KYC (Know Your Customer)
KYC is the identity-verification process required by AML law for transactions above the dealer threshold. Typical KYC: photo ID (passport or national ID) + a selfie matching the ID. At Ounceo, KYC is required for orders above $5,000, or cumulative orders above $10,000 in 30 days to the same address.
KYC is not the same as account creation. There is no Ounceo login or persistent account: KYC is triggered per-order when the threshold is reached, and we use a privacy-respecting third-party verifier (Veriff or Onfido). Submitted documents are kept only for the legally-required retention period.
Why have any KYC at all? Because bullion dealers operating without AML compliance get shut down, frozen by payment partners, or prosecuted in most jurisdictions. We prefer to apply a transparent threshold below every major regulator's trigger.
Related terms
AML thresholds are the order or cumulative-value amounts above which a precious-metals dealer is legally required to verify customer identity. Common triggers: €10,000 EU AMLD6, $10,000 US FinCEN, CHF 15,000 Switzerland, AED 55,000 UAE. Ounceo applies $5,000 per order, safely below every major threshold.
Structuring is the practice of splitting one large transaction into multiple smaller ones to stay below a reporting threshold. It is a criminal offense in most jurisdictions even if the underlying transaction is legitimate. Ounceo aggregates orders per shipping address across a rolling 30-day window to prevent inadvertent or intentional structuring.