> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.macropay.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# KYC and onboarding

> How Macropay verifies your business once — so we can be your Merchant of Record and release payouts

Because Macropay is your **Merchant of Record**, we are the legal seller on
your customers' statements. We remit sales tax and VAT worldwide, absorb PCI
scope, and stand behind every dispute — which means the Know Your Customer
(KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) checks are *our* obligation, not yours.
We run them once, up front, so you never have to stand up your own compliance
stack.

The entire flow lives at **Settings → Finance → Account** in the
[dashboard](https://app.macropay.ai) and takes most merchants under ten
minutes.

<Note>
  Onboarding gates your first **payout**, not your first **sale**. Customers
  can check out the moment you sign up — funds simply accrue in your Macropay
  balance until verification clears.
</Note>

## The onboarding flow

```
  Review  →  Validation  →  Account  →  Identity
  details     (AI scan)      (bank)     (you)
```

<Steps>
  <Step title="Review — describe your business">
    Give us the basics so we can confirm what we're underwriting:

    * Legal entity name, country, and registration number (if any)
    * Website and a primary contact email
    * What you sell, and how customers discover you
    * Trailing 12-month revenue (if any) and a forecast for the year ahead
    * Social handles — optional, but they accelerate review (here's
      [why we ask](/merchant-of-record/account-reviews#why-do-you-need-my-social-media-in-settings))

    Nothing here is locked in. This step is informational and advances you
    straight to Validation; you can edit any field until your account is fully
    onboarded.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Validation — automated reputation check">
    An AI review agent assesses your public footprint. It pulls three inputs
    and reasons over them:

    | Source                  | What the agent does                                                                                                                  |
    | ----------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
    | **Your website**        | Visits up to 5 pages in a headless browser to confirm the live product matches what you described in Review. It never submits forms. |
    | **Open-web reputation** | Reads Trustpilot, the Better Business Bureau, Reddit, G2, scam-tracker sites, and news coverage to judge legitimacy and standing.    |
    | **Your Macropay data**  | Reviews your products, prices, stated use case, and any payment history.                                                             |

    It returns a structured report with one of three verdicts:

    * `APPROVE` — most legitimate businesses land here.
    * `NEEDS_HUMAN_REVIEW` — common for brand-new merchants with no online
      footprint yet. This is neutral, not a red flag.
    * `DENY` — never final on its own (see the callout below).

    Expect under two minutes for the automated pass, or one to two business
    days if it routes to a human reviewer.

    <Note type="info">
      The agent never denies you unilaterally. Every `DENY` queues a human
      compliance reviewer to confirm, and you can
      [appeal](#appealing-a-validation-failure) any negative verdict. Your
      data is processed with zero-retention settings and is never used to
      train any model.
    </Note>
  </Step>

  <Step title="Account — add your payout bank">
    Tell us where to wire your payouts. The form selects the correct rail from
    your country automatically:

    | Country         | Rail  | Fields                                          |
    | --------------- | ----- | ----------------------------------------------- |
    | US              | ACH   | Routing number, account number                  |
    | Eurozone, UK    | SEPA  | IBAN, account holder name                       |
    | Everywhere else | SWIFT | IBAN or account number, SWIFT/BIC, bank address |

    ACH and SEPA payouts are free; SWIFT is passed through at cost. Bank
    details are encrypted at rest. For the full mechanics, see
    [MoR bank wire payouts](/features/finance/mor-bank-wire).
  </Step>

  <Step title="Identity — verify the account holder">
    Two quick parts:

    1. **Automated ID + selfie check.** You'll scan a passport, ID card, or
       driver's licence and complete a short selfie liveness check, handled by
       a PCI DSS Level 1 compliant identity-verification partner. It usually
       clears in under a minute.
    2. **Supporting documents.** Upload directly into our compliance queue:
       * Government-issued ID (passport, ID card, or driver's licence)
       * Business registration certificate (for companies)
       * Proof of address — utility bill or bank statement, under 90 days old
       * Tax certificate or VAT number, where applicable

    Documents go straight to our compliance team and are never shared with
    third parties.
  </Step>
</Steps>

When all four steps clear, your account is **fully onboarded** and your first
payout is released on the standard NET schedule.

## Review timeline

We work every queue item to resolution as fast as we can. Typical targets:

| Stage                            | Target turnaround                  |
| -------------------------------- | ---------------------------------- |
| Review submitted                 | Instant — proceeds to Validation   |
| Validation, automated pass       | Under 2 minutes                    |
| Validation, escalated to a human | 1–2 business days                  |
| Account submitted                | Instant                            |
| Identity, automated check        | Under 1 minute                     |
| Identity, document review        | Up to 5 business days; usually 1–2 |

Running longer than the target above?
[Email support](mailto:support@macropay.ai) and we'll surface your case.

## Appealing a validation failure

If Validation returns `DENY` or `NEEDS_HUMAN_REVIEW` and you think it's wrong,
appeal from the same dashboard screen.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Open the appeal">
    The **Appeal** button sits just below the verdict card on the Validation
    step.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Explain the context">
    A short text field lets you tell the reviewer what the agent missed. For
    example: *"The negative Trustpilot page it surfaced belongs to a different
    company with a near-identical name,"* or *"We're a newly launched AI agent
    platform with no public reviews yet — here's our launch coverage and
    investor list."*

    Attach anything that helps: press links, screenshots, or investor letters.
  </Step>

  <Step title="A human takes a second look">
    A compliance reviewer picks up appeals within 1–2 business days. You'll get
    an email with the decision — and if it's rejected, a plain-language
    explanation of which part of our
    [acceptable use](/merchant-of-record/acceptable-use) policy wasn't met.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## After you're onboarded

Onboarding is the *initial* review. As your sales grow, Macropay runs lighter
[continuous reviews](/merchant-of-record/account-reviews#continuous-reviews-async)
asynchronously at certain thresholds. These refresh the same data we collected
at onboarding without interrupting your business — charges keep flowing, and
only payouts pause briefly while a review completes.

## FAQ

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="Can I sell before onboarding finishes?">
    Yes. Onboarding gates payouts, not charges. Customers can check out the
    moment you sign up, and the funds accrue in your Macropay balance until
    verification clears.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="My brand is new with no online reputation — is that a problem?">
    No. Having no Trustpilot profile or press is **neutral**, not negative. The
    agent treats absent signal as ambiguous and routes those cases to a human
    reviewer rather than denying them.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Why does the agent look at my website?">
    To confirm the live product matches what you described in Review. This
    catches the common mismatch where a merchant signs up describing one
    business and operates another. The agent reads no more than 5 pages and
    never submits a form.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Do you train AI on my business data?">
    No. The inputs and outputs of the review agent are never used to train any
    model. We run the underlying model with zero-retention settings, so your
    prompts and completions aren't retained beyond the request.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="What if my Validation verdict is wrong?">
    [Appeal it](#appealing-a-validation-failure). A human reviewer takes a
    second look and overrides the verdict where appropriate.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Can I skip a step?">
    No — all four are required before the first payout. If you aren't the
    organization admin, your admin must complete the Account and Identity
    steps; members can be added but can't finalize onboarding alone.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>