Smartcomply expands to UK with AI-powered AML platform

By Parth Prabhudesai

African compliance and cybersecurity firm Smartcomply has expanded into the United Kingdom, launching its AI-powered anti-money laundering platform Adhere for UK payment firms handling transactions to African markets.

The Lagos-headquartered company said the expansion targets electronic money institutions (EMIs), remittance providers and cross-border FinTech firms operating in UK-to-Africa payment corridors.

Smartcomply said the move comes as UK payment companies face rising compliance pressure following the implementation of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act’s failure-to-prevent-fraud offence and the Payment Systems Regulator’s reimbursement requirements for authorised push payment fraud.

The company said outbound remittances from the UK to Sub-Saharan Africa exceed £4 billion annually, while the average transaction cost remains around 8.5%, significantly above the United Nations’ target of 3%.

Smartcomply said its Adhere platform is designed specifically for African financial infrastructure, supporting transaction monitoring, automated KYC and KYB checks, sanctions screening and audit-ready reporting. The platform is calibrated to process regional datasets such as Nigerian Bank Verification Numbers and Kenyan mobile money systems including M-Pesa.

According to the company, clients using the platform have reported a 70% reduction in manual compliance workloads and a 40% drop in false-positive fraud alerts.

Gbemisola Osunrinde, chief executive officer of Smartcomply, said, “African payment corridors should be a growth opportunity for the global financial system, not a liability.”

She added that compliance systems built for Western markets often struggle to interpret African financial data and payment patterns, creating inefficiencies and higher compliance risks for firms operating across the region.

Smartcomply currently monitors more than US$1 billion in monthly transactions for over 100 financial institutions across Africa. The company said it is in discussions with UK banks, EMIs and remittance providers as it expands its presence in the market.

Earlier this year, Smartcomply was named a verified member of the Mastercard Engage Partner Program.