Unit Economics of eKYC¶
Definition¶
The cost structure and economics of running an eKYC platform — from the vendor/provider perspective.
Cost Structure per Verification¶
| Cost Component | Typical Range | % of Total |
|---|---|---|
| GPU compute (liveness, recognition, OCR) | $0.01-$0.05 | 10-20% |
| Third-party data (screening, database checks) | $0.05-$0.30 | 20-40% |
| Cloud infrastructure (storage, network, API) | $0.01-$0.03 | 5-10% |
| Manual review (8-15% of cases × $2-10 per review) | $0.15-$1.50 | 20-40% |
| R&D amortized (model development, document support) | $0.05-$0.20 | 10-20% |
| Support & operations | $0.02-$0.10 | 5-10% |
| Total COGS | $0.30-$2.00 |
Margin Structure¶
| Volume Tier | Revenue/Verification | COGS | Gross Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Low volume | $3.00-$5.00 | $1.50-$2.00 | 50-60% |
| Medium volume | $1.00-$2.00 | $0.50-$1.00 | 50-60% |
| High volume | $0.30-$0.80 | $0.20-$0.40 | 40-55% |
Key Takeaways¶
Summary
- Manual review and third-party data are the two largest cost components
- Reducing manual review rate (higher STP) is the most impactful cost optimization
- Gross margins are 40-60% — typical for B2B SaaS
- At scale, GPU compute becomes a small fraction — data and manual review dominate