KYC is a critical process that financial institutions use to verify the identities of their customers. The primary goal of KYC is to prevent financial crimes, such as money laundering, terrorist financing, and identity theft. By gathering and verifying customer information, financial institutions can assess the risk associated with each customer and take necessary measures to mitigate that risk. KYC is also essential for complying with regulatory requirements, such as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations and the European Union's Anti-Money Laundering (AML) directives.