In the fight against financial crime, timing is everything. Financial criminals exploit gaps in your defences – especially the critical window between when a customer first approaches your institution and when your ongoing monitoring picks them up. As financial crime prevention specialists, we've always understood this challenge, so we're excited to announce the release of our real-time customer screening API.
The Customer Lifecycle Challenge
Traditional approaches to financial crime prevention often create an artificial divide between onboarding and ongoing monitoring. This separation isn't just a technical issue – it creates real vulnerabilities that sophisticated criminals are quick to exploit.
A reactive approach to screening is no longer sufficient in today’s regulatory environment.
"The landscape of financial crime detection is changing," says Olly Hodges, our Head of Product. "Regulators increasingly expect institutions to identify risks before providing services, not after. A reactive approach to screening is no longer sufficient in today’s regulatory environment.”
And he's right. Across Australia, New Zealand, and the UK, regulators are tightening requirements:
- In Australia, AUSTRAC mandates screening before establishing a relationship
- The UK's FCA emphasises pre-service checks as part of its risk-based approach
- New Zealand is moving toward requiring risk rating before providing designated services
Beyond regulatory concerns, there's a practical business challenge: customers expect smooth, fast onboarding. They don't understand (or care about) the complexities of your compliance obligations – they just want access to your services quickly.
Real-Time Customer Screening: The Missing Piece
Real-time customer screening addresses these challenges by enabling you to check customers against sanctions, PEP lists, and other risk indicators at the moment of interaction – whether during digital onboarding, account opening, or when significant changes occur in a customer's profile.
Unlike batch screening, which processes checks in large groups at scheduled intervals (often daily or weekly), real-time screening provides immediate results that you can integrate directly into your customer journey.
“When screening systems operate in isolation, they create natural vulnerabilities in the financial crime prevention process,” explains Olly. “A fragmented approach – where onboarding uses one set of rules and ongoing monitoring uses another – introduces inconsistencies and blind spots. Unifying these processes throughout the customer lifecycle creates a stronger, more coherent defence that better protects both the institution and its customers.”
Real-time screening isn't just faster – it's a different approach to risk management that allows you to make informed decisions at the precise moment when they matter most.
The Power of Integration: A Holistic Approach
What makes our approach unique is the seamless integration between real-time screening during onboarding and our established ongoing monitoring capabilities.
This integration delivers three critical benefits:
- Consistent Risk Management
Using the same screening engine, data sources, and risk rules across onboarding and ongoing monitoring ensures consistent decisions throughout the customer lifecycle. No more situations where customers pass onboarding only to trigger alerts in your first batch screening cycle. - Simplified Compliance
A unified approach to compliance across the customer journey makes regulatory reporting more straightforward and comprehensive. Jade ThirdEye creates a complete audit trail from first touch to ongoing monitoring, making it easier to demonstrate your compliance efforts to regulators. - Improved Operational Efficiency
Staff no longer need to switch between systems or reconcile different screening approaches. Customer information, screening results, and case management all exist in one place, reducing duplicate work and improving team productivity.
"We've found that organisations with fragmented approaches spend too much time managing their systems instead of managing their risks," says Olly. "An integrated approach shifts that balance back where it belongs."
Beyond Regulatory Compliance: The Business Case
While regulatory compliance is essential, the business benefits of an integrated approach extend much further:
Improved Customer Experience
Faster onboarding with fewer false positives means customers can access your services more quickly, reducing abandonment rates and improving satisfaction.
Reduced Operational Costs
A single solution that handles real-time and batch screening reduces technology costs, training requirements, and operational complexity.
Better Risk Insights
Consistent data across the customer lifecycle provides clearer insights into emerging risks and trends, allowing for more proactive risk management.
Ready to Close the Compliance Gap?
Financial crime prevention isn't a point-in-time activity – it's a continuous process spanning the entire customer lifecycle. By integrating real-time screening with ongoing monitoring, you create a seamless defence that protects your institution and customers at every stage.
Our new real-time API for applicant screening complements our existing customer screening solution, creating a unified approach to financial crime prevention. This enhancement was developed in close collaboration with our customers, understanding their operational environments and the evolving landscape they navigate daily.
At ThirdEye, we believe that fighting financial crime is a partnership effort that combines powerful technology with a community of experts. This collaborative approach helps us create more effective tools that truly enhance your day-to-day operations.
Want to see how our real-time screening solution can strengthen your defences against financial crime?
Book a demo with our local team today and discover how Jade ThirdEye's integrated approach can help you meet regulatory requirements, improve operational efficiency, and enhance the customer experience – all with a single, unified solution.