SmartSearch
SmartSearch is a UK-based SaaS provider of Anti-Money Laundering compliance, offering KYC, KYB, sanctions screening, document verification, and ongoing monitoring to over 8,500 regulated businesses across legal, accountancy, property, and financial services verticals.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2005
- HeadquartersIlkley, United Kingdom
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What SmartSearch does
SmartSearch is a UK-based Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance platform provider, headquartered in Ilkley, Leeds and founded in 2005. The company's core product is a cloud-based SaaS platform that delivers identity verification, Know Your Customer (KYC), Know Your Business (KYB), sanctions and politically exposed person (PEP) screening, document verification, and ongoing monitoring for regulated businesses. Its technical architecture combines triple-bureau data access (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion) — claimed to drive up to 97% UK pass rates — with Dow Jones WatchList and LSEG World-Check One for sanctions/PEP coverage, Daon-powered facial recognition and document verification (SmartDoc), a proprietary three-step TripleCheck workflow, and Credas-acquired selfie biometrics.
The platform is sold primarily via direct enterprise and mid-market field sales to regulated verticals including legal, accountancy, property/estate agencies, financial services, insurance, banking, gaming, cryptocurrency, and investment management. Pricing is quote-based annual subscription, with modules across identity checks, sanctions screening, enhanced due diligence, ongoing monitoring, AML reporting, and Open Banking-based Source of Funds verification. SmartSearch distributes through embedded integrations with dominant UK vertical SaaS platforms — Clio for legal, T-Tech Practice Gateway for accountancy, Plannr, Salesforce, and Armalytix — which creates both a go-to-market advantage and switching-cost lock-in.
Ownership is concentrated under Triple Private Equity, which invested in 2024 and funded the £77.8 million acquisition of Cardiff-based Credas Technologies, completed in January 2026. The combined entity serves more than 8,500 UK regulated customers (rising from 7,000+ pre-deal), with a US subsidiary operating from Lehi, Utah supporting North American expansion. The business holds DIATF certification as a UK Government-trusted Identity Service Provider and was recognized as a 2025 Financial Times/Statista Long-Term Growth Champion and a 2025 RegTech100 company.
SmartSearch firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- SmartSearch
- Legal name
- SmartSearch
- Website
- https://smartsearch.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2005
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- SmartSearch is a UK-based SaaS provider of Anti-Money Laundering compliance, offering KYC, KYB, sanctions screening, document verification, and ongoing monitoring to over 8,500 regulated businesses across legal, accountancy, property, and financial services verticals.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
SmartSearch industry classification
Industry- Product category
- AML Compliance Software (RegTech)
- NAICS
- Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (51821), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518210)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Identity Lifecycle & Provisioning Automation (SCIM, JML, Provisioning) (HDADAAAK)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- User Lifecycle Provisioning & SCIM Automation (HDAEAJAK)
Keywords
Where SmartSearch is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Ilkley
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices3 records
Markets served
SmartSearch business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain
Revenue model
- SaaS Subscription Platform: SmartSearch operates as a cloud-based SaaS AML compliance platform, charging regulated businesses on a subscription or per-check basis for identity verification, KYC/AML checks, sanctions screening, and ongoing monitoring services.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Quote-based enterprise pricing |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
SmartSearch product offering
Product offeringCore offering
SmartSearch operates a cloud-based SaaS AML and KYC compliance platform that delivers electronic identity verification, sanctions and PEP screening, document verification with facial recognition, and ongoing monitoring for regulated UK and international businesses. The platform is powered by direct data supply agreements with Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion and integrates third-party data sources (Dow Jones WatchList, LSEG World-Check One) and Open Banking (via Armalytix) to automate source-of-funds checks and continuous compliance.
Product overview
SmartSearch is a cloud-based AML compliance platform that combines multiple integrated modules for anti-money laundering verification and financial crime prevention. The core platform is SmartSearch AML Platform, which serves as the unified compliance hub. Key integrated modules include TripleCheck (a three-step KYC process combining identification, verification, screening, and facial recognition), SmartDoc (document verification with facial biometrics), UK and International AML Checks (powered by triple-bureau data from Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion), Sanctions & PEP Screening (using Dow Jones WatchList), KYB for business verification, Enhanced Due Diligence for high-risk cases, Ongoing Monitoring for daily automated checks, and the recently launched Source of Funds solution using Open Banking. The platform integrates with enterprise tools like Salesforce, Clio, LSEG World-Check One, and offers API-based connectivity for back-office systems. After acquiring Credas Technologies in 2025-2026, the platform now incorporates Credas' selfie biometrics and ID matching technology, serving over 8,500 UK customers across financial services, legal, accountancy, property, and insurance sectors.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- SmartDoc: Document verification solution incorporating facial recognition technology for identity verification and fraud prevention.
- TripleCheck
- Practice Gateway
Products and services
- SmartSearch AML Platform Award-winning cloud-based anti-money laundering compliance platform providing KYC, KYB, sanctions screening, document verification, ongoing monitoring, and automated reporting for regulated businesses across financial services, legal, accountancy, property, gaming, crypto, and insurance.
- TripleCheck Unique three-step AML, anti-fraud, and compliance solution combining identification, verification, screening, facial recognition, and digital fraud checks for comprehensive customer due diligence on regulated customers.
- SmartDoc Document verification solution with facial recognition technology for global clients, enabling convenient, cost-effective ID document checks with added security layers and fraud prevention.
- Source of Funds Solution Source of funds compliance solution that uses Open Banking technology (via Armalytix integration) to automate verification of customer funds in UK residential property transactions, reducing manual review and accelerating property deals.
