KYS (Know Your Supplier) is more than a compliance checkbox. It’s how organizations reduce risk, increase supplier accountability, and build trust across complex supply chains.
What is know your supplier (KYS)?
KYS is the process of verifying the legitimacy, ownership, compliance, and performance of third-party suppliers and vendors.
It helps organizations answer key questions like:
Is this business real and operating legally?
Who owns and controls it?
Do they meet our regulatory, ethical, or diversity standards?
Are they financially and operationally sound?
Why KYS is becoming a strategic priority
Global risk exposure
Companies face increasing liability from suppliers who operate unethically or illegally.
Reputational & financial fallout
Weak due diligence can lead to lost contracts, failed audits, or public backlash.
Emerging regulations
New ESG, DEI, and anti-fraud compliance laws are making third-party risk management non-negotiable.
Siloed or manual processes
Many organizations still rely on spreadsheets, PDFs, and unverified data sources.
The problem: KYS is broken
Takes weeks (sometimes months) to verify
Often limited to static data like a W9 or insurance cert
No centralized source of truth
Minimal visibility into ownership or legitimacy
Inconsistent across suppliers, teams, and systems
Introducing OneCredential
At OneCredential, we’re transforming KYS from a manual task to a streamlined, AI-powered trust layer.
Verified business identity
Legal name, EIN, incorporation check
Ownership & UBO breakdown
Ideal for supplier diversity, ethics, and compliance
Licenses & certifications
Centralized and kept up to date
Risk signals
Automated checks for red flags and fraud
Portable, shareable profiles
Let suppliers verify once, and share everywhere
Real-time dashboards
Track, monitor, and manage supplier health over time
KYS vs. traditional supplier onboarding
Who needs KYS?
Procurement teams
Risk & compliance officers
Supplier diversity & ESG leaders
Government contractors
Banks, PEOs, and insurers
Private equity & investment firms
Accelerators & trade associations
OneCredential is the new standard
Built with AI to detect fraud, flag risk, and auto-populate missing data
Enterprise-grade security and compliance controls
Designed to scale across thousands of suppliers, not dozens
Supports inclusive growth and supplier diversity from the start
