Appetite is highest among businesses that find applying for business banking hardest today

74% of the businesses surveyed would adopt a reusable digital company ID now, and 83% said it would be worth paying for
Businesses with complex ownership structures are more than twice as likely as simple businesses to need an in-person branch visit to open a business banking product, at 58% against 27%
91% of those surveyed were asked for additional documents after applying

New research from Kyckr, the global KYB data provider, finds that most of the UK businesses it surveyed would adopt a reusable digital company ID today. Almost half (48%) said they would do so as soon as it was widely accepted by the financial institutions they bank with.

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Kyckr: The State of Business Banking Onboarding in 2026

The study, commissioned by Kyckr and carried out by Vitreous World among 403 UK business decision makers in August 2026, found that the businesses facing the greatest business banking application friction are also the ones most ready to adopt a reusable digital alternative. Businesses with complex ownership structures, those with overseas shareholders, multiple jurisdictions or trust arrangements, were more than twice as likely as simple businesses to need an in-person branch visit to complete their application: 58% against 27%. It is not that these businesses choose the branch. Kyckr's research found they are sent there. They were also close to three times as likely to be chased for additional documents three or more times after applying: 35% against 12%.

Tougher AML rules have raised the evidential bar for identifying who ultimately owns and controls a business. The bar is highest for the businesses already facing the most friction in business banking applications. Complex businesses, for example, named gathering shareholder and beneficial owner information as their single biggest cause of delay (28%, the top answer in that tier). Kyckr's own analysis of 22 FCA enforcement cases, published as The Data Blind Spot earlier this year, found that data and documentation failures contributed to 68% of those cases.

Digital company IDs, reusable digital credentials that let a business prove who it is and who owns it once rather than repeating the process with every new banking relationship, are emerging as a leading candidate to close this gap. Three-quarters (74%) of the businesses surveyed said they would adopt one now in some form, and 83% said it would be worth paying for. Among businesses with complex ownership structures, 64% would adopt one now if it were accepted by financial institutions, and 67% would pay a meaningful amount for it, both well ahead of simple and moderate businesses.

Kyckr's research also points to where the constraint on adoption lies. Financial institutions have yet to build the acceptance and infrastructure that would let businesses use a digital company ID widely, even though the businesses that stand to benefit most are already prepared to use one.

Steve Lamb, CEO of Kyckr, said: “Our research shows businesses are ready for a reusable digital company ID, particularly those who find business banking applications the hardest today. New technologies are beginning to make a different model possible, and the ecosystem to support true reusable ID is beginning to emerge. However, no single organisation can deliver this future alone; banks, fintechs, registries and regulators all have a part to play, working together to build something better.”

Read the full report here: https://kyckr.com/guides-and-reports/business-banking-onboarding-2026

Notes to editors

About the research

The State of Business Banking Onboarding in 2026 was conducted by Vitreous World on behalf of Kyckr. 403 UK business decision makers were surveyed in August 2026, either as the primary decision maker for the banking product (73%) or the person who led the application or onboarding (27%), all of whom had applied for a UK business banking product in the last two years. Respondents were split evenly across three ownership tiers, simple, moderate and complex, to allow direct comparison between them. This means the figures in this release describe the sample, not the wider UK business population, in which sole traders and simple businesses predominate. The margin of error is ±4.9 percentage points on the full sample, and roughly ±8.5 points on each tier, at 95% confidence. The study follows a similar survey Kyckr ran in November 2020, this time deliberately widened to include larger businesses with more complex ownership structures.

About Kyckr

Kyckr is a KYB data provider, connecting regulated firms to live company and beneficial ownership data from more than 300 official corporate registries worldwide. Kyckr's platform helps banks, fintechs, professional services firms and enterprises verify business customers with confidence, meet their AML and regulatory obligations, and fight financial crime. Now in its 20th year, Kyckr serves clients across banking, fintech, payments, professional services and insurance globally.

Learn more at www.kyckr.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260929396465/en/

Media contact

THOUGHT·LDR
Ramsha Matin
kyckr@thoughtldr.com
+44 7407841737

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