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SEON, an international fraud prevention company, has announced that it has acquired Complytron, a compliance and anti-money laundering (AML), specialist firm. This acquisition adds AML capabilities immediately to SEON’s fraud prevention toolkit. It also signals a shift in focus for holistic FinCrime prevention within the company.
SEON now has a single source of FinCrime intelligence and decision functionality that can be used to address changing regulatory requirements. Officially closing in January 2023, the deal also marks SEON’s remarkable expansion since its $94M Series A investment in early 2022.
SEON’s industry-changing move is in response to a growing demand for AML solutions as the world adapts to a volatile political and humanitarian environment. This shift is evident in an increase in AML fines worldwide, which has risen by 50% in the last year [1].
This innovative combination of AML, fraud and data enrichment solutions will help countries and businesses break down information silos. SEON’s anti-fraud APIs are combined with new AML functionality to create a powerful platform. This platform will monitor financial transactions to detect fraud and money laundering in real time. Onboarding checks can run silently in background to minimize false positives and improve the experience for genuine transactors.
Complytron’s data and SEON’s rule editing tools will give you a competitive edge in the money laundering prevention market. The company can combine intelligence from multiple sources to eliminate the need for separate searches. This is possible by using machine learning AI automation and real time checks. This includes all international sanctions and criminal lists, a global Politically Exposed Persons database (PEP), and watch lists of national law enforcement and supervisory authorities from over a hundred sources, including Interpol and FBI.
Tamas Kadar (co-founder and CEO SEON) spoke out about the acquisition and the launch AML capability. SEON’s goal has been to provide the best solutions for our customers. It was a better option than trying to build an AML solution from scratch. We decided to purchase Complytron’s innovative algorithms and global databases, as well as the expertise and experience of its talented staff.
“By closing this acquisition, our total addressable market has increased by approximately $6BN. This means that we can immediately solve the problems of compliance and risk management for more businesses. This is a significant milestone for our company, and it sends out a strong signal to our customers and business partners that we will continue improving our product to counter evolving threats. This 360deg view of business partners and individuals is a requirement in today’s regulatory environment.
Oliver Lebhardt was the former CEO and co-founder of Complytron. He is currently the Product Manager for AML at SEON. It is a great honor to be part of this mission and to help combine fraud prevention and AML tools in one source. This acquisition is a significant step in the fight to reduce FinCrime. It will benefit sectors like fintech, online lending and gaming as well as ecommerce and travel to stop criminal activity through their platforms.
This new solution is easy to use and provides immediate benefits. It combines APIs for vital real-time insights. Notifications are instantly sent out if an individual’s risk status changes. SEON’s platform provides a sophisticated know your customer (KYC), which allows clients to discover risky, hidden relationships. It also assesses the people they are connected to. It is easy to integrate and has a product dashboard that makes it simple to use in any environment.
SEON will receive full rights to Complytron’s innovative technologies and its staff, including its dedicated AML group, as part of the agreement. Complytron’s CEO and co-founder, Oliver Lebhardt will join SEON, along with Abris Gryllus, co-founder, and UX lead. SEON is well positioned to grow in 2023. This includes its entry into the US, and the expansion of its 300 strong team.