Guide · Onboarding
Digital KYC onboarding on WhatsApp: how banks, NBFCs and insurers can run it.
Customers already use WhatsApp every day. Onboarding there removes the app download and the email back-and-forth, if the controls behind it are right.
How the flow works
- The customer starts a conversation on the institution’s official WhatsApp number or on the web.
- They send photos or PDFs of their ID, address and, where needed, income documents.
- The documents are read on arrival and matched to the application: name, date of birth, address.
- Anything missing or unclear is asked for in the same chat.
- Registry checks run where your policy allows them.
- A video-KYC slot is booked in the conversation if your journey needs one.
- Your policy rules decide: clean files move on, exceptions go to a person with the reason.
- After approval, the account is opened in your core through the API you allow.
Controls to insist on
| Control | Why |
|---|---|
| Official business number | Customers know it is really you |
| Read-only by default | Nothing changes in your core unless you open an API for it |
| Maker-checker | A second person approves before a write |
| One audit log | Every read, decision and write can be shown to an auditor |
| Data residency and your keys | Data stays where your policy requires |
| Kill switch | Any automated step can be stopped at once |
KYC requirements, periodicity and acceptable documents are set by your regulator and your own board-approved policy; confirm them with your compliance team.
How AutoKYC does it
AutoKYC handles onboarding and periodic re-KYC for banks, NBFCs and insurers. Customers send documents on WhatsApp, the web or at a branch; ID, address and income documents are read on arrival, and name, date of birth and address are matched to the application. Anything missing is asked for in the same conversation, and a video-KYC slot can be booked there too. PAN, CKYC and account-aggregator checks run where you allow them. Your policy rules and bands are applied the same way every time; outside the band a person decides, and only the exceptions reach a person, with the reason. Below threshold, maker-checker requires a second person to approve before anything is written to your core, and it writes only through the APIs you open; it is read-only by default, with a kill switch per agent. Re-KYC runs on WhatsApp by risk segment, and every read, decision and write is in one audit log. It runs on managed cloud, in your VPC or on-premises.
Questions
Can KYC be done on WhatsApp?
Document collection, reading, follow-ups and booking a video-KYC slot can run on WhatsApp, with checks, decisions and approvals governed by the institution’s KYC policy and controls.
Is WhatsApp onboarding secure for banks?
It depends on the controls: an official business number, read-only defaults, maker-checker, one audit log, data residency and the ability to stop any automated step.
Does the customer need to download an app?
No. The customer uses WhatsApp or the web, which they already have.
See it on your own data. AutoKYC — Onboarding in hours, on WhatsApp. Book a 30-minute working session with an engineer.