KYC and AML Compliance for Payment Processors and Money Transmitters

The financial services industry, including money transfer services, is highly regulated concerning compliance with global sanctions. Nearly 90% of sanctions-related penalties since 2020 targeted the financial services industry.

Customer Due Diligence (CDD) and Know Your Customer (KYC) guidelines are often complex and may vary based on transaction types, such as remittance, peer-to-peer, or e-wallet services.

OFAC API's watchlist and PEP screening services support the screening of both client onboarding and real-time financial transactions, providing a Jobs API to support ongoing bulk client due diligence.

Real-Time Transaction Screening

Screen individual payment transactions against the SDN and other watchlists before settlement or fund release.

Client Onboarding

Perform immediate sanction checks at initial enrollment. The OFAC API Screening API offers response time less than 1 second and PDF case reports for audit preparedness.

Peer-to-Peer Payments

Screen both the sending and receiving parties in P2P and mobile payment flows before funds are released.

E-Wallet and Prepaid Services

Screen wallet holders and funding sources at activation, reload, and redemption to prevent sanctions exposure at every touchpoint.

Merchant Onboarding

Screen merchants and their beneficial owners at enrollment before enabling payment acceptance.

Ongoing Client Due Diligence

Batch-rescreen active customers and merchants whenever sanctions lists update to identify newly designated parties.

Authoritative Sanctions Data and Expertise

Financial institutions are at the forefront of financial crime prevention, and evolving KYC and AML requirements present ongoing challenges. Your clients expect seamless digital experiences.

Our industry-trusted API provides flexible solutions to the most common payment processing compliance challenges, including:

Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) Regulations
FFIEC BSA/Anti-Money Laundering (AML) guidelines
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)
U.S. Department of Commerce – Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS DPL)
European Union 5th Money Laundering Directive
EU External Actions and Consolidated Sanctions List

Cost Effectiveness

OFAC API is a Tier 1 provider of U.S. Treasury SDN screening services, recognized for industry-leading value at high transaction volumes.

	Detail
Screening cost	Less than $0.01 per counterparty, depending on volume
Compliance standard	Compliant with U.S. Treasury 10-21 Compliance Guidelines for money transmitters
Throughput	Real-time screening suitable for inline transaction processing
Batch processing	Supported for ongoing client due diligence and portfolio rescreening

Screening Coverage

Flexible configuration allows you to enable only the lists relevant to your platform's risk profile, transaction types, and licensing obligations.

OFAC SDN and Consolidated Sanctions Lists: The primary U.S. sanctions screening requirement for all payment processors handling domestic or international transactions.
EU Consolidated Sanctions List: Required for processors supporting cross-border payments into or out of the European Union.
UN Security Council Sanctions: Multilateral sanctions with broad applicability across international payment corridors.
UK OFSI Financial Sanctions Targets: Relevant for processors with UK operations or participants in UK payment flows.
Politically Exposed Persons (PEP): Enhanced due diligence screening for high-risk account holders and platform participants.
FinCEN 314(a): Voluntary information sharing program for identifying accounts and transactions of suspected money launderers and terrorists.

See the datasets page for a complete listing of all available sanctions and risk data sources.

FinCEN 311 and 9714 Special Measures