Here is a classic startup scenario:
You get a Jira ticket to "add identity verification to user onboarding." You check the docs of a vendor like Veriff or Sumsub, install their Web SDK, spin up an Express route to listen to webhooks, and flip a is_verified boolean in your database. It takes a couple of days, works perfectly in the sandbox, and passes QA.
Three months later, your CFO drops into your Slack DM with a screenshot of a $5,000 invoice.
"Hey, we only onboarded 1,500 new users this month. Why are we paying for 5,000 KYC checks?"
As developers, we rarely think about how our API design interacts with a vendor’s billing model. But when it comes to KYC (Know Your Customer), a lazy implementation will burn your company’s runway faster than almost any other integration.
