It has been a transformative year for know your customer (KYC) processes, as companies embrace new technology to transform compliance workflows. Remonda Kirketerp-Møller, CEO of Muinmos, explored some of the biggest trends facing the KYC sector.
The rise of Straight-Through Processing
One of the biggest trends in KYC is the rising popularity of Straight-Through Processing (STP) via the use of Agentic AI. STP is the end-to-end automation of workflows to remove all manual breakpoints. In onboarding, this lowers the instances where a human is required for verification.
While there have been several automation improvements to onboarding, they have lacked the ability to perform more complex decision making. However, Agentic AI is a game-changer.
Unlike other solutions, these agents can understand information in their environment, whether it is client input, regulatory databases or APIs. They are also capable of interpreting information, planning next steps and making context-based decisions. Additionally, they can perform actions, such as triggering workflows, calling APIs or querying additional data sources, and operate independently through defined rules, constraints and safety boundaries without human direction.
Kirketerp-Møller added, “Unlike traditional automation, AI Agents work toward goals through iterative decision-making, adapting their approach based on what they discover at each step. In a complex process like client onboarding, AI Agents can be deployed in two fundamentally different ways – in isolation or collective orchestration – and the distinction matters enormously.”
Agents used in isolation have their benefits – they can support compliance teams with clearing false positives, verifying IDs and addresses, and collecting corporate data. Ultimately, they bring greater efficiency and bolster compliance consistency, especially for large firms, Kirketerp-Møller noted.
However, “in complex processes like client onboarding, traditional systems are full of breakpoint-moments, where the process stops and waits for human intervention. A screening hit triggers a case review. A missing document halts progress. An EDD (enhanced due diligence) determination requires manual escalation. Each breakpoint adds hours or days to the onboarding timeline – and if you operate your AI Agents in isolation, this issue is not solved.”
Only AI Agents used collectively can eliminate those breakpoints completely. When powered by a holistic view of the onboarding process, they can instantly trigger for example EDD measures if a PEP flag is identified, whilst simultaneously adjusting the client journey to include more strenuous checks and check databases for additional data based on risk. All this is completed within seconds. “This shift from static sequences to adaptive flows is what finally makes true STP possible.”
This is exactly how Muinmos supports its clients. Their agents initiate the correct journey, collect information, determine relevant regulatory questions based on risk, conduct related party checks, collate data from external sources, request documents, analyse the full case, decide if escalation is needed, issue a final decision and pass it to downstream systems. This is done within seconds and with full transparency and override capability.
“The result is one continuous process instead of dozens of disconnected tasks – true straight-through processing,” Kirketerp-Møller said.
It is not only KYC that can benefit from STP, as it can also support Know Your Business (KYB) processes. While KYB requires more data sources, complex ownership structures and more qualitative judgement, if the agent is properly instructed what to do in each breakpoint,, the breakpoints can be eliminated.
Kirketerp-Møller emphasised that this is not about replacing human decision-making. The aim is to provide complete case files so case managers can focus on their assessments and not waste time hunting for relevant data and structure it. “STP in KYB is absolutely achievable when the heavy administrative / procedural lifting is automated and transparent.”
A move towards CLM
Another rising trend is the shift from traditional KYC tools to client lifecycle management (CLM) systems, as firms embrace holistic and efficient compliance ecosystems.
Kirketerp-Møller explained, “In recent years, rising regulatory expectations – to perform continuous monitoring, maintain up-to-date proof-of-address collection, run annual Suitability Assessments, handle data securely, and a growing list of periodic or event-driven reporting duties – have pushed financial institutions to evolve their KYC approach. What began as one-off remediation efforts (“reactive KYC”) has shifted toward scheduled KYC refresh cycles (“proactive KYC”) and is now a fully continuous, perpetual KYC. As a result, firms have moved away from isolated point solutions that handle TASKS to client-lifecycle-management platforms that handle CASES (tasks, stakeholders, workflows etc.) on an ongoing basis.”
