AML Compliance

Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations require businesses to screen customers against sanctions lists, politically exposed persons (PEP) databases, and adverse media sources — both at onboarding and on an ongoing basis. Verifa handles both with a single API.

Two tiers of screening

Basic watchlist screening (all plans)

Runs automatically on every verification session. Screens against:

• OFAC SDN — U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control
• EU Sanctions — European Union consolidated list
• UN Sanctions — United Nations Security Council
• UK Sanctions — HM Treasury

You don’t need to add this to your workflow — Verifa inserts it automatically after document OCR, using the name extracted from the ID. Uses trigram similarity matching with a configurable threshold (default 0.6).

Enhanced AML screening (Professional + Enterprise)

A separate check you add to your workflow for deeper screening against 6,000+ global watchlists including:

• Government sanctions lists (200+ countries)
• PEP databases (current and former officials)
• Adverse media sources
• Law enforcement watchlists
• Regulatory enforcement actions

Includes continuous monitoring — Verifa automatically re-screens when watchlists are updated and sends you a webhook when new matches are found.

Screening as part of a workflow

When you add aml_screening to your workflow, it uses the data extracted from the ID document — no manual data entry required:

Capture → Document Scan → Face Match → AML Screening → Auto-Approve

The aml_screening check receives the name, date of birth, and nationality from the document_ocr step automatically. Add it to your workflow using the dashboard workflow builder or via the API.

Standalone screening

Screen a person without a verification session — useful for batch onboarding, periodic re-screening, or screening existing customers:

Single check

$
curl -X POST https://api.withverifa.com/api/v1/checks \
>
  -H "X-API-Key: vk_live_your_key_here" \
>
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
>
  -d '{
>
    "check_type": "sanction",
>
    "external_ref": "user_abc123",
>
    "name_first": "Jane",
>
    "name_last": "Doe",
>
    "birthdate": "1997-06-15"
>
  }'

When you pass an external_ref, Verifa automatically creates a lightweight identity record to track the person across future checks.

Full screening (sanctions + PEP + adverse media)

$
curl -X POST https://api.withverifa.com/api/v1/checks/full \
>
  -H "X-API-Key: vk_live_your_key_here" \
>
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
>
  -d '{
>
    "check_types": ["sanction", "pep", "adverse_media"],
>
    "external_ref": "user_abc123",
>
    "name_first": "Jane",
>
    "name_last": "Doe",
>
    "birthdate": "1997-06-15"
>
  }'

Handling matches

When screening finds potential matches, each hit includes a similarity score and match details:

1
{
2
  "id": "schk_abc123",
3
  "check_type": "aml_screening",
4
  "status": "completed",
5
  "has_match": true,
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  "hit_count": 2,
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  "match_summary": {
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    "sanctions": 0,
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    "pep": 1,
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    "adverse_media": 1
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  },
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  "hits": [
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    {
14
      "id": "screenhit_abc123",
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      "hit_type": "pep",
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      "name_similarity": 0.92,
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      "dob_match": true,
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      "combined_score": 0.89,
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      "is_false_positive": false
20
    }
21
  ]
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}

Dismiss false positives

Common names frequently trigger false matches. Dismiss them via the API:

$
curl -X POST https://api.withverifa.com/api/v1/checks/schk_abc123/dismiss-matches \
>
  -H "X-API-Key: vk_live_your_key_here" \
>
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
>
  -d '{
>
    "hit_ids": ["screenhit_abc123"],
>
    "reason": "Different person — confirmed by date of birth mismatch."
>
  }'

Dismissed hits are excluded from future monitoring alerts.

Continuous monitoring

Enhanced AML screening includes ongoing monitoring. When a monitored watchlist is updated, Verifa automatically re-screens and notifies you via webhook if new matches are found.

Webhook events

Managing monitoring

$
# Pause monitoring for a check
$
curl -X POST https://api.withverifa.com/api/v1/checks/schk_abc123/pause-monitoring \
>
  -H "X-API-Key: vk_live_your_key_here"
$
$
# Resume monitoring
$
curl -X POST https://api.withverifa.com/api/v1/checks/schk_abc123/resume-monitoring \
>
  -H "X-API-Key: vk_live_your_key_here"

Monitoring history

View the audit trail of all monitoring runs:

$
curl https://api.withverifa.com/api/v1/checks/schk_abc123/history \
>
  -H "X-API-Key: vk_live_your_key_here"

PDF reports

Generate compliance-ready PDF reports for auditors:

$
curl https://api.withverifa.com/api/v1/checks/schk_abc123/report.pdf \
>
  -H "X-API-Key: vk_live_your_key_here" \
>
  -o screening_report.pdf

GDPR redaction

When a customer exercises their right to be forgotten:

$
curl -X POST https://api.withverifa.com/api/v1/checks/schk_abc123/redact \
>
  -H "X-API-Key: vk_live_your_key_here"

This removes all PII from the check record while preserving the audit trail.

Regulatory mapping

Related

• Screening & Reports — Full screening API reference
• Identities — How identity records work
• Webhooks Guide — Set up monitoring notifications
• KYC Onboarding — Full onboarding flow with screening
• Lists — Custom allow/block/flag lists