Applies to: All child care providers accepting parent payments through Kinside
Purpose: Ensure compliance with payment regulations, prevent fraud, and protect parents, providers, and Kinside while keeping onboarding straightforward and low-friction.
1. Overview and Principles
Kinside enables licensed child care providers to accept parent payments for tuition, deposits, and related fees. Because Kinside facilitates the movement of funds, we are required to perform due diligence on providers to comply with U.S. financial regulations, prevent fraud, and ensure payments are sent to legitimate businesses.
Our approach follows three principles:
- Trust-first: Most providers are legitimate businesses. Verification exists to confirm identity, not create barriers.
- Proportional: Due diligence is risk-based and appropriate to the provider’s business model.
- Automated where possible: Identity verification and monitoring rely on established third-party services to reduce manual review and error.
2. Regulatory Framework
Kinside’s provider due diligence process aligns with:
- Know Your Business (KYB) requirements
- Anti-Money Laundering (AML) expectations
- Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions screening
- Requirements of Kinside’s banking and payment processing partners
Kinside does not operate as a bank. We partner with regulated financial institutions and payment processors to perform required identity verification, screening, and ongoing monitoring.
3. Provider Eligibility Requirements
To accept payments on Kinside, providers must:
- Operate a legitimate child care business (center-based or home-based)
- Be licensed by their state or legally exempt from licensure
- Provide accurate business, tax, and banking information
- Agree to Kinside’s payment terms and fee structure
Providers who do not meet these requirements may still maintain a profile on Kinside but will not be eligible to accept payments.
4. Information Collected at Onboarding
When a provider enables payments, Kinside collects the following information:
Business Information
- Legal business name
- Entity type (e.g., LLC, corporation, sole proprietor)
- Physical business address
- State license number (where applicable)
Tax Information
- Tax ID number (EIN or SSN, depending on entity type)
- Tax ID type
Banking Information
- Bank routing number
- Bank account number
- Account ownership confirmation
This information is required to:
- Verify the provider’s identity
- Ensure funds are deposited to the correct account
- Meet regulatory obligations related to payment facilitation
5. Identity Verification and KYB Checks
Kinside performs business identity verification through third-party KYB and compliance vendors. These checks include:
- Verification of legal business identity
- Validation of Tax ID information
- Confirmation of physical address
- Screening against government and international watchlists, including:
- OFAC SDN
- OFAC non-SDN
- Other applicable restricted or sanctioned entity lists
Verification occurs:
- During onboarding, before payments are enabled
- On an ongoing basis to detect changes in sanctions or risk status
Providers that fail KYB checks may be blocked from transacting or flagged for review.
6. Bank Account Verification
Before payouts are enabled:
- Bank accounts are authenticated to confirm ownership and validity
- Providers must successfully complete bank verification
- Payments are not released until verification is complete
This helps prevent:
- Misdirected funds
- Fraudulent account use
- Payment reversals and disputes
Once verified, payouts are initiated automatically without manual action from the provider.
7. Ongoing Monitoring and Fraud Prevention
After onboarding, Kinside maintains ongoing safeguards:
Automated Monitoring
- Transaction pattern analysis
- Detection of unusual or high-risk payment behavior
- Volume, velocity, and amount checks
Manual Review Triggers
- Failed or updated verification checks
- Bank account changes
- Abnormal transaction activity
- Reports of suspected misuse or fraud
Kinside may temporarily pause payouts or payment acceptance while reviews are conducted.
8. Payment Categories and Transparency
Parents are required to categorize payments (e.g., tuition, deposit, registration). This supports:
- Clear recordkeeping
- Easier reconciliation for providers
- Reduced risk of misuse, especially for employer-sponsored funds
Providers receive:
- Email notifications for each payment
- Downloadable transaction reports
- Persistent access to historical payment records
9. Record Retention and Reporting
Kinside retains provider and payment records in accordance with regulatory and contractual requirements, including:
- Identity verification results
- Transaction histories
- Bank verification status
Providers may export payment records for accounting, tax, or audit purposes at any time.
10. Enforcement and Remediation
If a provider is determined to be non-compliant or high-risk, Kinside may:
- Restrict or disable payment acceptance
- Delay or withhold payouts where legally required
- Terminate payment access in severe or repeated cases
These actions are taken to protect families, providers, employers, and Kinside.
11. Provider Support
Providers can contact Kinside Support for assistance with onboarding, verification, or payments. Additional support is available for providers who need help navigating online banking or payment setup.