A KYC solution verifies online that a customer is who they claim to be. It reads and checks an ID document, matches the ID photo to a live selfie, screens the person against AML watchlists and returns a result your product can act on. Use the checklist below to compare providers; every answer in the ARGOS ID Check column links to the public developer docs.
kycStatus
Definition
KYC (Know Your Customer) is the process of confirming that a customer is who they claim to be. eKYC is the same process done online, without an in-person visit, and a KYC solution is the product that provides it. It is usually connected in one of two ways: a hosted verification flow from the provider, or the provider’s KYC API.
Most KYC solutions bundle four checks: ID document recognition and authenticity, face comparison against the ID photo, liveness (a real person, not a photo, replay or deepfake) and AML screening against sanctions and PEP lists. Providers differ in country coverage, how the user-facing flow is delivered, how decisions are automated, where data is processed and how pricing works.
Open the flow
A hosted Liveform URL or a screen you build yourself.
Capture and check the ID
Data is extracted and the document is checked for forgery.
Selfie and liveness
The face is matched to the ID photo and checked for a live person.
Result and AML
Approved, rejected or pending arrives by webhook and API; approved users are AML-screened.
KYC status
Checklist
KYC comparison articles usually line providers up on pricing model, country coverage, liveness and whether AML is included. These are the same questions, plus the ones that come up during integration. Every ARGOS answer links to the public developer docs.
| Criterion | What to ask any provider | ARGOS ID Check | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Country and ID coverage | Are the exact ID types you need (passport, national ID, driver’s license, residence permit) supported in every country you serve? | ARGOS ID Check200+ countries and 4,000+ ID document types (as of July 2026): passports, national IDs, driver’s licenses and residence permits. For South Korea: national ID, driver’s license, passport and residence permit. Accepted countries and ID types are set per project. | Docs ↗ |
| Document authenticity | How does it catch forged or edited IDs, and IDs re-photographed from a copy or screen? | ARGOS ID CheckOCR data extraction plus MRZ checks, driver’s license barcode (PDF417) checks, ID liveness (detects copies and screen replays) and streaming capture. | Docs ↗ |
| Face match and liveness | Is liveness passive, active or both? Does it catch deepfakes and the same face signing up twice? | ARGOS ID CheckSelfie comparison against the ID photo, passive and active liveness to detect photos and deepfakes, and face-duplication checks across submissions. | Docs ↗ |
| AML screening | Is AML included or sold separately? Which risk categories, and is there ongoing monitoring? | ARGOS ID CheckIncluded. Name, date of birth and nationality are screened against PEP, sanctions (SAN), regulatory enforcement (REL), reputation risk (RRE) and POI data. Screening runs automatically when a submission is approved, or on demand via API. AML Ongoing Monitoring re-checks registered users and notifies you of changes. | Docs ↗ |
| Fraud signals | What else blocks abuse beyond the ID and the selfie? | ARGOS ID CheckProxy and VPN detection, device verification, duplicate-signup detection from name, date of birth, gender and nationality, and an age limit read from the ID. | Docs ↗ |
| Integration | Is there a hosted flow, or do you build the UI? How are results delivered? | ARGOS ID CheckA hosted Liveform (one URL, works on the web and in app WebViews, 26 languages), or the Verify engine APIs if you build your own UI. Results arrive by webhook, return URL and REST API. | Docs ↗ |
| Automated decisions and review | Can you set your own approval thresholds? Who reviews borderline cases? | ARGOS ID CheckARGOS Score thresholds (Conservative 70, Standard 50, Open 40), an automated-only mode and custom policy rules. Pending cases are reviewed in the dashboard or with POST /v3/submission/review, by ARGOS Expert Reviewer or your own team (Client API). | Docs ↗ |
| Data region | Where is identity data processed and stored? Can it stay in a specific country? | ARGOS ID CheckEach project runs in the US or KR (South Korea) region. KYC processing and data storage take place in the project’s region; some third-party integrations, such as IP lookup, use the US region. | Docs ↗ |
| Security and privacy | Which certifications? How is data encrypted, and how are deletion requests handled? | ARGOS ID CheckISO/IEC 27001 certified. TLS 1.2+ in transit, AES-256 encryption of sensitive fields at rest, and optional API and webhook payload encryption. Delete and partial-delete APIs handle GDPR and CCPA deletion requests. | Docs ↗ |
| Testing | Is there a sandbox, and does testing cost anything? | ARGOS ID CheckThere is no shared sandbox. You create a separate development or QA project, isolated from production, with its own API key, settings and credit balance. | Docs ↗ |
| Pricing model | Per verification, per check or subscription? Are failed or rejected attempts billed? | ARGOS ID CheckUsage-based, quoted by sales for your volume, countries and checks. Credits are deducted when a submission is created, so rejected or deleted submissions are billed. | Docs ↗ |
| Limits and switching | What are the API rate limits? Can you bring over existing verification records? | ARGOS ID CheckAll ID Check API endpoints currently allow 100,000 requests per day (resets at UTC); higher quotas can be requested. Existing records can be imported with the migration API (POST /v3/submission/migration), which skips ARGOS verification. | Docs ↗ |
Integration
Send users to one Liveform URL. ID capture, selfie, liveness and the result page are included; settings live in the dashboard or the URL query string.
