Enhanced Due Diligence

Overview

Enhanced due diligence (EDD) is the process financial institutions use to check and monitor high-risk customers and unusual transactions for potential money-laundering activity. The information required varies by scenario, so Synctera’s EDD API accepts a different set of fields for each type of resource. An EDD submission attaches extra information to an existing resource. Combined with the data gathered during KYC/KYB, it feeds Synctera’s Customer Risk Rating (CRR) and supports responses to requests for information (RFIs). Key characteristics:

Typed by resource — each submission targets a CUSTOMER, BUSINESS, ACCOUNT, or TRANSACTION, and the accepted fields differ per type.
Reason-driven — the reason field (CASE_REQUEST or STANDARD_SUBMISSION) records why the EDD was created; a CASE_REQUEST also requires a case_id.
CRR input — customer and business EDD, together with KYC/KYB data, lets Synctera compute a Customer Risk Rating.
Attachable — supporting documents can be linked to an EDD using the Documents API.

Customer EDD

Business EDD

Account EDD

Transaction EDD

When to submit EDD

During onboarding — submit additional information right after creating a customer or business.
In response to an RFI — answer a request for information on a KYC/KYB, account, or transaction case, referencing the case_id.
Recurring updates — periodically refresh a customer’s or business’s information.
High CRR outcome — when a customer or business is rated High by the CRR, EDD is required.

Prerequisites

This guide assumes you have:

Created a personal customer or business customer
An existing account or transaction (for account or transaction EDD)

You should also be familiar with:

The EDD object

Every EDD submission shares a common set of fields; the remaining fields depend on related_resource_type.

Field	Description
`related_resource_id`	Required. The `id` of the customer, business, account, or transaction.
`related_resource_type`	Required. One of `CUSTOMER`, `BUSINESS`, `ACCOUNT`, `TRANSACTION`.
`reason`	Required. Why the EDD was created: `CASE_REQUEST` or `STANDARD_SUBMISSION`.
`case_id`	Required when `reason` is `CASE_REQUEST`; the case the submission responds to.
`additional_questions`	Free-form question/answer pairs, each with a `section`, `question`, and `answer`.

Submit an EDD with POST /v0/edd. The sections below show the additional fields for each resource type.

Submitting EDD

Customer EDD

Customer EDD submits additional information about a personal customer, either after creation or as a response to an RFI on a KYC case. Along with KYC data, it lets Synctera run a Customer Risk Rating.

Field	Description
`employment_type`	`CONTRACTOR`, `FULL_TIME`, `INTERN`, `PART_TIME`, `VOLUNTEER`, `TEMPORARY`, `RETIRED`, `STUDENT`, or `OTHER`.
`income`	Employment income: `amount`, `currency`, `frequency`, and `source`.
`occupation`	Free-text occupation (e.g. Product Manager).
`occupation_industry`	Industry classification (e.g. `FINANCE_AND_INSURANCE`, `CONSTRUCTION`, `RETAIL_TRADE`). See the API reference for the full enum.
`residence_type`	`OWN`, `RENT`, or `OTHER`.
`residential_expense`	Residential expenses: `amount`, `currency`, and `frequency`.

curl \
  -X POST \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $apikey" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  https://api.synctera.com/v0/edd \
  --data-binary '
  {
    "related_resource_id": "{PERSON_ID}",
    "related_resource_type": "CUSTOMER",
    "reason": "CASE_REQUEST",
    "case_id": "12345",
    "employment_type": "FULL_TIME",
    "occupation": "Investment Banker",
    "occupation_industry": "FINANCE_AND_INSURANCE",
    "residence_type": "RENT",
    "residential_expense": {
      "amount": 1000000,
      "currency": "USD",
      "frequency": "MONTHLY"
    },
    "income": {
      "amount": 8000000,
      "currency": "USD",
      "frequency": "MONTHLY",
      "source": "EMPLOYMENT"
    },
    "additional_questions": [
      {
        "section": "income",
        "question": "How can you make so much money?",
        "answer": "Buy low, sell high"
      },
      {
        "section": "occupation",
        "question": "If employed, how long have you held your current position?",
        "answer": "Since 2023-04-15"
      }
    ]
  }'

Business EDD

Business EDD submits additional information about a business, either after creation or as a response to an RFI on a KYB case. Along with KYB data, it lets Synctera run a Customer Risk Rating.

Field	Description
`country`	The business’s headquarters country.
`industry_type`	The business’s industry (e.g. `MINING_QUARRYING_AND_OIL_AND_GAS_EXTRACTION`). See the API reference for the full enum.
`estimated_revenue`	Estimated revenue: `amount`, `currency`, and `frequency`.
`specific_involvement`	A complete set of boolean declarations (e.g. `cannabis_industry`, `licensed_money_service_business`, `arms_defense_or_security`). All flags must be provided.
`transaction_volume`	Expected transaction volume on (`on_synctera: true`) and off (`on_synctera: false`) the Synctera platform.

