Individual Customer Onboarding

The individual customer onboarding process handles new user registration, identity verification, and account activation within the Kulpay ecosystem. To maximize financial inclusion, Kulpay implements a Tiered KYC (Know Your Customer) approach that allows instant account opening with progressive identity verification.

Onboarding Strategy

Kulpay follows a "Progressive Disclosure" philosophy: don't ask for everything at once. Collect what is needed to get the customer started, then request additional verification (biometrics, formal documents) as their transaction volume grows.

KYC Tiers

Tier	Access Level	Requirements	Transaction Limits
Tier 1 (Lite)	Instant account with basic features	Phone verification + National ID (BI) or Voter's Card via OCR + Selfie liveness check	Lower daily/monthly limits
Tier 2 (Full)	Full account with all features	Tier 1 + In-person fingerprint capture at an agent location + NUIT validation	Higher limits unlocked

Channels

Channel	Target Audience	Description
USSD	Feature phone users, low-connectivity areas	Text-menu-based registration flow
Data-lite App	Smartphone users with limited data	Lightweight mobile app optimized for low bandwidth
Standard App	Smartphone users	Full Kulpay mobile app

Participants

Participant	Role
Customer	Initiates registration via USSD, data-lite app, or mobile app
Kulpay API	Processes registration, runs verifications
LiveAIEngine	Biometric liveness detection, face matching, and document OCR
NUIB API	National identity verification
Agent	Facilitates in-person fingerprint capture for Tier 2 upgrade
Back Office Reviewer	Reviews KYC documents and approves/rejects

Process Flow

Step-by-Step

Phase 1: Phone Verification

1. Customer enters their phone number (E.164 format) via app or USSD
2. System checks for duplicate registrations
3. If new, an OTP is sent via SMS
4. Customer enters the 6-digit OTP to verify ownership

Phase 2: Document Capture & Liveness (Tier 1)

5. Customer selects their ID document type (BI, Voter's Card, passport, or DIRE)
6. Document is captured via OCR — auto-fills name, date of birth, and ID number
7. Customer captures a live selfie
8. LiveAIEngine performs a liveness check and face match against the national ID database
9. Customer reviews and confirms the extracted data

Phase 3: Instant Account Activation (Tier 1)

10. Customer defines their access PIN
11. Account is created immediately with Tier 1 (Lite) status
12. Customer can begin transacting with lower daily and monthly limits
13. No back-office review required for Tier 1

Phase 4: Tier 2 Upgrade (In-Person at Agent)

14. When ready, the customer visits a physical agent location
15. Agent captures the customer's fingerprint (biometric Phase 2)
16. Customer enters their NUIT (tax identification number)
17. System validates the NUIT
18. Registration is submitted for back-office review

Phase 5: Back Office Review (Tier 2)

19. Reviewer accesses the pending customer list
20. Reviewer views customer details and uploaded documents
21. NUIB verification is performed against government records
22. Customer is checked against regulatory lists (sanctions, PEP)
23. A risk level is assigned to the customer
24. Based on risk assessment: account is upgraded to Tier 2 or upgrade is rejected
25. Customer is notified of the outcome via SMS

Biometric Capture

Biometric capture follows a phased approach to minimize onboarding friction:

Phase	Timing	Method	Applies To
Phase 1	During signup	Facial recognition (selfie) via smartphone	All individual customers
Phase 2	At agent location	Fingerprint capture during first Cash-Out or Tier 2 upgrade visit	Customers upgrading to Tier 2

This validates the digital identity with a physical touchpoint without creating upfront barriers to account opening.

Authentication (Existing Users)

For returning customers:

1. Enter PIN (3 attempts allowed)
2. After 3 failed attempts: account is suspended for 60 minutes
3. PIN recovery options:
   • SMS/email OTP recovery
   • Customer support assisted recovery (security questions)

Related API Endpoints

Endpoint	Purpose
POST /v1/customers/initiate	Start registration, send OTP
POST /v1/customers	Verify phone with OTP
PUT /v1/customers/{id}	Update customer details
POST /v1/customers/{id}/upload-document	Upload ID document
POST /v1/customers/{id}/upload-selfie	Upload selfie for verification
GET /v1/customers/{id}/kyc	List KYC verifications
PUT /v1/customers/{id}/kyc/{kyc_id}/reviews	Review KYC
GET /v1/system/config/supported-docs	Get accepted document types

Business Rules

• Phone number is the primary account identifier
• OTP codes are 6 digits
• PIN has a maximum of 3 attempts before suspension
• Account suspension lasts 60 minutes
• KYC document types: bi, voters_card, passport, dire
• Face match and liveness are required for Tier 1 activation
• Fingerprint capture is required for Tier 2 upgrade
• NUIB verification is mandatory for Tier 2 Mozambican customers
• Tier 1 accounts have lower transaction limits to allow immediate use
• Tier 2 limits are unlocked after full biometric validation and back-office approval