AML & Sanction Screening API

Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and sanction screening is a regulatory imperative for all financial institutions operating in India. Under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and RBI Master Direction on KYC, banks, NBFCs, insurance companies, payment banks, and fintech companies are required to screen customers, beneficial owners, and counterparties against sanctions lists, PEP databases, and AML watchlists.

digiverification 's AML & Sanction Screening API provides comprehensive, real-time screening against global databases including UN Security Council sanctions, OFAC (Office of Foreign Assets Control), EU sanctions, India's UAPA list, RBI's caution list, FATF grey/blacklists, and other international regulatory watchlists. The API also screens against PEP (Politically Exposed Persons) databases and adverse media sources.

For financial institutions, failure to comply with AML regulations carries severe consequences — including penalties of up to ₹25 lakhs per violation, criminal prosecution of compliance officers, license cancellation, and reputational destruction. The 2023-24 period saw RBI impose record penalties on banks and NBFCs for AML compliance failures, making automated screening more important than ever.

Our AML screening covers individuals and entities. For individuals, the API checks names against global sanctions and PEP databases, considering name variations, transliterations, and aliases to minimize false negatives. For entities, it screens company names, directors, and beneficial owners against corporate sanctions lists and adverse media.

The API supports both one-time screening during onboarding and ongoing monitoring. Ongoing monitoring is essential because a customer's risk status can change — a customer may become politically exposed, get sanctioned, or be associated with adverse media after initial onboarding. Our periodic screening capabilities ensure continuous compliance.

Risk scoring accompanies every screening result, categorizing matches as exact, partial, or potential — enabling compliance teams to efficiently triage alerts and focus on genuine risks rather than false positives. The API also provides detailed match context including the source list, reason for listing, and relevant dates.

digiverification 's AML API integrates seamlessly into existing compliance workflows, CRM systems, and risk management platforms through RESTful API endpoints with comprehensive documentation and webhook support for real-time alerts.