Best KYB Data Providers 2025: Complete Guide to KYB Software & Vendors
Looking for the best KYB data provider in 2025? This guide compares top vendors, from Moody’s and D&B to Kyckr, Middesk, and more. Learn the difference between KYB data providers and KYB software providers, and find the right solution for your compliance, onboarding, and risk management needs.
The Know Your Business (KYB) market is experiencing significant growth.
In 2024, it was valued at $157 million. However, it's set to reach $440 million by 2033, driven by regulatory pressure, crackdowns on shell companies, and a new generation of AI-first compliance tools.
But with dozens of KYB data providers on the market – from data giants like Moody’s and D&B to specialist registry data providers like Kyckr – how do you choose the right solution?
We’ve analysed the top KYB data providers based on:
Data source quality (e.g. registry vs. proprietary)
Real-time risk detection
Jurisdictional coverage
Chartis RiskTech rankings
Partnerships
And API integrations.
Whether you’re a fintech startup, a Tier 1 bank or a law firm, this guide will help you find the best KYB data provider for your risk appetite, onboarding needs, and compliance goals.
What is a KYB Data Provider?
While the terms are often used interchangeably, KYB software providers and KYB data providers serve different roles in the compliance ecosystem.
KYB Data Provider: Specialises in supplying business information from authoritative sources, such as official company registers. They focus on accuracy, coverage, and retrieval speed, enabling other platforms or institutions to plug company data into their workflows. Kyckr, for example, is a KYB data provider.
KYB Software Provider: Delivers an end-to-end platform that uses KYB data (often sourced from one or more KYB data providers) to run verification checks, manage onboarding workflows, and perform ongoing monitoring. Examples include SumSub, FirstAML, DotFile, or Detected.
In short: A KYB data provider is the “engine” supplying the fuel – reliable company data – while a KYB software provider is the “vehicle” built to orchestrate compliance processes.
What Makes a Good KYB Data Provider in 2025?
1. Fresh, Official Data Sources
The best KYB data providers rely on current, authoritative data sources. This helps customers to comply with the legal obligation to use independent and reliable data for business verification.
Why this matters:
Regulations require businesses to verify customers using "independent and reliable" sources
Official company registry data provides the foundation for compliance
Creates audit-proof documentation that protects your business reputation
Ensures regulatory bodies accept your verification processes.
2. Comprehensive Global Coverage
In 2025, 149 countries have implemented Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO) verification requirements for regulated entities. The best KYB data providers offer truly global coverage, helping businesses identify ownership structures across all jurisdictions.
Key benefits:
Ability to verify businesses in hard-to-reach jurisdictions, including tax havens.
UBO identification across international corporate structures.
Compliance with global regulatory requirements.
Reduced risk of onboarding prohibited entities.
3. Lightning-Fast Data Retrieval and Processing
Speed directly impacts your bottom line. According to Fenergo, onboarding delays account for 77% of the high attrition rates at commercial banks. This kills revenue. As Josie Upton, Solutions Director at Detected, said, “Deals stall while you wait for documents. Sales teams get frustrated and compliance teams get blamed.”
Top KYB data providers provide rapid data retrieval through automated processes, particularly for official company records.
What to look for:
Automated document retrieval systems.
Sub-15-minute processing times for official company documents (industry leaders like Kyckr achieve this standard).
Streamlined user interfaces that reduce manual work.
Real-time verification capabilities.
4. Seamless Integration Options
Whether you need an all-in-one solution or specialised tools, the best KYB data providers offer flexible integration options that fit your existing technology stack.
Integration options to consider:
User-friendly web interfaces for manual verification.
Robust APIs for automated workflows.
Pre-built integrations with popular CRM and compliance platforms.
Customizable workflows that match your business processes.
A Brief Guide to the KYB Software Space in 2025
According to the Chartis Report (2024), the KYB software sector can be broken down into three distinct camps, each serving different needs and risk appetites.
Workflow Automation Providers: Vendors focused on streamlining KYB operations through automated case management, document collection, and approval workflows. These platforms offer configurable dashboards and rule-based engines that help institutions process checks faster while reducing manual workloads.
Analytics-First Platforms: Firms leveraging advanced ML and AI to enhance risk decision-making. These vendors analyse large datasets to detect suspicious patterns, assess customer risk profiles, and flag potential issues before they escalate, particularly valuable for combating synthetic identity fraud.
