appear in this ranking.
Document, biometric and database checks across many countries in one integration. Most-named in the Index: Sumsub, Onfido, Veriff, Jumio and Persona.
Providers that orchestrate several data sources and apply rules to approve, review or decline applicants. Most-named in the Index: Alloy, Socure and Persona.
Identity products from payment providers, and vendors focused on one market's ID systems. Most-named in the Index: Stripe and Signzy.
KYC (know your customer) is checking that a person is who they say they are; KYB (know your business) does the same for companies and their owners. Fintechs are required to run these checks at onboarding, and most use an identity verification provider that combines document checks, biometrics, database lookups and sanctions screening.
By number of companies linked to them through public disclosures and provider customer lists, the most-named KYC and identity verification providers are Sumsub (41), Persona (35), Onfido (33), Veriff (32) and Stripe (32) (Embedded Finance Index, November 2026).
6.8% of the 6,643 fintech and embedded-finance companies analyzed publicly name a KYC or identity verification vendor (454 companies, Embedded Finance Index, November 2026). That ranks KYC and identity 8th of the 11 stack layers the Index tracks by disclosure rate.
KYC verifies an individual, usually with an ID document, a selfie and database checks. KYB verifies a business: that it is registered and active, who its directors are, and who ultimately owns or controls it, after which those people are checked with KYC.
The Embedded Finance Index analyzes the public infrastructure stacks of 6,643 fintech and embedded-finance companies. A provider is counted when a company names it in its own disclosures — terms, partner pages, press releases — or when the provider publicly lists that company as a customer. Counts are relationships, not revenue or volume.