Onboarding models
We've designed three onboarding models — Verify, Reliance, and Outsourced — to fit different business needs. Each model offers a different level of control, responsibility, and tooling for customer onboarding and ongoing financial crime compliance.
The availability of each model for your business depends on your regulatory status and the maturity of your risk management framework and controls. Below you'll find an approximate guide on eligibility for each model, however eligibility ultimately depends on details that we'll run through together during the sales and onboarding process.
Verify is our in-house onboarding product available to regulated and unregulated firms. It allows you to embed a full range of KYC, anti-money laundering, and anti-fraud checks into your product through a single integration. With Verify, Griffin runs all the checks and risk scoring on your customers. Griffin also takes on manual reviews when a decision couldn't be reached with the claims provided. Note that we would never reach out directly to your customer, instead we'd ask you for more information.
Reliance is available to regulated firms only. In this model, you complete customer due diligence (CDD) using your own tools and processes and then send us the information we need via API. You must also attest that you have verified your customer's identity in line with the standards set by the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group (JMLSG).
Outsourced is available to regulated and unregulated firms. If unregulated, we require that you have been operating for a minimum of three years with experience being under a regulated authority. Outsourcing means you or your third-party partner handle the onboarding process, while we provide oversight to ensure compliance. We remain accountable to regulators for customer records and CDD.
Model comparisons
| Verify | Reliance | Outsourced | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Available to regulated or unregulated companies | Both | Regulated only | Both |
| Checks run by Griffin | All (see the full list below) | PEP and sanctions screenings, plus an Immigration Act check when required | Just checks on data being present |
| Onboarding technology | Griffin | Any, provided it meets our criteria | Any, provided it meets our criteria |
| Who conducts manual reviews? | Griffin | You and Griffin (we may run manual reviews as part of spot checks) | you or your outsourcing partner |
| UI and API access | Both | API only | API only |
| Control over your onboarding user interface | Mostly, but no control on biometrics | Full control | Full control |
| Integrations required | Verify only | Your own KYC tooling + our Reliance API (for sending basic customer data to Griffin) | Your own KYC tooling + our Outsourcing API |
In all models we require our customers to conduct transaction monitoring
Customers and jurisdictions
Different customer types and jurisdictions are supported across our onboarding models, we are always expanding our offering, please let us know if your required customer types and jurisdiction are not currently supported.
| Verify | Reliance | Outsourced | |
|---|---|---|---|
| LTDs in UK | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| LTDs with officers residing overseas | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| LTDs in Crown Dependencies | No | Yes | Yes |
| LTDs in UK with complex ownership | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| LTDs in Crown Dependencies with complex ownership | No | Yes | Yes |
| Sole traders in UK | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Sole traders in Crown Dependencies | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Sole traders in EU, UAE, HK, Australia, Singapore, USA, Malaysia | No | No | Yes |
| Individuals in UK | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Individuals in Crown Dependencies | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Individuals in EU, UAE, HK, Australia, Singapore, USA, Malaysia | Yes | No | Yes |
| LLPs / Partnerships | No | No | No |
| Charities | No | No | No |
| Government bodies | No | No | No |
Checks
All checks are required at some point in the onboarding process, below shows the checks that are run by Griffin when an onboarding application is made across the three onboarding models.
| Verify | Reliance | Outsourced | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Required data is present | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Know your business (KYB) | Yes | No | No |
| Know your customer (KYC) | Yes | No | No |
| Sanctions screening | Yes | Yes | No |
| Politically Exposed Persons (PEP) | Yes | Yes | No |
| Fraud | Yes | No | No |
| Disqualified persons check | Yes | No | No |
| Industry, jurisdiction and tax residency checks | Yes | Yes | Yes |