Specialist Providers: Niche vendors offering bespoke KYB solutions for specific requirements. This includes emerging GenAI capabilities like AI-powered chatbots that assist with customer onboarding, document collection, and real-time process guidance.
Per the Chartis Report, many vendors have consolidated their cloud capabilities. Some operate a cloud-only model, while others are “on-premise focused” or offer multiple functionalities. Moreover, more KYB vendors are offering identity verification solutions.
How We Selected The Top KYB Data Providers
We compiled our list of KYB companies based on five factors:
Expertise: Based on their listing in the Chartis RiskTech Quadrant 2024, an industry evaluation by KYB experts of the leading KYB data providers.
API Access: How easily the KYB data provider integrates into existing workflows.
Coverage: The number of official company registers that the KYB data provider sources from.
Data Quality: Whether the data is regularly updated or not
Retrieval Times: How fast official company records can be retrieved.
Bonus: The number of KYB software providers that use the company’s data shows how trusted their data is.
The Top 7 KYB Data Providers
1. Moody’s
Moody’s is a leader in the KYB space, an all-in-one KYB data and software provider trusted by organisations such as Google and Microsoft. It’s one of the most well-known all-purpose, end-to-end KYB solutions for banks and other regulated institutions.
Moody’s service covers many areas: sanctions screening, UBO identification, and risk alerts. And it does it using a combination of its own vast datasets and official data.
Moody’s stands out among KYB providers because it offers a full end-to-end solution. The data is drawn from its own vast business entity database, along with live connections to 200+ official company registers.
Best for: Regulated institutions wanting an all-in-one KYB solution.
2. Dun & Bradstreet
Dun and Bradstreet is regarded as a main rival of Moody’s, a comprehensive, all-round data solution for financial crime professionals offering everything from financial risk assessments and cyber risks to ongoing monitoring.
The company is known for its vast commercial proprietary database, which they update with varied timeframes. Some sources are updated once a year, according to Business Insider. Other sources are updated many times a day. Meanwhile, its integration with the Kyckr API for best-in-class company filing retrieval, it can retrieve official company records in 1 hour or less.
Its data is frequently found integrated with third-party KYB software provider solutions, as evidenced by Spektr’s integration of Dun & Bradstreet data.
Best for: Regulated institutions and big banks.
3. Kyckr
Chartis Listed: Yes
API: Yes
Coverage: 300+ individual registers in 120 countries
Data: Live
Retrieval: Data: instant. Documents: 85% retrieved in 15 minutes or less.
Kyckr offers live access to 300+ official company registers in 120+ countries, delivering verified, auditable KYB data directly from source, in real time. It’s a great option both for organisations building in-house KYB solutions and KYB software providers that want to offer live data in their platforms.
Kyckr’s live access to official company information worldwide is trusted by numerous leading KYB and KYC software providers, such as Lexis Nexis, Dun & Bradstreet, Ondato, Idenfy, AiPrise, and SumSub.
Unlike other KYB data providers, Kyckr isn’t a database – it’s a single access point to hundreds of official company registers, allowing it to retrieve structured data (enriched and normalised at the point-of-request) and official documents with a best-in-class performance of under 15 minutes (on average).
Instead of an all-in-one platform with case management functionality and additional integrations, Kyckr is best for teams that want to plug live registry data into existing workflows or third-party systems, or use it as a foundation for more complex KYB solutions.
Best for: Regulated institutions building in-house solutions or KYB providers.
4. Middesk
Coverage: 100% of US-registered businesses.
Chartis: Not listed
API: Yes
Data: Majority refreshed every 2 hours
Retrieval: Data: instant. Documents: 10 minutes or more
Middesk offers full business verification services for US-registered entities, pulling data from government sources – sanctions watchlists, official company registers, and Secretary of State data. This is done via the Middesk API, which provides real-time status updates for every US state.
Document retrieval is seamless as Middesk has a working relationship with every Secretary of State office in the US, providing an API that enables automatic document retrieval, which can usually be done in under 10 minutes for the majority of US states.
Best for: US-based regulated institutions building in-house solutions or KYB providers.