Firms looking to evolve their onboarding capabilities can view this change occurring in three stages, she noted. The first step is to adopt a CLM capable of orchestrating required tasks across the client’s lifecycle. Stage two is to connect KYC point-solutions with the CLM, providing teams with a unified view of a client and removing fragmented data systems. The final stage is to embed AI agents to remove breakpoints and achieve STP. These agents will not only unify the environment teams operate in, but also the compliance process in its entirety. “STP. This is the real revolution AI Agents bring to this area,” Kirketerp-Møller said, “and many companies select vendors which have already implemented all three steps in their solution”.
“It’s also worth mentioning that a strong CLM is already designed for AI agents, and can be configured to suit most if not all financial institutions. A bespoke CLM will break at some point, when institutions adapt to changes or revise policies, while a strong CLM, through configuration, can adapt as needs evolve.”
Most institutions are still in the first two stages of transforming their onboarding – implementing a CLM and integrating basic AI on certain tasks. Muinmos is the tool to help them complete their digitalisation journey with the introduction of AI Agents. Its platform can reduce costs by 32%, shrink CLM compliance workloads by 90% and save sales teams 20% in time.
“But more importantly, compliance teams get to focus on meaningful, high-value work instead of continuously unblocking cases or correcting process gaps. It raises both efficiency and job satisfaction.”
Increased investor protection
The final major trend shaping KYC in 2025 is the increasing pressure from regulators to protect investors. For instance, the UK’s COBS and the EU’s MiFID II outline guardrails to ensure financial products are not mis-sold. In an era of autonomous technology, it is easy for firms to make mistakes that could prove devastating. Kirketerp-Møller’s advice to companies is “don’t rely on “rubber-stamp” RegTechs, and don’t chase conversion at the expense of compliance, as it can cost you dearly in fines, reversal of transactions and reputational risk – we are already seeing now a rise in complaints in respect of wrong classification and mis-selling of financial products, and this trend is only expected to increase in light of recent UK court rulings.”
According to a recent Opinion report from the European Banking Authority, over half of serious compliance failures involved improper use of RegTech tools. Two trends were identified as the cause, firms prioritising customer acquisition over compliance and RegTechs being deployed without fully understanding compliance requirements.
Kirketerp-Møller added, “Regulators are responding by scrutinising how firms deploy compliance technology, not just whether they use it. It’s no longer sufficient to claim that a RegTech provider “handles” KYC or AML. Regulators now recognise that some vendors sell “pass rates” rather than genuine compliance checks – an approach that incentivises skipping key steps to keep approval numbers high.”
As a result, Kirketerp-Møller sees the market moving towards compliance-focused solutions, for example from “pass rates” to “completion rates”. At Muinmos, client journey completion rate is 97.1% across all sectors, client types, and jurisdictions, achieved by delivering an effective, accurate, and user-friendly onboarding experience (45% to 96% faster) without compromising compliance.
“In short: firms can no longer rely on tools that rubber-stamp applications and claim they are compliant. Regulators are watching, and the liability ultimately sits with the institution.”
The future of onboarding
These trends have shaped onboarding over the past year and will continue to define it in the coming years, none more than AI. Kirketerp-Møller is confident AI will transform how teams will work. She said, “Composers, for example, are turning more into curators than creators. AI can almost mass-produce melodies, and composers curate from them. Similarly, programmers can skip long conceptual processes and present working MVP versions within days or even hours.”
In the coming years, compliance officers will spend less time collecting data or completing checks, and more time setting parameters, validating outcomes and ensuring transparency and accountability.
Muinmos is ready to help companies with this future. Its platform already supports this shift and it will continue to move with the evolving trends. She added, “Our platform provides full reasoning transparency and allows teams to refine or override decisions instantly. The automation handles the execution; humans handle the oversight. This also improves flexibility and scalability. 86% of our clients say the platform directly supports their global expansion, and that’s a metric we’re very proud of.”
On a concluding note, Kirketerp-Møller said, “The future isn’t hypothetical anymore. It’s arriving quickly, and the firms that prepare now will be the ones that lead.”
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