Top 10 AML software for banks

If you’ve found this article, the chances are you’re looking for:

• Anti-money laundering (AML) software that’s designed for banks.
• A way to quickly tell what differentiates leading solutions.
• How respected third parties assess top adverse media and AML vendors’ capabilities.

This article summarizes the ten top AML software vendors for banks, listing their key strengths and explaining the use cases they respond best to.

AML software for banks: 4 features to look for

When compliance leaders in banks are assessing their AML software options, key considerations should include:

1. Data quality: The breadth, depth, and timeliness of vendors’ AML data is critical to a successful program. Compliance teams should ask where vendors source their data, how they manage updates, and what quality controls they have.
2. Use of AI: While many vendors will discuss AI in marketing materials, compliance leaders should dig into specific use cases and the benefits existing customers have experienced. Effective examples are improving efficiency, prioritizing highest-risk alerts, and building a network view of risk.
3. An integrated approach to fraud and AML: Deploying fraud and AML in an integrated way – as opposed to in siloed teams/operations – will improve efficiency and efficacy, helping to identify potentially connected activities and behaviors that may otherwise be missed.
4. Keeping pace with regulatory change: From real-time payment rails to emerging fraud typologies, the expectations of customers – and the challenges to protecting them – change frequently. Legacy providers may be slower to adapt to these developments. At best, this could leave banks slower to implement new products – at worst, customers may be exposed to financial crime risks due to a lack of agility.

Top AML software vendors for banks

1. ComplyAdvantage

ComplyAdvantage’s AI-driven fraud and AML risk detection solution improves the efficiency of banks’ compliance workloads by reducing false positives by up to 70 percent and shortening onboarding cycle times by up to 50 percent. Its automation scans unique data using graph network detection, identity clustering, and dynamic thresholds to give banks three central capabilities:

• Customer screening: With a real-time risk database using flexible screening parameters for automated monitoring, integrating data feeds, case management, and CRM.
• Adverse media screening: Using an AML and combatting the financing of terrorism (CFT)-focused taxonomy aligned to regulatory guidance to trigger the most relevant alerts against comprehensive, structured profiles.
• Transaction monitoring: Through a unified cloud-based platform that monitors risks in real-time and maximizes straight-through processing with configurable risk-based rules.

Top ComplyAdvantage Features

ComplyAdvantage’s AML solution is ideally suited to digital and regional/mid-market banks and larger banks looking to leverage AI at scale. To help these banks balance business goals with compliance obligations, the solution offers the following features:

• AI-powered risk detection – Capture novel AML risks using machine learning (ML) models, identity clustering, and graph analytics instead of pre-defined rules.
• Anomaly detection – Spot hidden red flags with peer group data, unsupervised ML algorithms, and dynamic tuning based on analyst feedback.
• Real-time risk approach – Get system-wide updates based on global watchlists, sanctions lists, and politically exposed person (PEP) lists every hour, and keep configuring rules as you go.
• Alert prioritization and flexible workflows – Identify and prioritize alert risk factors and set specific rules for different customer tiers according to your risk-based approach.
• Coverage for all payment rails – Cover every payment type, including ACH, Swift MT, SEPA, Direct Debit, FedNow, Faster Payments, and SEPA ICT.
• Coverage for non-transaction events – Take advantage of holistic insights on customer behavior events like logins and profile changes.
• Integrated case management – Open an investigative case directly from an alert with easy integrations across the workflow and automation to reduce human error.
• Behavioral analytics – Use identity clustering based on customer behavior to identify accounts controlled by a single hidden entity.
• Built-in archiving – For continuous transparency and easy access to all transaction records, making it easier to collaborate with regulators.

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2. LexisNexis Risk Solutions

According to Aspiring Solicitors, LexisNexis is “a leading global provider of legal, regulator, and business information and analytics that help customers increase productivity, improve decision-making and outcomes, and advance the rule of law around the world.”

3. Dow Jones Risk and Compliance

According to G2, Dow Jones Risk and Compliance is “a global provider of third-party risk management and regulatory compliance solutions.” The firm has operated since 1882, evolving from a news agency to offer a wider range of services.

4. LSEG Data and Analytics (formerly Refinitiv)

According to Crunchbase, the London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG) is a “provider of financial markets data and infrastructure.” LSEG acquired Refinitiv in 2021, expanding its service offering.

5. Oracle 

According to Crunchbase, Oracle is an integrated cloud application and platform service that sells a range of enterprise information technology solutions. The firm was founded in 1977 in California.

6. Accuity

According to Crunchbase, Accuity offers a suite of innovative solutions for payments and compliance professionals. The first has been in operation for two decades, evolving its service offering through expansion and an acquisition.

7. NICE Actimize

According to Crunchbase, NICE Actimize provides real-time fraud prevention, anti-money laundering, enterprise investigations, and risk management solutions. The firm operates in more than 30 countries worldwide.

8. Smart Search

According to Crunchbase, SmartSearch is an online provider of AML verification services.

9. FinScan

Crunchbase describes FinScan as providing “the most advanced sanctions list and PEP compliance solutions available to help financial services organizations.” The company was founded in 2008 and is headquartered in Australia.

10. Napier

According to Crunchbase, Napier is “a new breed of financial crime compliance technology specialist.” Founded in 2018 and based in London, the firm has secured investment from Crestline Investors.

How to measure success

While every bank will have different objectives and challenges, success metrics should include:

• Protect the firm and its customers’ reputation. Effective AML software ensures firms stay on top of the latest typologies and risks. 
• Deliver an outstanding customer experience. A well-deployed AML stack aligned with a bank’s risk appetite and risk-based approach should not hinder delivering new products and services to customers. 
• Effective internal processes. Intuitive workflows should allow compliance leaders to delegate resources, prioritize the greatest risks, and resolve alerts faster. 
• Continuous improvement and optimization: What success looks like will change as the bank and its financial environment evolve. Compliance leaders should work with their vendors to understand what other financial institutions are focused on and if there are more effective ways to achieve their financial compliance objectives. 

Next steps: Explore AML software for banks at ComplyAdvantage

Discover why banks worldwide choose ComplyAdvantage’s AI-powered AML software and book a demo to see it in action. 

All information is sourced from publicly available websites and is correct as of March 2024. If you’d like to request a correction, please e-mail [email protected], and we’d be happy to review this with you.