HitPay successfully keeps its compliance team lean while managing significant growth

HitPay, a rapidly expanding payment service provider (PSP) headquartered in Singapore, is revolutionizing how over 20,000 merchants conduct business across Southeast Asia. Specializing in local payment methods and facilitating cross-border transactions across 12 Asia-Pacific markets, HitPay’s ambitious growth trajectory necessitated a compliance framework that could not only meet stringent regulatory demands but also proactively enable its expansion into new geographies and offerings like stablecoins.

Building a future-proof compliance foundation

Operating in the dynamic financial services sector, HitPay faces significant exposure to anti-money laundering (AML) and financial crime risks. As a PSP, ensuring the integrity of its merchant base and transaction flows is paramount. This includes vigilance against sanctions violations and the onboarding of high-risk entities, particularly as the company ventured into the complexities of cross-border payments and stablecoins.

For Paula Vitan, Compliance Manager at HitPay, success in her role is defined by the ability to “proactively mitigate risk while ensuring all regulatory obligations are fulfilled and doing so in the most efficient and scalable manner possible.” 

HitPay understood early on that a robust, reliable screening solution was essential, not as a challenge, but as an opportunity to build a strong compliance foundation from day one.

Enabling seamless growth and enhanced efficiency

When selecting a Name Screening solution, HitPay’s criteria were clear: fitness for purpose, comprehensive coverage, ease of integration, and demonstrable regulatory credibility. ComplyAdvantage emerged as the ideal partner, providing a solution that could adapt to HitPay’s evolving needs.

The ComplyAdvantage Name Screening solution has been instrumental in supporting HitPay’s regulatory obligations at every stage of its growth. It was foundational to their merchant acquisition process, enabling efficient and confident customer onboarding. Critically, as HitPay expanded into cross-border payments, where sanctions screening of both originators and beneficiaries is a regulatory requirement, the solution scaled seamlessly to meet these obligations without disrupting operations.

The ongoing partnership with ComplyAdvantage’s customer success team has been a crucial differentiator. 

“They proactively advise us on how to refine our search parameters to reduce false positives and are highly responsive when we need clarification on specific requirements. Their guidance has been both practical and impactful.”

Paula Vitan – Compliance Manager at HitPay

This collaborative approach has optimized HitPay’s workflows, particularly through suggestions around tagging systems and reference IDs, which have been essential for managing distinct onboarding and transaction screening requirements across their regional expansion.

Match rates drop from 10% to 2%, boosting productivity

The partnership has delivered significant and measurable improvements in HitPay’s compliance operations. Through strategic fine-tuning of its configuration and close collaboration with the ComplyAdvantage team, HitPay has reduced its match rates from over 10% to an optimized 2-4%.

This dramatic reduction has had a profound impact on operational efficiency. 

“As our transaction volumes have grown, this optimization has been essential. It has allowed us to absorb increased transaction volumes without requiring a proportional increase in headcount to conduct screening. Our analysts can focus on genuine risk rather than managing noise, which is precisely the outcome we were aiming for.”

Paula Vitan – Compliance Manager at HitPay

Furthermore, ComplyAdvantage’s trusted and well-configured solution ensures that screening is rarely a bottleneck during product compliance reviews. This reliability means HitPay can assess new offerings and market expansions with greater confidence and speed, directly supporting their ambitious business growth.

A future of confident expansion

Looking ahead, HitPay aims for continued growth, expanding its product suite and extending its reach across the Asia-Pacific region. ComplyAdvantage remains a key part of this strategy. With a deep familiarity with the platform’s APIs, HitPay’s technical team can swiftly integrate screening components into new projects, reducing lead times and accelerating market entry.

As HitPay moves towards migrating to the unified ComplyAdvantage Mesh platform, they anticipate further benefits from evolving technology, such as smarter tools for prioritizing high-urgency alerts, such as sanctions matches. This will further enhance their team’s efficiency and minimize risk.

“I would describe ComplyAdvantage as a reliable and highly professional solution that is genuinely easy to work with. The platform delivers on its core promise: robust, accurate screening, while the team behind it consistently demonstrates a commitment to supporting their clients’ success. For any organization navigating complex regulatory environments or planning for growth, ComplyAdvantage is a partner worth serious consideration.”

Paula Vitan – Compliance Manager at HitPay