Quantifiable outcome
- Up to 97% pass rate on UK AML checks
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use SmartSearch
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments10 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
SmartSearch technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration10 records
AI capability7 records
Feature5 records
SmartSearch partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- ArmalytixcoreSmartSearch partnered with Armalytix to launch a Source of Funds (SoF) compliance solution for UK residential property transactions. The integrated platform automates verification processes using Open Banking technology to speed up and secure property transactions.
- T-TechcoreSmartSearch partnered with T-Tech to integrate AML verification tools into T-Tech's Practice Gateway platform, enhancing automation and compliance for accountancy firms through streamlined client onboarding and reduced manual checks.
- CliocoreSmartSearch integrated its tools into Clio's legal practice management platform, enabling law firms to perform AML verification, client onboarding, and compliance monitoring directly within the Clio environment.
- London Stock Exchange Group (LSEG)coreSmartSearch integrated LSEG's World-Check One solution to enhance KYC and sanctions screening capabilities, providing adverse media monitoring, fuzzy name matching, and real-time monitoring across 100,000 sources and 66 SIP categories.
- DaoncoreDaon provides biometric identity verification technology enabling SmartSearch's facial recognition and selfie liveness video (SLV) capabilities for customer authentication.
Scale indicators9 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
SmartSearch competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- Persona: US-headquartered configurable identity verification platform offering document, biometric and AML checks with a developer/API-led product. Comparable as a regulated-firm identity verification workflow layer, though with stronger US SaaS roots and weaker UK regulated-vertical focus.
- Veremark: UK-based background screening and KYC platform providing right-to-work, education, AML and ongoing monitoring checks. Comparable in KYC/AML product overlap and UK mid-market focus, with partial use-case overlap for HR-adjacent verification rather than full AML platform parity.
Direct peers
- ComplyAdvantage: London-headquartered AML/KYC SaaS platform offering transaction monitoring, sanctions screening and customer risk scoring. Targets the same regulated enterprises as SmartSearch with a broader data and AI-driven transaction-monitoring stack, the closest functional competitor in the UK and European RegTech market.
- Thirdfort: UK-based AML, KYC and source-of-funds platform focused on legal and property professionals. Highly comparable in vertical specialisation (UK legal and estate agents) and Source of Funds workflow positioning, competing head-to-head with SmartSearch in property AML deals.
- Veriff: Estonia-headquartered identity verification platform with strong European and UK presence, offering document and biometric verification and AML compliance checks. Directly comparable in regulated-market KYC use cases and growing overlap with SmartSearch's document verification (SmartDoc) workflow.
- GBG (now part of Mitratech): Chester, UK-based identity verification, AML and customer onboarding platform serving financial services, gaming and regulated industries. Highly comparable in geographic focus, customer segments (regulated UK firms) and core KYC/AML product set, with materially greater scale.
- Onfido: UK-founded identity verification provider with global reach, combining document verification, biometric facial recognition, and AML/KYC checks. Direct overlap with SmartSearch's SmartDoc and TripleCheck capabilities, particularly in financial services and fintech onboarding; acquired by Entrust in 2024.
- Trulioo: Canadian identity verification and AML/KYC platform with global coverage in over 195 countries. Comparable as a KYC/AML data-driven identity layer serving regulated enterprises and platforms, often paired alongside bureau-based screening similar to SmartSearch's triple-bureau approach.
Broad incumbents
- Jumio: California-headquartered global identity verification and KYC/AML platform with broad coverage across financial services, crypto, gaming and travel. Serves as a larger, US-led incumbent offering overlapping capabilities (document + biometric verification, AML screening) to similar regulated enterprise buyers.
Others
- Dow Jones Risk & Compliance (Watchlist): Provider of sanctions, PEP and adverse-media data that SmartSearch uses as core input via its WatchList integration. Adjacent data vendor rather than direct competitor, but increasingly bulking its own offering (DART) into KYC/AML workflows that overlap end-customer needs.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
SmartSearch social profiles
Digital presenceSmartSearch compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
SmartSearch financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
SmartSearch leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
SmartSearch subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
SmartSearch funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
SmartSearch M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A1 record
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about SmartSearch
What does SmartSearch do?
SmartSearch operates a cloud-based SaaS AML and KYC compliance platform that delivers electronic identity verification, sanctions and PEP screening, document verification with facial recognition, and ongoing monitoring for regulated UK and international businesses. The platform is powered by direct data supply agreements with Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion and integrates third-party data sources (Dow Jones WatchList, LSEG World-Check One) and Open Banking (via Armalytix) to automate source-of-funds checks and continuous compliance.
Is SmartSearch a public or private company?
SmartSearch is a private company. It is classified as private equity controlled and is currently operating.
When was SmartSearch founded?
SmartSearch was founded in 2005. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is SmartSearch based?
SmartSearch is headquartered in Ilkley, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does SmartSearch make money?
One revenue line is on record: saaS Subscription Platform.
Who are SmartSearch's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are Persona and Veremark. Direct peers are ComplyAdvantage, Thirdfort, Veriff, GBG (now part of Mitratech), Onfido and Trulioo. Jumio is listed as a broad incumbent. Dow Jones Risk & Compliance (Watchlist) is listed as an others.
Does SmartSearch have an API?
No public API is recorded for SmartSearch.
What industry is SmartSearch in?
SmartSearch's product category is AML Compliance Software (RegTech). Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDADAAAK, Identity Lifecycle & Provisioning Automation (SCIM, JML, Provisioning), with a secondary code of HDAEAJAK, User Lifecycle Provisioning & SCIM Automation. Its NAICS code is 51821 and its SIC code is 7372.