From client name to audit-ready report
Five steps, most of them handled for you — from entering a client's details to holding a report you can defend at audit.
Enter their details
Add the client's name, entity type and jurisdiction, then choose which checks to run.
Lists checked in parallel
UK, US, UN and EU Sanctions Lists, PEP databases and Companies House are checked instantly, side by side.
Adverse media, matched correctly
Our AI analyses news coverage for adverse media, matching articles to the right individual and filtering out unrelated namesakes.
CDD or EDD, automatically
The due diligence level is set by what the checks reveal, mapped to Regulation 28(12) and (13) of the MLR 2017.
Ready to evidence
A transparent, audit-ready report is saved to the client's file, ready to share or produce on request.
Optimal KYC does the check in minutes, so onboarding stays fast and your obligations under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 and POCA 2002 are still met — properly.
Everything you need, none of the overhead
Compliance software aimed at large firms is often priced and built for teams you don't have. Optimal KYC is designed so a sole practitioner can run a thorough, defensible check without hiring anyone or committing to an annual contract.
Pay as you go, with a simple deposit
Screen only when you take on a new client. There's no dedicated compliance headcount to fund and no large annual software bill to justify.
Minutes, not a 1–3 hour manual search
AI-assisted adverse media review, plus UK, US, UN and EU Sanctions, Politically Exposed Persons and Companies House checks, run together in one screening.
A record you can produce instantly
If the SRA or an AML auditor asks how you reached a decision on a client, you have a transparent audit trail ready to show — not a memory of a Google search.
A tool, not a decision engine
Optimal KYC removes the time-consuming legwork of searching and reviewing risk. The judgement on whether to act for a client always stays with you.
Start a check, get on with your day
Select your checks and Optimal KYC gets to work — running Sanctions and PEP screening, then setting its AI on the news coverage. Navigate away if you like; you'll be notified the moment the report is ready, usually in minutes.
Your account balance is visible the whole time, so there's never a surprise invoice — just top up as you go.
Book a demo, then sign up and start screening
Create an account, add a deposit, and run your first screening the same day.
Traditional screening lists, plus AI that actually reads the news
Optimal KYC automates the process of manually checking whether a customer or client is politically exposed, on a Sanctions or terrorist watchlist, or carries adverse media that would affect your decision to onboard or continue working with them.
Book a demoA structured risk assessment,
not a spreadsheet
Every screening starts with a client risk assessment built around Regulation 28(12) and (13) of the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 — so the output lines up with what you're actually required to evidence.
- Client Details — captured once, reused across the assessment
- Risk Assessment Checks — Sanctions, PEP, adverse media and more, run together
- Due Diligence Level — CDD or EDD, set by the risk the checks reveal
- Report — a saved, shareable record for your audit trail
Watch the checks run in real time
Behind the scenes, Optimal KYC runs your selected checks, then sets its AI to work analysing news articles for adverse media — the same 1–3 hour manual read condensed into a live progress screen you can watch complete. Navigate away and you'll be notified the moment the report is ready.
Efficiency, confidence, and a decision you can defend
Minutes, not hours
Adverse media review that could take a compliance officer 1–3 hours per client is reduced to minutes, without cutting corners on depth.
A full, transparent audit trail
Every screening produces a record your business can use to evidence its AML and CTF decision-making — and defend it at audit.
Built by an MLRO
Designed from first-hand experience running CDD and EDD in gambling and financial services, not built by a vendor guessing at the workflow.
Built by an MLRO, for MLROs
Optimal KYC grew out of a consultancy set up in 2020 to provide services across Anti Money Laundering, Payments and Fraud. Our founder has decades of experience selling and supporting compliance software and services into regulated sectors — including gambling and financial services — and hands-on time spent as MLRO and Deputy MLRO. One problem kept recurring: Customer Due Diligence and Enhanced Due Diligence, especially adverse media review, were taking hours that compliance teams didn't have.
In 2025, unable to find a tool on the market that sped up adverse media review alongside PEP, Sanctions and country corruption risk, our founder invested in building one. Optimal KYC beta launched in 2026, launching in September 2026 as a full pay-as-you-use SaaS solution and API.
- ICA International Diploma in Anti Money Laundering
- ICA Specialist Certificate in AI for Compliance Professionals
- ICA Specialist Certificate in Conduct Risk
- ICA Certificate in Money Laundering in Betting and Gaming
- ICA Certificate in Anti Money Laundering
- LIBF Certificate in Principles of Payments (CertPAY)
Book a demo, then sign up when you're ready
Every demo runs on built demo data — never a real person's information — across seven example scenarios covering PEP, Sanctions and adverse media outcomes.
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