5. Know Your Customer
Chartis-listed: No
API: Yes
Coverage: 500+ registers in 140+ countries
Data: Live
Retrieval: Varies
Know Your Customer offers a full onboarding workflow, including screening and data collection. However, it’s also a useful solution for companies building in-house solutions, as it offers company information via an API.
Know Your Customer provides access to 500+ official local registers worldwide, including hard-to-reach jurisdictions such as the British Virgin Islands and China. Retrieving official company documents takes from 1 to 2 days.
Best for: Regulated institutions building in-house solutions or KYB providers.
6. Open Corporates
Chartis-listed: No
API: Yes & bulk data downloads
Coverage: Worldwide
Data: Varies
Retrieval: Instant
OpenCorporates is a public benefit corporation and the largest open database of company information in the world – all registry-sourced and updated periodically and transparently.
OpenCorporates updates vary. Registries such as Japan, the UK, and US states are updated daily, while others, like Brazil’s, are updated less frequently, or in some cases, no longer updated beyond a certain date.
When it comes to official document retrieval, OpenCorporates provides links to company filings that are available online. However, document retrieval from jurisdictions like Cyprus must be performed manually via the official register.
Best for: Law firms, media outlets, and banks.
7. Sayari
Chartis-listed: No
API: Yes & bulk data
Coverage: 250+ jurisdictions worldwide
Data: Updated every 2 weeks or every year
Retrieval: Instant
Sayari is a world-leading database trusted by the US Federal Government that shows the relationships between businesses and individuals.
It's a vast database, covering individuals and entities in 250+ jurisdictions, with billions of records on 467 million corporations and 535 million key individuals; sanctions watchlists, trade data sources, and entity information.
Being a database, it holds static data; however, data is updated every 2 weeks, while the entire database is updated every year. Moreover, businesses will find it useful that they can access archival records.
Best for: Government agencies and multinational corporations performing enhanced due diligence.
How to Choose the Right KYB Data Provider
Your choice of KYB data company depends on multiple factors: risk level, resources, and technical needs.
Understanding Your Risk Profile and Compliance Needs
Your industry, customer base, and business model determine the specific KYB capabilities you need.
High-Risk Business Models: EMIs serving SMEs from high-risk jurisdictions must prioritise robust Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO) identification and comprehensive sanctions screening.
Industry-Specific Requirements: Financial institutions serving businesses involved in cross-border transactions need additional capabilities such as supply chain risk analytics.
Assessing Your Resources: The Build vs. Buy Decision
The market shows a clear divide in how institutions approach KYB solutions, largely determined by available resources and organisational priorities.
According to Gartner's 2024 report, "the market is split" between different approaches. 47% of banks (especially EMIs and fintechs) prefer single, comprehensive KYB platforms. 38% of banks choose best-of-breed solutions, leveraging specialised expertise in niche areas to target their specific risk appetite.
Startups, law firms and small fintechs may choose to focus on all-in-one KYB platforms that offer broad functionality and professional support, along with out-of-the-box integrations with specialist data providers like Kyckr.
Big banks and regulated institutions might instead prioritise building in-house solutions to gain greater control over onboarding workflows, tailor processes to specific risk levels, and use niche, specialised KYB data providers, procured directly.
Matching Technical Solutions to Your Capabilities
Your technical infrastructure and internal capabilities should drive your integration strategy.
API-First Solutions: Best suited for organisations building custom solutions or requiring deep integration with existing platforms.
Portal-Based Solutions: Ideal for companies with limited technical resources that need immediate compliance capabilities.
Remember: the vast majority of all-in-one KYB software providers do not build data solutions from scratch; they are a composite of integrations with different vendors. Stakeholders must conduct due diligence on a vendor’s data providers, for example, ensuring they provide real-time access to live data from official company registers.
Verdict: Who’s the Best KYB Data Provider?
The verdict depends on your specific needs. Well-established, all-in-one platforms undoubtedly have their strengths; however, it’s important to analyse the various components that comprise data quality.
For optimum compliance, regulated institutions or KYB data providers need live, official company data. This is where Kyckr specialises, serving as a trusted data partner to over 35 KYB software platforms and a direct supplier to 80 regulated businesses, as of 2025.
Kyckr's focus on auditable, direct-from-source data makes it the go-to choice for businesses that need to build their own custom, compliance-first solutions or enhance the data quality of their existing platforms.