curl \
  -X POST \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $apikey" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  https://api.synctera.com/v0/edd \
  --data-binary '
  {
    "related_resource_id": "c10ec16e-9d92-49af-892d-0c3627e0926e",
    "related_resource_type": "BUSINESS",
    "reason": "STANDARD_SUBMISSION",
    "country": "NO",
    "industry_type": "MINING_QUARRYING_AND_OIL_AND_GAS_EXTRACTION",
    "specific_involvement": {
      "ngo_or_non_profit": false,
      "licensed_money_service_business": false,
      "cannabis_industry": false,
      "wellness_gift_cards_wholesaler": false,
      "law_firm_or_fiduciary": false,
      "arms_defense_or_security": false,
      "precious_metals_stones_or_jewellery": false,
      "embassies_or_consulates": false,
      "illegal_activities_prostitution_or_pirated_goods": false,
      "lotteries_crypto_currency_or_illegal_internet_gambling": false,
      "shell_banks_or_unlicensed_money_service_business": false
    },
    "estimated_revenue": {
      "amount": 50000000,
      "currency": "USD",
      "frequency": "MONTHLY"
    },
    "transaction_volume": [
      {
        "on_synctera": true,
        "channel": "WIRES",
        "channel_coverage": "INTERNATIONAL",
        "currency": "USD",
        "transaction_count": 10,
        "amount": 8000000,
        "frequency": "MONTHLY"
      },
      {
        "on_synctera": true,
        "channel": "ACH",
        "channel_coverage": "DOMESTIC",
        "currency": "USD",
        "transaction_count": 50,
        "amount": 1000000,
        "frequency": "MONTHLY"
      }
    ],
    "additional_questions": [
      {
        "section": "business",
        "question": "Is the business involved in upstream or downstream?",
        "answer": "Upstream. We mainly provide geological and research services"
      },
      {
        "section": "revenue",
        "question": "What are some of the main business expenses?",
        "answer": "Salaries, travel expenses, and research"
      }
    ]
  }'

Account EDD

Account EDD submits additional information about an account, typically in response to an account under review or frozen. Beyond the common fields, it accepts additional_questions.

curl \
  -X POST \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $apikey" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  https://api.synctera.com/v0/edd \
  --data-binary '
  {
    "related_resource_id": "c10ec16e-9d92-49af-892d-0c3627e0926e",
    "related_resource_type": "ACCOUNT",
    "reason": "CASE_REQUEST",
    "case_id": "12345",
    "additional_questions": [
      {
        "section": "reason",
        "question": "Explain the reason for the high number of transactions with value more than $25,000.",
        "answer": "These were invoice payments."
      }
    ]
  }'

Transaction EDD

Transaction EDD submits additional information about a specific transaction, typically in response to an RFI for a transaction in review.

Field	Description
`transaction_purpose`	The purpose of the transaction.
`source_of_funds`	`INVESTMENT`, `SALARY`, `SALES`, or `OTHER`.

curl \
  -X POST \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $apikey" \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  https://api.synctera.com/v0/edd \
  --data-binary '
  {
    "related_resource_id": "5c96bda6-60d9-4d6c-b05f-6ca4bcce79ce",
    "related_resource_type": "TRANSACTION",
    "reason": "CASE_REQUEST",
    "case_id": "12345",
    "source_of_funds": "OTHER",
    "transaction_purpose": "for tuition payment",
    "additional_questions": [
      {
        "section": "Source of funds",
        "question": "Where did these funds originate from?",
        "answer": "A recent estate disbursement."
      },
      {
        "section": "Transaction purpose",
        "question": "What was this payment for?",
        "answer": "Tuition fees at University of New York"
      }
    ]
  }'

Best practices

When reason is CASE_REQUEST, always include the case_id. Omitting it means the submission cannot be tied back to the case that requested it.

Submit the complete field set — for business EDD, every specific_involvement flag must be provided, even when false.
Attach supporting documents — link source documents to the EDD with the Documents API rather than pasting them into answers.
Keep information current — submit recurring updates for higher-risk customers and businesses so the CRR reflects the latest data.
Answer RFIs specifically — use additional_questions to give clear, reviewable answers a compliance analyst can act on.

Create a Personal Customer

Onboard a person before submitting customer EDD.

Create a Business Customer

Onboard a business before submitting business EDD.

KYC/KYB Verification

EDD complements the data collected during verification.

Overview

Onboard a personal customer

Onboard a business customer

Create Accounts

Link External Accounts

Link External Cards

Issue Cards

Move Money

Get Transactions

Platform Tools

Enhanced Due Diligence

Overview

Customer EDD

Business EDD

Account EDD

Transaction EDD

When to submit EDD

Prerequisites

The EDD object

Submitting EDD

Customer EDD

Business EDD

Account EDD

Transaction EDD

Best practices

Create a Personal Customer

Create a Business Customer

KYC/KYB Verification

API reference

​Overview

Customer EDD

Business EDD

Account EDD

Transaction EDD

​When to submit EDD

​Prerequisites

​The EDD object

​Submitting EDD

​Customer EDD

​Business EDD

​Account EDD

​Transaction EDD

​Best practices

​Related guides

Create a Personal Customer

Create a Business Customer

KYC/KYB Verification

​API reference

Overview

When to submit EDD

Prerequisites

The EDD object

Submitting EDD

Customer EDD

Business EDD

Account EDD

Transaction EDD

Best practices

Related guides

API reference