1. What KYC means on Ahadi
KYC ("Know Your Customer") is a tiered process. Small, occasional deals need less verification; larger volumes and payout activity need more. All Senders, Receivers and Chama admins are covered.
2. The tiers
- Tier 0 — Verified phone. Valid Kenyan mobile number and OTP. Low per-deal and monthly limits.
- Tier 1 — Verified identity. Full name, date of birth, National ID or passport, and a selfie liveness check. Standard deal limits.
- Tier 2 — Verified address & source of funds. Proof of address plus a brief declaration of the source of funds for higher-value deals.
- Tier 3 — Business verification. Company registration, directors' IDs, and beneficial ownership disclosure for merchant / Chama accounts.
Deal size, payout frequency, and risk signals can trigger a step-up at any point.
3. Sanctions and PEP screening
We screen users and, where relevant, counterparties against:
- UN Security Council consolidated sanctions list.
- OFAC (U.S. Treasury) SDN and consolidated lists.
- EU and UK financial sanctions lists.
- Kenyan Financial Reporting Centre notices and locally-designated persons.
- Politically Exposed Person (PEP) and adverse media indicators.
Screening runs at signup, at KYC upgrade, and again for high-risk deals.
4. What happens when a match is found
- A likely false positive (same name, different person) is reviewed and cleared.
- A confirmed match means the account is frozen. Funds are held pending review. We can't tell you all the details — that would be tipping off, which is illegal.
- Where required, we file a report with the Financial Reporting Centre and cooperate with lawful requests.
5. Suspicious activity
We monitor for structuring, unusual velocity, mismatched device/geo signals, and patterns consistent with fraud or money laundering. Deals flagged by these rules can be paused for manual review.
6. Your responsibilities
- Give us accurate identity information and update it when it changes.
- Don't transact for or on behalf of a third party without telling us.
- Don't split a single deal into smaller ones to stay under a limit.
- Answer follow-up questions honestly and promptly — silence usually means the deal stays frozen.
7. Data protection
Identity documents are stored encrypted, accessed only by trained reviewers, and kept for the period required by Kenyan financial law (currently seven years after the last transaction). See the Privacy policy for the full detail.
8. Contact
Questions about a KYC decision? Email compliance@ahadi.app with your deal ID.