Summary: What Happened
Capgemini has introduced what it calls the industry’s first perpetual KYC (pKYC) sandbox — a secure test environment allowing financial institutions to:
- Simulate and transition from static to perpetual KYC
- Model fraud risks, AML scenarios, and compliance workflows
- Reduce manual onboarding costs and KYC refresh cycles
This launch comes shortly after Capgemini’s acquisition of Dutch regtech Delta Capita, reinforcing its push into automated compliance and financial crime risk management.
What Is Perpetual KYC (pKYC)?
Unlike static KYC, which updates user information at periodic intervals (e.g., annually), perpetual KYC continuously monitors and updates customer profiles by ingesting real-time data from:
- Transaction monitoring systems
- Open banking APIs
- Public and private risk databases
- Behavioral analytics engines
Why This Matters for Fintechs, PSPs, Banks & Regtech Players
✅ KYC Cost-to-Value Ratio is Breaking
- KYC and AML compliance now cost large banks $500M–$1B/year (Thomson Reuters, Deloitte)
- pKYC could reduce manual refreshes by up to 60%, according to industry pilots
- For neobanks, PSPs, and BaaS providers, the ROI on compliance automation is no longer optional — it’s a survival metric
✅ Proactive Risk Management over Reactive Checks
With traditional KYC, institutions can go months or years without detecting red flags due to data staleness. Perpetual KYC enables:
- Real-time risk scoring
- Instant flagging of data anomalies (e.g., name, address, occupation)
- Continuous alignment with changing risk thresholds, PEP lists, and sanctions updates
Capgemini’s sandbox allows firms to simulate these upgrades without overhauling legacy systems overnight — derisking the transition.
✅ Regulatory Pressure Is Mounting for Dynamic Compliance
- FATF, FCA, and FinCEN are signaling that periodic checks aren’t enough
- Global regulators are increasingly requiring risk-based KYC, demanding continuous awareness of customer behavior
- With this sandbox, Capgemini offers financial firms a proof-of-concept tool to stay ahead of compliance audits
Impact by Industry Segment
| Segment | Strategic Impact |
| Banks | Reduce KYC refresh costs, improve audit readiness, decrease onboarding lag |
| Neobanks / Fintechs | Faster scale with compliance-by-design infrastructure |
| PSPs / Gateways | Dynamic merchant monitoring and fraud detection at onboarding + throughout lifecycle |
| Crypto Exchanges / Wallets | Real-time compliance essential for regulators and license renewal |
| Regtech Providers | Opportunity to integrate pKYC modules or offer orchestration layers for sandboxing |
Final Thoughts: From Compliance Burden to Strategic Differentiator
Capgemini’s pKYC sandbox represents a critical shift from seeing compliance as a cost center to viewing it as a strategic differentiator.
Firms that proactively adopt perpetual monitoring frameworks can:
- Reduce operational risk
- Accelerate digital onboarding
- Meet rising regulatory expectations
- And position themselves as trust-first platforms
This is especially relevant for fintechs scaling globally, PSPs managing long-tail merchants, and banks facing increasing geopolitical and cyber threats.
