Instant AML and KYC compliance solution for Kenya

With Smile ID’s robust identity verification solution, you can ensure seamless customer onboarding, authenticate logins and transactions, and stay compliant with KYC, AML, and data protection regulations in Kenya.

Country Overview

As a member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG), Kenya has one of the most robust KYC/AML frameworks in Africa. Businesses looking to onboard users resident in the country are required to adhere to local and international KYC standards.

Regulatory Overview

KYC/AML regulations

AML/KYC regulations in Kenya are enforced by a number of regulators, including the

Central Bank of Kenya (CBK),
Capital Markets Authority (CMA)
Financial Reporting Centre (FRC)

The primary regulation behind KYC (Know Your Customer) in Kenya is the Anti-Money Laundering Act (AMLA) of 2010.

Choose Smile ID as your compliance partner for AML/KYC regulations in Kenya!

Data protection regulations

The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner is responsible for enforcing Kenya’s Data Protection Act of 2019, which is the prevalent regulation for protecting the data of Kenyan citizens.

Institutions are required to obtain users’ consent before processing or transferring personal data. Users are also entitled to the erasure of their personal data upon request.

Stay compliant and prevent fraud in Kenya

Stay compliant, prevent fraud and streamline your user verification process for customers across Africa with Smile ID. Verify users with confidence with:

Access to 3 API Authorities (IPRS, e-citizen, BRS) covering 36M+ ID records in Kenya

Verify up to 8 ID documents including National IDs Alien IDs, Driver's License, Passports, etc

Verify up to 5 ID numbers including National ID Number, KRA PIN, Alien Card Number, Passport Number, etc

De-biased models with a 99.8% recognition accuracy for all African skin tones

Image capture SDKs optimised for low bandwidth and all software versions as low as Android 5.0.

Global AML Check against over 1100 global sanctions, PEPs, and adverse media watchlists.

Enterprise-level security standard with ISO 27001, SOC 2 Type 1 & 2 certifications.

Accurately verify up to 8 ID documents in Kenya

Give users the flexibility to verify their identity using any of the following ID documents. All we need is a document photo and a selfie.

Kenyan Identity Cards

Kenyan identification documents are issued by Kenyan consulates or embassies abroad. Examples include the Kenyan Consular IDs which serve as a form of identification for Kenyan citizens residing outside Kenya and the Kenyan Diplomat IDs, which are issued to diplomats, granting them special privileges and immunities while serving in diplomatic missions abroad.

Kenyan Passport Document

The Kenyan passport is the official travel document issued to Kenyan citizens by the Department of Immigration and it can be verified in real-time with our KYC compliance solution for Kenya.

Kenyan Driver’s License

A driving license is issued to Kenyan citizens who have completed a driving course and passed the necessary tests. Integrate with our tech infrastructure and seamlessly perform driver's license verification in Kenya for seamless KYC compliance.

Kenyan Alien Identity Card

This is an identification card issued to foreign nationals residing in Kenya. It contains the holder's personal details.

Verify up to 5 ID numbers in Kenya

Our solution empowers businesses to verify Kenyan ID numbers directly from government databases

Verify Kenyans using ID documents

Verifying users with ID documents and biometric face matching is one of the most reliable ways to determine a user's true identity. Our ID document verification solution checks that an ID document is authentic, accurately transcribes the text on the document and compares a user-submitted selfie to the document image.

Transcribes document text with 96% accuracy

Checks for accurate format

Identifies tampered and forged documents

Verifies security features

Scan your document

Our image capture tools guide users to take clear photos even with older devices.

Smile for a selfie

Ensure the real user is behind the camera with a smile to test for liveness.

Get real-time results

In a few seconds, you will confirm the document is authentic and belongs to the user behind the camera.

Comprehensive Identity verification (KYC/AML) solution in one place

Choose the right option to verify and onboard your customers

Document Verification: With Smile ID, you can verify over 8500 documents across 220 countries globally (including Kenya) with 96% OCR accuracy.
Government Check: With our Enhanced & Biometric KYC products, you can verify customer information against 5 Kenyan government ID databases accessing up to 36M+ ID records in Kenya.
Enhanced Document Verification: Add an additional layer of security when onboarding customers by combining government checks with document verification.

Business verification for AML compliance in Kenya

In Kenya, financial institutions must comply with KYB requirements as part of their anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CTF) obligations.

The requirements include conducting business verification and verifying the identity and details of key stakeholders that use their services including information about the beneficial owners of the business.

Our solution empowers businesses to verify 7million+ companies from government databases across Africa. Receive information such as:

Company registration status

General company information and address

Beneficial owners and other stakeholders

Smile Links: Flexible, no-code option for creating customised user verification flows

SDKs: iOs, Android, Hosted Web, Flutter, REACT Native

Server-to-server libraries: Ruby, Java, PHP, Python, node.js

REST API

Instant AML and KYC compliance solution for Kenya

Country Overview