What is KYC audit? KYC audit review

KYC (Know Your Customer) is the examination and filing of account holders' conditions (identity review of European platform sellers). According to the requirements of relevant European regulatory agencies, Amazon needs to conduct company and company owner identity review (KYC review) for sellers who open stores on European platforms (including the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, etc.). Sellers can only sell on European platforms after being reviewed and approved by Amazon's European verification team.

About KYC

For European accounts, KYC audit is a necessary step for the account. Generally, when the seller's cumulative sales amount reaches 5,000 euros or more, the seller is required to audit. Here, it is recommended that you try to complete the audit when the cumulative sales amount reaches 15,000 euros, otherwise there is a risk of account suspension. Although it will take some time for the cumulative sales to increase from 5,000 euros to 15,000 euros, the seller can go for the audit during this time. However, given that sometimes there may be some omissions in the audit materials, it is still recommended that you prepare for the KYC audit at the beginning of account registration.

Information required for KYC review

1. A scanned copy of the company’s business license (individual sellers do not need to provide this).

2. Identity documents of the company's primary contact person and beneficiary (beneficiary refers to a natural person or legal person who holds a stake equal to or greater than 25% in the company), such as a passport scan or the front and back of the identity card plus the personal page of the household registration booklet.

3. Personal expense bills of the primary contact and beneficiary: any daily expense bill within the last 90 days (including water, electricity, gas, internet, TV, telephone, mobile phone bills or credit card statements, etc.; the bill must include the name and detailed home address).

4. Company bank statement: The company name must be consistent with the company name on the business license; it must have the bank name and logo; it must have a bank account number at the bank where the account is opened; if the statement has a date, it must be within one year from the date of issuance; no date is also acceptable; individual sellers provide personal bank statements, with the same requirements as above.

5. Authorization letter: If the primary contact person is not the legal person or beneficiary of the company, Amazon will require the seller to provide an authorization letter from the legal person of the company authorizing the primary contact person to actually operate the account.

6. Company Daily Expense Bill: For sellers registered in Hong Kong and Taiwan (mainland companies do not need to provide it), Amazon requires sellers to provide a company daily expense bill. The requirements are the same as point 2, and the company name and address should be consistent with the business license/commercial registration certificate.

Precautions

1. The company name should be in Chinese pinyin to ensure accuracy. Hong Kong companies should fill in the English name of the company on the registration certificate. Do not translate an English name that sounds similar to Chinese by yourself, as Amazon will not recognize it.

2. If the company has several beneficiaries, you need to fill in the number of beneficiaries truthfully and then submit the corresponding personal bills and information.

3. KYC audit allows multiple submissions of information. Many sellers do not know whether their information is acceptable, so they submit repeatedly. Here we recommend that you try not to do this. If possible, it is best to ask the investment manager or experienced sellers to help check and review it first, and submit it only after ensuring that it is correct. For company information with more than three shareholders, you need to be more cautious when submitting information. If you fail to pass the audit once, the possibility of affecting your account will be very high.

4. When submitting documents for review, you must not use Photoshop, even if you put the front and back of your ID card on one picture. Amazon will never approve any documents with even the slightest trace of photo editing. It is recommended that you combine multiple pages of documents or pictures into a PDF before submitting the documents.

5. During the KYC review process, it is best to use the complete information of the legal person, as the chance of passing will be higher.

KYC audit taboos

1. Photo editing

Avoid photoshopping, even if you just photoshop the front and back of your ID card into one picture. Amazon will never approve any information with even the slightest trace of photo editing. We recommend that you combine multiple pages of information or images into a PDF before submitting the information.

2. Incomplete information preparation

There is a time requirement for KYC review. The first submission should be made within 14 days. Even if you don’t have time to prepare the information, you must submit relevant information. If you fail to submit the information within the time limit, your sales privileges will be suspended. If you fail to submit the correct information for multiple times, Amazon will suspend your sales privileges until the information review is passed.

3. Confusion of personnel information

No matter how many people and shareholders the company has, it is best to use the complete information of the legal person alone. Do not upload the information of multiple people. This will increase the chances of passing the review and avoid involving the review of secondary operators.

4. Secondary review

The second KYC review is a disaster area. After the review is completed, the seller may change the bound payment account for various reasons, and such changes will often trigger a second KYC review. Relatively speaking, the pass rate of the second KYC review is lower than the first review, so sellers must consider the payment method used for operation in advance and do not change it easily.

FAQ

Q: When do I need to submit a KYC review?

A: Generally speaking, when the seller’s cumulative sales amount exceeds 5,000 euros, the seller will receive a KYC review notification.

Q: Can I submit KYC review in advance?

A: Yes. Sellers can trigger KYC review in advance by submitting the following information: the main reason for triggering the application in advance; estimated store sales; estimated FBA usage and time.

Q: Can the listing be sold normally during the KYC review?

A: Yes. However, if the store sales reach 15,000 Euros and are not approved, the sales privileges will be removed.

Q：Can I submit for review again if the KYC review fails once?

A: Yes. Amazon allows you to submit your application for review multiple times, but try not to submit it repeatedly. You need to be more cautious when submitting information. If you fail the review once, your account will be greatly affected.

Q: How long does the KYC review take?

A: Generally, the KYC review time is about 3-5 days.