Ongoing Case study

KYC Automation for a German Payments Fintech

Client Profile

A mid-sized German payment gateway with 180 employees processing approximately €700-800M in annual transactions, active in 6 EU markets. The company provides payment processing services for over 2,800 merchants, primarily e-commerce and subscription-based businesses. Operating under German banking regulations while expanding across the EU, the company faced increasing compliance pressure as transaction volumes grew.

Challenges

The client was experiencing critical bottlenecks in its KYC and customer onboarding processes as it scaled operations across multiple European jurisdictions. Its existing systems required substantial manual intervention, creating delays in merchant onboarding and increasing compliance risks.

Challenges

  • Merchant Onboarding Delays: The manual verification process averaged 45 minutes median processing time per merchant, creating backlogs during peak periods and delaying revenue generation from new clients.
  • Cross-Border Compliance Complexity: Operating across 6 EU countries required navigating different regulatory interpretations of AML and KYC requirements, forcing the compliance team to maintain multiple process variations.
  • Escalating Operational Costs: To manage growing volumes, the client needed to scale compliance operations sustainably while maintaining accuracy and regulatory adherence.

Aspagnul Solution

We implemented a targeted KYC automation system designed specifically for mid-market payment service providers operating across European jurisdictions. The solution incorporated intelligent document verification, risk-based processing, and compliance routing based on merchant profiles and jurisdictional requirements.

Aspagnul Solution

  • Intelligent Document Processing: Custom computer vision models analyzed merchant documentation with approximately 97% doc-verification accuracy, automatically extracting and validating key information from diverse document types across different countries.
  • Risk-Based Compliance Workflows: Configurable compliance paths automatically apply appropriate verification requirements based on merchant type, transaction volume, and specific jurisdictional regulations.
  • Integrated Risk Assessment: Risk models assessed merchant profiles using traditional and alternative data sources, enabling appropriate verification intensity and ongoing monitoring.

Implementation Timeline

Weeks 1-8
Proof of Concept

Phase 1 covered low-risk merchants with comprehensive evaluation of current processes, solution design, and controlled deployment across specific merchant categories.

Month 3
Ongoing project

Optimization months 3 expanded coverage to all merchant types with continuous performance monitoring and fine-tuning based on initial performance metrics.

Integration Approach

The KYC automation system integrated with the client’s existing technology landscape through secure API connections. Custom connectors linked with the existing CRM system to maintain unified customer views while enabling automated status updates. The solution incorporated specialized database integration with transaction monitoring systems and secure external API connections for regulatory database verification. All integrations maintained end-to-end encryption with comprehensive audit logging.

Compliance Framework

The solution addressed multiple regulatory frameworks essential for payment service providers:

5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD5)

Risk-based approach with beneficial ownership verification and PEP screening

Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2)

Strong customer authentication compliance and payment institution verification requirements

GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)

Data minimization, purpose limitation, robust encryption, and comprehensive consent management.

BaFin Requirements

German regulatory expectations for documentation, risk assessment, and ongoing monitoring

eIDAS Regulation

Electronic identification and trust service compliance for secure, efficient digital verification methods and onboarding

Empower Your Financial Services with Aspagnul’s AI-Powered Solutions

Overall Results first 90 days

01

Operational Efficiency:

02

Compliance Enhancement:

03

Resource Optimization:

Typical straight-through processing rates in mid-market payments range from 45-55%; we achieved 65%.

Business Impact

The KYC automation solution transformed merchant onboarding from an operational constraint into a competitive advantage. The acceleration in processing timelines enabled the company to improve its merchant activation promise, strengthening its market position. Enhanced compliance capabilities provided confidence to expand operations across additional EU markets without proportional increases in compliance personnel.

The solution established sustainable economics for the company’s expansion plans by optimizing the relationship between transaction volume growth and operational costs. The client has since expanded their engagement with us to implement additional automation across fraud detection and transaction monitoring operations.

What customer says about Aspagnul

Marcello Ruiz
Chief Financial Officer, Ventana Global
David Kim
VP of Finance Strategy, Solace Consumer Brands
Isabelle Moreau
CFO, Arclight Energy Holdings

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