Costly Lesson on Prepaid KYB Credits
As an early-stage startup, we prepaid for KYB credits under a fixed-term contract, expecting reasonable flexibility as our usage scaled.
Our credits went unused during the term. When we approached the company to preserve the remaining balance, we were informed that all unused prepaid credits expire after one year and that the only way to retain them was to pay an additional fee for a 12-month extension.
We declined to pay additional money to keep credits that were already prepaid.
Startups should pay very close attention to this structure. The commercial model requires full upfront payment, includes expiration of unused credits, and does not provide a no-cost rollover option. If your volumes fluctuate or ramp more slowly than expected, you may lose the remaining value unless you pay again.
This approach did not align with what we consider a startup-friendly partnership model, and as a result, we are moving to another provider.
We are sharing this so other founders can make a fully informed decision before committing to prepaid credits under similar terms.



