Prevent stuck transfers with PaySway

With PaySway, you can now prevent delays in outbound payments caused by false positive compliance alerts.

Simply submit an API request with details from your payment instruction to receive customized recommendations based on sanctions list matches.

Integrating this data into your payments minimizes delays and avoids unnecessary bank interactions.

Why false positives are so widespread

Government and international organizations maintain various sanctions lists. Financial institutions are required to follow them to prevent transactions with listed individuals.

Banks have automated systems in place to comply with this requirement. They screen the information on the payer, beneficiary, other banks involved, and any references included in the payment instruction.

A person's name (like John Run from the example above) can trigger compliance alerts in some banks, because it partially matches to a real sanctioned individual (like John Harun from the US OFAC SDN list below).

This results in a payment delay pending a manual back-office investigation. It can be quick if the mismatch is obvious or take a long time with escalations and back-and-forth between the banks.

These escalations, known as Requests for Information (RFIs), are generally slow because they are fully manual and rarely a top priority for banks' back-office agents.

How PaySway helps

Although this feature is designed to complement, not replace key screening systems, it works in a very similar way: when a client submits an API request to us with a payment instruction or part of it, PaySway compares the transaction elements against global and local sanctions lists.

Upon identifying a potential match, PaySway estimates its significance and provides recommendations depending on how close a match is.

When it is likely to trigger automated systems, we'll advise adding additional inputs into the payment instruction. Their nature will depend on the payment elements affected, match level, and type of the transfer. For example, for an individual's transaction that is likely to cause an RFI, we may recommend adding the date and place of birth, so the processing bank can easily disregard the alert. For a company with a name similar to a sanctioned vessel's name, we'll suggest adding its nature of business and payment purpose.

These contextual inputs will help processing banks disregard the false positive alerts and avoid having to follow up with RFIs, saving at least several days for each affected payment.

PaySway supports the entire payment preparation journey beyond RFI prevention. Its features validate, enrich, and optimize payment instructions, ensuring faster and more successful transfers with an improved user experience.

Schedule a call or email us at sales@paysway.io today to see a live demo and discuss your specific needs.