How to automate

How to Automate Compliance Checks

Compliance is non-negotiable but it doesn't have to be slow. KYC reviews that take days, sanctions screenings done by spreadsheet, GDPR requests handled ad-hoc — all of this can be automated while strengthening (not weakening) the audit trail.

Common challenges

KYC reviews taking 3-7 days, frustrating customers and dropping conversions

Sanctions/PEP screening done manually with spreadsheets

GDPR data subject requests handled ad-hoc, with risk of missed deadlines

Audit trail scattered across emails, files, screenshots

Compliance officer overwhelmed with low-risk repetitive cases

Concrete steps

  1. 01

    Define risk thresholds

    What scoring level auto-approves? What level needs human review? What gets auto-rejected with appeal option? Write these as rules — clear, audited, defensible.

  2. 02

    Integrate identity providers

    Sumsub, Onfido, Veriff, Jumio for ID verification. Real-time face match, document authenticity, liveness.

  3. 03

    Real-time sanctions/PEP screening

    OFAC, UN, EU consolidated lists, plus PEP databases. Hit detection within seconds of submission. False-positive disambiguation via secondary checks.

  4. 04

    Automated risk scoring

    Combine identity, location, transaction patterns, third-party data. Output a risk score that triggers the right workflow.

  5. 05

    Audit trail per decision

    Every check, every score, every human input — stored with timestamp, reviewer ID, decision rationale. Audit-ready by default.

  6. 06

    GDPR/data subject request automation

    Standard requests (access, deletion, portability) auto-handled within statutory deadlines. Compliance officer reviews edge cases only.

Common tools

KYC: Sumsub, Onfido, Veriff, JumioSanctions: ComplyAdvantage, Refinitiv, Dow JonesGRC platforms: OneTrust, TrustArcCustom orchestration with strict audit logging

When to build custom

Always custom in regulated industries. Off-the-shelf tools cover specific functions but the orchestration, audit trail, and integration with your core systems require custom work.

Frequently asked questions

How fast can KYC be? +

Sub-2-minute decision for clean cases (90%+ of customers). Edge cases routed to compliance for review. Customers see real-time progress.

Is AI safe for compliance decisions? +

AI scores and recommends; humans make final decisions on edge cases per regulatory requirement. The audit trail captures the AI input and the human override (if any).

What about regulatory changes? +

Sanctions lists update daily; we configure feed sync. New regulations require workflow updates — typically 1-4 weeks lead time depending on complexity.

Cross-border compliance? +

We design with multi-jurisdiction in mind. Different rules per customer location, applied automatically based on residency.

How does this fit existing GRC tools? +

We integrate with the major GRC platforms (OneTrust, TrustArc) or build standalone if you don't have one yet.

Related case study /#/case/insolvency-notification-system →

Got a similar process? Let’s talk.

30 minutes, no pitch — we’ll tell you honestly if it’s worth automating.

Book a Free Call →