Honest comparison
KeyBS vs. the alternatives.
We're not the only way to verify a supplier. Here's where each option genuinely fits — including when KeyBS isn't the right answer.
| Dimension | KeyBS | Credit-bureau KYB | In-house DD team | Registry API tools |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coverage breadth | 195 countries, depth disclosed per country | Strong in US/EU; thin or stale outside | Whatever your team can reach | Whatever registries expose an API |
| On-the-ground verification | Tier 5 local agent in 41 countries | Rarely available; usually outsourced | Possible if you have local staff | Not offered |
| Named analyst sign-off | Senior analyst + peer reviewer named | Automated; no human signature | Your analyst, your liability | None |
| Refusal handling | Documented Cannot-Verify with partial evidence | Often returns an opaque low score | Whatever you write up | Returns empty result |
| Methodology transparency | Public, versioned, never retroactive | Proprietary black-box scoring | Internal to your team | N/A — raw data only |
| Per-country depth disclosure | Stated on every country page | Marketing claims global coverage uniformly | Implicit in team capacity | Implicit in registry availability |
| Cost model | Per-verification, priced by country & tier | Subscription + per-lookup | Salary + tooling | Per-API-call |
| Audit trail for regulators | Signed report, full chain of custody | Score with limited evidence | Your internal documentation | Raw responses, no narrative |
| Speed for low-risk countries | Minutes (Tier 1 auto-approval) | Minutes | Hours | Seconds (raw data) |
| Speed for hard countries | 5–10 business days (Tier 5) | Often not attempted | Weeks | Returns null |
When credit-bureau KYB wins
You only need US/UK/Western-EU coverage, you already have a bureau subscription, and you don't need named-human evidence for regulators.
When in-house DD wins
You verify fewer than ~30 suppliers a year, all in jurisdictions where your team has local language and registry expertise.
When a registry API wins
You're an engineering team building your own scoring; you want raw data, not a verified decision; and you accept the burden of normalisation across jurisdictions.