The KYC (Know Your Customer) process is the legally mandated identity and background check that banks and payment service providers must perform before commencing business. Event organizers must complete this process before they can collect ticket payments through a regulated provider. The process is designed to combat money laundering and terrorist financing and is mandatory, not optional.
Legal basis (DE): Money Laundering Act (GwG)
EU basis: 5th and 6th Anti-Money Laundering Directives
Duration: A few days to several weeks
What is the KYC process?
Know Your Customer (KYC) describes the legal obligation of banks and payment service providers to identify their business customers before establishing a business relationship, to understand their economic background, and to assess the risk of the business connection. The purpose: to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, tax evasion, and other forms of financial crime.
For event organizers, KYC becomes relevant whenever they wish to collect ticket payments via Converia Pay (using a BaFin-certified payment service provider) or any other regulated payment service provider (e.g., Stripe, Adyen, Mollie, PayPal). Without a completed KYC process, the payout of collected funds is blocked – meaning no ticket sales and no liquidity.
The process is closely integrated with payment management and should therefore be considered early in the event planning stage.
Legal foundations
- Money Laundering Act (GwG): National implementation of EU requirements in Germany
- 5th and 6th EU Anti-Money Laundering Directives: Uniform standards within the EU
- Payment Services Supervision Act (ZAG): Governs the obligations of payment service providers
- BaFin requirements: Specific interpretations for German providers
- International standards: Recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF)
What data is collected during the KYC process?
- Identity of the legal entity: Commercial register excerpt, articles of association, tax IDs
- Business address and main business activities
- Ultimate Beneficial Owners (UBO): Natural persons who hold more than 25% or exercise control
- Authorized representatives: Management, board of directors
- Identification of natural persons: National ID card or passport, proof of residence if applicable
- Expected transaction volume and patterns
- Business model: What are the payments collected for?
- Money laundering risk assessment: Industry, countries, politically exposed persons
- Bank details for payouts
- Public institutions such as universities are subject to significantly simplified requirements. However, they must still complete a few steps of the process.
KYC process workflow
- Registration with the payment service provider with basic organizational data
- Submission of documents via secure upload portals
- Identification of natural persons: Video identification, PostIdent, or similar methods
- Verification of beneficial owners with cross-referencing against sanctions lists
- Risk assessment by the service provider
- Potential follow-up questions in case of ambiguities – often the biggest time-sink
- Activation of payment processing
- Ongoing monitoring: Re-verification required for significant changes (change of management, unusual transactions)
Common pitfalls
- Beneficial owners in complex structures: Foundations, associations with membership hierarchies – identification can be time-consuming
- International connections: Individuals residing outside the EU often require additional identification steps
- Ambiguities in the business model: Anyone "organizing events" must be specific (association? PCO? agency?)
- Sanctions list hits: Even false positives (same name) lead to delays
- Late application: KYC takes weeks – starting two weeks before sales launch is too late
- Missing documents: Required documentation is not always immediately available
- Unclear responsibilities: Who handles KYC – the organizer, PCO, accounting?
Best practices for event organizers
- Allow at least 6–8 weeks lead time before the planned start of sales
- Clearly assign responsibility – one person is responsible for KYC
- Prepare documents: Current commercial register excerpt, passports of managing directors, UBO list
- In case of organizational changes proactively inform the service provider
- Via framework agreements manage multiple events under one KYC
- No shortcuts! – Providers that skip the KYC process are operating without BaFin supervision and are not reputable! Event organizers should think twice before parking five- to seven-figure sums with untrustworthy providers.
KYC in Converia
Converia works exclusively with BaFin-regulated payment service providers whose KYC processes are clearly structured for event organizers. We support you during onboarding: which documents are required, which individuals need to be identified, how long the approval process takes – everything is transparent and legally compliant.
Start sales without KYC delays
With Converia, you can plan your ticket sales including the KYC lead time – ensuring your sales start on time, without the KYC process holding you back.
- Payment management – Ticketing & Registration
- Ticketing System – Ticketing & Registration
- GDPR for Events – Compliance & Legal
BaFin-regulated service providers and clear onboarding processes – ensuring the KYC process doesn't become a bottleneck for your sales.