From your server, fetch submissions, review pending cases, delete data and download AML reports. Webhooks cover created, submit, approved, rejected, updated, delete, AML results and more.
Building your own UI? Call the engines directly: ID recognition, face comparison, face liveness, ID liveness and more. Every Verify engine is also part of ID Check.
US: rest-api.argosidentity.com, form.argosidentity.com. KR: kr.rest-api.argosidentity.com, form-kr.argosidentity.com.
Alternatives
Teams replacing a KYC provider usually shortlist from the same group: Sumsub, Onfido (Entrust), Veriff, Jumio, Persona, Socure, Trulioo and others. This page makes no claims about other vendors’ features or prices; check each vendor’s current documentation against the questions in the table above.
You verify Korean users and foreign nationals in one flow: Korean national IDs, driver’s licenses and residence permits alongside passports and IDs from 200+ countries.
You need identity data processed in South Korea: place the project in the KR region (IP lookup and some other third-party integrations use the US region).
You want ID verification and AML screening in one product, with ongoing monitoring.
You want a hosted flow you can ship with one URL, while setting your own approval thresholds.
Common questions when choosing a KYC provider. Pricing and detailed setup are agreed with our sales team.
A KYC solution verifies a customer’s identity online (eKYC). It checks an ID document, matches it to a live selfie, screens AML watchlists and returns a result such as approved, rejected or pending review. Products connect it through the provider’s hosted flow or a KYC API.
KYC is the requirement to confirm a customer’s identity. eKYC does it online, with ID scans, selfies and data checks instead of an in-person visit. A KYC solution provides eKYC, and a KYC API is how your product calls it.
Compare ID coverage for your countries, liveness and forgery detection, whether AML is included, the integration model (hosted flow or your own UI), how decisions are automated, where data is processed, testing options and the pricing model. The table on this page lists the questions and the ARGOS ID Check answer for each.
ARGOS ID Check handles Korean national IDs, driver’s licenses, passports and residence permits together with ID documents from 200+ countries (4,000+ ID document types as of July 2026) in one flow. Accepted countries and ID types are chosen per project.
With ARGOS ID Check, yes: place the project in the KR region and KYC processing and data storage take place in that region. Some third-party integrations, such as IP lookup, use the US region. KR projects are created by the sales team.
Providers price per verification, per check or by subscription, so compare on your real volume and checks. ARGOS ID Check is usage-based and quoted by sales; credits are deducted when a submission is created.
ARGOS ID Check has no shared sandbox. Teams use a separate development or QA project with its own API key, settings and credit balance. Ask sales to create one.
Providers commonly compared include Sumsub, Onfido (Entrust), Veriff, Jumio, Trulioo and ARGOS ID Check. ARGOS ID Check fits teams that verify Korean and international users in one flow, need a South Korea data region, or want AML screening in the same product.
Sales
Tell us your volume, countries, document types and review policy, and we will propose a setup and a quote.
Every deployment starts with a 20-minute meeting. Share your expected user volume, the data you need, your operating model, and your security requirements — and we'll design the architecture to fit.
