Vendor Strategy

Building a KYC (Know Your Customer) onboarding system for an Indian stock broker requires integrating with a surprisingly large number of third-party vendors. From identity verification to bank account validation, from AML (Anti-Money Laundering) screening to e-Sign, from exchange connectivity to back-office trading systems — no single vendor covers everything. The challenge is not finding vendors; it is choosing the right combination that minimizes the number of contracts you manage, provides reliable uptime, meets regulatory requirements, and keeps costs predictable. This page is your strategic guide: which vendors are worth serious evaluation, which you can safely skip, and what the recommended final stack looks like.

How to Read This Page

This is the high-level strategy page. For detailed integration specifications — API (Application Programming Interface) endpoints, request/response formats, error codes — see the individual vendor deep-dive pages linked at the bottom. Start here to understand the “why” of each vendor choice, then go to the deep-dive pages for the “how.”

Think of the vendor landscape as layers in a stack. At the bottom are the identity and verification vendors (who confirm the customer is who they claim to be). In the middle are the compliance and fraud prevention vendors (who check whether the customer should be allowed to trade). At the top are the exchange and depository integrations (which actually create the trading and demat accounts). Every layer depends on the ones below it.

Let us start with the vendors that deserve serious evaluation — either because they offer unique capabilities or because they can consolidate multiple functions into a single contract.

Vendors Worth Serious Evaluation

Vendor	Why Consider	Primary Use Case	Integration Effort
Setu	Unified KYC APIs + eKYC Setu + reverse penny drop + AA (Account Aggregator) market leader	Could replace parts of Decentro for identity APIs and add AA capability	1-2 weeks (API-first)
Bureau.id	Device intelligence and fraud prevention — layer no one else provides	Fraud overlay during onboarding: multi-accounting, synthetic identities, device spoofing	1 week (SDK)
Signzy	All-in-one with no-code platform; Gartner-recognized	Vendor consolidation; strongest low-bandwidth Video KYC (75 kbps for Tier 3/4)	2-3 weeks
Karza/Perfios	Deep analytics layer (GST, ITR, bank statement analysis)	Income/suitability verification for F&O (Futures and Options). 4000+ bank statement formats.	2 weeks
Tartan	Deepest payroll/income verification in India	Real-time HRMS income data. 30+ HRMS integrations.	1-2 weeks
Leegality	Zero license fee eSign + eStamping	Cost-sensitive deployments, pilot phases. 55M+ eSigns. Smart API <2 day integration.	<2 days

In plain English: Setu is interesting because it can replace several vendors with a single integration. Bureau.id fills a gap that nobody else covers (device-level fraud detection). Signzy is the strongest choice if your customers are in low-bandwidth areas. Karza/Perfios are essential for income verification. Tartan is useful if you need payroll-based income data. Leegality is the cheapest eSign option.

Vendor Consolidation Reduces Operational Overhead

Each vendor contract means a separate commercial agreement, a separate integration to maintain, separate API credentials to rotate, and a separate support channel to manage. Every vendor you can eliminate by consolidating its functionality into another vendor saves ongoing operational effort, not just upfront integration time.

Not every vendor in the Indian fintech ecosystem is worth integrating with. Several offer capabilities that are already covered by the recommended stack.

Vendors Likely Not Needed

Vendor	What They Offer	Why Skip
Gridlines	100+ identity APIs, face match, UPI reverse penny drop	Covered by Decentro + Setu
Veri5 Digital	Aadhaar eKYC, Video KYC, face match (99.84%)	Covered by Setu + HyperVerge
OnGrid	150+ APIs, background verification	BGV-focused. Not core KYC need.
AuthBridge	Digital KYC, Video KYC, AML	Enterprise-heavy, legacy LOS focus
IDfy	OCR (Optical Character Recognition) + face match + background verification	Covered by HyperVerge
Razorpay (BAV only)	Penny drop, UPI/VPA validation	Covered by Setu/Decentro
Cashfree (BAV only)	Penny drop, reverse penny drop	Covered. Niche: widest co-op bank coverage.

In plain English: these are all legitimate vendors, but their capabilities overlap with vendors already in the recommended stack. Unless you have a specific edge case — such as needing Cashfree’s cooperative bank coverage or Signzy’s 75 kbps Video KYC — the recommended stack covers everything you need.

With the evaluation complete, here is the recommended final stack that balances coverage, reliability, and vendor count.

Recommended Final Stack

Layer	Recommended	Role	Alternate
Identity + DigiLocker	Digio or Setu	DigiLocker, Aadhaar eKYC, KRA (KYC Registration Agency)	Decentro
PAN (Permanent Account Number) + Bank + eSign	Setu or Decentro + Digio	PAN verify, penny drop, eSign	Leegality (eSign, cost optimization)
Face Match + Video + OCR	HyperVerge	Liveness, face match, OCR, VIPV fallback	Signzy (low bandwidth), IDfy
CKYC (Central KYC) + AML	TrackWizz	CKYC search/upload, AML/PEP (Politically Exposed Person) screening	Decentro (CKYC) + ComplyAdvantage (AML)
Income Verification	Perfios (ITR) + Setu AA (bank statement)	F&O activation, margin eligibility	Karza, Tartan (payroll)
Fraud Prevention	Bureau.id	Device intelligence, anti-fraud overlay	Signzy (embedded)
Back-Office	63 Moons ODIN	Multi-exchange trading + RMS	Symphony XTS, OmneNEST
Communications	Kaleyra + AWS SES	SMS (DLT), email, WhatsApp	MSG91, SendGrid

No Single Vendor Covers Everything

Even with aggressive consolidation, the recommended stack includes 7-8 vendor contracts. This is the reality of building a compliant KYC system in India — the regulatory landscape requires different specialized vendors for identity, compliance, exchanges, and depositories. Resist the temptation to over-consolidate into a single vendor, as it creates a single point of failure.

In plain English: the stack has three core vendors for identity and verification (Digio/Setu, HyperVerge, TrackWizz), two for income (Perfios + Setu AA), one for fraud (Bureau.id), one for back-office (63 Moons ODIN), and one for communications (Kaleyra + AWS SES). Exchange and depository integrations are direct — there is no vendor intermediary for NSE (National Stock Exchange), BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange), MCX (Multi Commodity Exchange), CDSL (Central Depository Services Limited), or NSDL (National Securities Depository Limited).

For detailed integration specifications, API references, and implementation guides, see the individual vendor pages below.

Vendor Deep-Dive Pages

Vendor	Category	Page
DigiLocker	Identity	DigiLocker Integration
CKYC	Identity	CKYC Integration
Decentro	Verification	Decentro Integration
HyperVerge	Verification	HyperVerge Integration
KRA	KYC Registration	KRA Integration
Leegality	eSign	Leegality Integration
TrackWizz	Fraud & AML	TrackWizz Integration
NSE	Exchange	NSE UCC Integration
BSE	Exchange	BSE UCC Integration
MCX	Exchange	MCX UCC Integration
CDSL	Depository	CDSL BO Integration
NSDL	Depository	NSDL BO Integration

Start with the Recommended Vendors

If you are new to the codebase, start by reading the HyperVerge, TrackWizz, and KRA deep-dive pages — these cover the verification, compliance, and registration layers that are most unique to stock broking. The exchange and depository pages are important but more procedural; the identity verification pages are where the interesting engineering challenges live.