Introduction to Know Your Customer (KYC)
Know Your Customer (KYC) is a legal requirement based on the German Money Laundering Act known as Geldwäschegesetz (GwG). Find out what you need to to do comply here.
What is Know Your Customer (KYC)?
KYC reviews are required in several instances throughout the business relationship:
Before entering a business relationship or before remitting the first transaction: To initiate the KYC review, you will start by submitting the KYC questionnaire. After submission, our KYC team will contact you to guide you through the next steps.
During regular reviews: We conduct periodic reviews of existing business relationships. The frequency of these reviews is determined by various factors. Our team will notify you when it’s time to begin a new review cycle.
On an event-driven basis: Reviews may also be triggered by changes such as updates to the name or legal entity of the contracting party, relocation to another country, or changes in beneficial ownership.
Important
You will be notified via email whenever a KYC review is due.
KYC process overview:
Provision of information for identification
As per Sec. 11, Para. 6 GwG contractual partners are legally required to provide the obligated entity with all information and documentation required to complete the identification process. To facilitate this, the Zalando KYC team is going to share the link to the Zalando KYC questionnaire alongside detailed instructions with you once the KYC check is required.
Verification of information
The KYC team will review the submitted information and reach out to the KYC contact person appointed for your business or company in case further information and/or evidence is required to complete the verification. To ensure the KYC process proceeds smoothly please consider the following key points:
Select the right KYC contact person: The KYC contact person will be required to provide information and answer questions concerning your business and its ownership structure. Kindly ensure to appoint someone who has access to the corresponding information and documentation in order to avoid unnecessary delays. Further, kindly ensure to always update us on changes regarding or of the KYC contact person (i.e. change of contact email address, change of the contact person).
Meet deadlines: Each submission request and request for information will come with a deadline. To prevent delays in your platform launch or potential temporary deactivation of your sales activities on the Zalando Marketplace due to pending KYC reviews, ensure you meet these deadlines or contact the KYC team if you need additional time.
Please ensure to provide all requested information and evidence already with the questionnaire submission. The KYC questionnaire requires provision of information and upload of corresponding evidence. By submitting detailed information and making all of the requested files available already with this first step of the KYC process, you minimise the probability of follow-up requests by our KYC team which will necessarily cause a delay of process completion.
What documents do I need?
It is not possible to provide you with detailed information on the exact requirements as these strongly depend on the respective contractual entity (legal form, organisational structure, etc), however, the list below includes some of the most frequently required files for your review:
A copy of the commercial, company or trade register excerpt*
Date of issue of the document must not exceed six months
If it does not state contracting party’s address, beneficial owner(s) and person(s) acting on behalf of the contracting party along with according shares, additional proof is required
In cases where a legal person owns or exercises control over the contracting party, a corporate ownership and control structure is required along with the register excerpts of all companies which directly or indirectly own or control the contracting party
A copy of a current passport or ID** from each beneficial owner and each person acting on behalf of the contracting party
If private residential address is not stated on the identification document(s), an additional proof from a credible and independent source is mandatory, i.e. via a copy of a recent electricity, mobile or landline bill**
If place of birth is not stated on your identification document, a copy of the birth certificate (or any government-issued documents confirming the place of birth) will be required
Data Protection:
In compliance with the German Anti-Money Laundering Act (GwG), we store your data securely for five years. Access to your information is carefully controlled through a robust, multi-layered security approach, ensuring only authorised teams handle your data. We collaborate with trusted third-party providers who meet strict data protection standards.
Need some help?
If you have further questions, please visit our KYC portal. There, you’ll find our KYC FAQs and a range of specialised articles on multiple topics around our KYC process.
In case you require assistance by our KYC team, kindly utilise the support form and select the request topic: 'KYC Questions'
Please find further information on KYC processes, as well as FAQs on the KYC portal via the links below:
- *
For sole proprietorships, a copy business registration document (not older than six months) is sufficient; for partnerships under civil law (equivalent of German GbR), a partnership agreement is required
- **
Kindly note that a driver’s licence will neither be accepted as proof of identification nor as proof of address.