Customer due diligence versus KYC

People search “customer due diligence vs kyc” when a suburban accounting practice sees both phrases on one vendor page and wants the Australian split. Checked against AUSTRAC's glossary entry for KYC information on 4 October 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. This page does not reproduce that guidance. The non-bank meaning of the KYC phrase is know your customer in Australia. How a company check differs from a person is KYB versus KYC. The sector map is /tranche-2.

Two words, two jobs

A suburban practice hears KYC in every software demo and customer due diligence in every AUSTRAC page. They are related, and they are not synonyms. Customer due diligence is the set of steps your program applies to a customer of a designated service. KYC information is the information about identity that those steps collect.

Screening, beneficial ownership, and the decision to proceed sit in due diligence even when a vendor button only says KYC. If you only collect a name and a date of birth, you have started the information. You have not finished the obligation.

• Due diligence is the obligation. It lives in the program and applies when you provide a designated service.
• KYC information is the content. It is what you collect about who the customer is, as the glossary uses that phrase.
• A product name is neither. A button labelled KYC can still be the check your program required as due diligence.
• Company and person stay split. A person is a KYC check. A company or a trust is a KYB check. The labels do not merge the price.

What the search usually swaps

The swap happens because bank pages use KYC for the whole account-opening pack. A professional firm is not opening a deposit account. It is deciding whether it may provide a designated service. Use the program's word for the obligation, and use KYC for the information inside it.

Where the comparison stops

This page is the split between the two phrases. It is not the full list of due diligence steps. Those steps are on customer due diligence requirements.

It does not tell a firm which of its services are designated. That test sits on /tranche-2.

What the client pays

On FreeAML the firm suite is A$0. The firm emails the client a link. Verification is client-pays. On the public list a personal KYC check is A$20 and a company or trust KYB check is A$40. Use KYB when the customer is a company or a trust. Calling a check KYC does not change the price, and calling it due diligence does not add a second fee. Confirm the live amounts on FreeAML pricing. FreeAML does not rename customer due diligence as KYC or shrink the program to a single label.

Frequently Asked Questions