Implementation decisions
Before you start building, you must make two key decisions that define your system architecture, compliance responsibilities, and operational complexity:- Which onboarding method you’ll use
- Who is responsible for verifying user information
1. Choose your implementation method
API
- You want to maintain control over the UI
- You have specific branding requirements
- You need a deep system integration
Connector
- You want to maintain control over the UI
- You already use Sumsub or Veriff
- You don’t want to modify your existing onboarding flows
Widget
- You’re comfortable with a managed UI
- You need the fastest time-to-market
- You have limited development resources
Compare implementation methods
| Characteristics | API | Connector | Widget |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you build | Complete UI + backend orchestration using Core APIs | UI + provider integration | Embed widget component |
| Development time | High (weeks-months) | Medium (1-2 weeks) | Low (days-weeks) |
| UX control | Full control | Full control | Limited (Uphold-managed UI) |
| Maintenance | You maintain all components | You maintain the UI, Uphold maintains the connector | Uphold maintains the widget |
| Customization | Full UI customization | Full UI customization | Widget configuration only |
2. Choose verification responsibility
When onboarding users, you must also decide who will be responsible for verifying the information collected.Verification models
| Comparison | Uphold-verified | Partner-verified |
|---|---|---|
| Description | You collect the user data and Uphold verifies it. | You collect and verify user data, then submit the results to Uphold. |
| Best if | You don’t want to build or maintain verification systems. | You have existing onboarding infrastructure, or want full control over the user experience. |
| Compliance | Uphold is responsible for compliance as the verifier. | Your organization is responsible for compliance as the verifier. |
| Approvals | No approvals needed. | The Uphold compliance team must approve your verification processes. |
Supported regions
The Enterprise API Suite currently supports users in the following regions:- United Kingdom
- United States of America
- European Union Coming soon
- Rest of the world Coming soon
Next Steps
Individuals
Complete step-by-step guide for Individual user verification.
Complete step-by-step guide for Business user verification.