KYC: Know-Your-Customer Verification
Also known as: KYC check, identity verification, customer due diligence, AML verification
What is it?
Know-Your-Customer verification, universally shortened to KYC, is the identity check a prop firm, broker or exchange runs before it will release money to you: proof of who you are, where you live, and that the person being paid is the person trading. The standard set is three documents - a government photo ID, a proof of address dated within the last three months, and a live selfie or short video that ties the face to the document. Firms handling client money are required by anti-money-laundering rules to complete this, which is why a payout request can sit unpaid for days even when the trading result itself is beyond dispute.
- 1Identity document A government passport or national ID card, photographed uncropped and without glare so the name and date of birth stay machine readable.
- 2Proof of address A utility bill or bank statement dated within the last three months, in the same name as the ID and showing the address in full. This is the check that fails most often.
- 3Liveness check A selfie or short video tying the face to the document, confirming that the person being paid is the person who traded the account.
Most firms let you trade before verifying and then gate the first withdrawal on it. The friction is almost always avoidable. A payout held for a name mismatch between a passport and a utility bill, or for an address document three weeks out of date, costs days that a submission made during the evaluation would have cost nothing.
Verification is also single-identity by design: firms match documents across accounts, so two funded accounts under one person are detected here rather than at the trading desk.
Why it matters: KYC is what stands between a completed profitable cycle and money actually arriving, and it is the step most often left until the payout request itself.
Verification affects no trade, but an unverified account cannot withdraw whatever its result.
Real-world example
A trader clears an $8,000 payout cycle, then waits nine days because the submitted utility bill is four months old and the address on it does not match the passport.
How SignalBots handles it
SignalBots keeps your account separate from any partner broker or prop-firm account, so you complete each provider's verification once and a mismatch does not hold up a payout later. See /risk-warning.
Pro tip
Submit KYC the day you buy the evaluation rather than the day you request a payout - the documents take minutes to upload and days to review.
Common pitfalls
Using a bill or bank statement in a family member's name as proof of address, which fails the name match and restarts the review clock.
Frequently asked questions
When do I have to complete KYC?
Most firms let you trade an evaluation unverified and require KYC before the first withdrawal. A few verify at signup. Either way, submitting early costs nothing and removes a delay later.
What documents does KYC usually need?
A government photo ID such as a passport or national ID card, a proof of address dated within three months such as a utility bill or bank statement, and a live selfie or short video check.
Why was my KYC rejected?
The most common reasons are a name or address that does not match across documents, a proof of address older than three months, glare obscuring the ID photo, or a scan with cropped edges.
Can someone else receive my payout?
No. Payouts must go to an account in the verified trader's own name. Third-party payments are exactly what anti-money-laundering rules exist to prevent, and requesting one usually triggers a review.
Does KYC stop me holding two funded accounts?
It is how firms detect duplicates. Most allow several accounts up to a total capital cap and disallow the same strategy copied across them; verification links every account to one identity.
Trading involves substantial risk of loss. Historical and backtested results do not guarantee future performance. Read the full risk warning.
