AML, PEP and background screening

Screen a person or a company for sanctions, public office and negative news, with the same API key you use for every other IdentifyOrg service. Pick only the checks you need, send only the details each one needs, and pay per check. Test keys return sample results for free, so you can build the whole flow before you spend anything.

The checks

Prices are on the pricing page. The background check costs less than its three checks separately. A check is charged only when its sources answered, and refunded in full when they could not.

Quick start

Use a secret key (io_test_sk_... to test, io_live_sk_... for real checks), on your server.

curl -X POST https://api.identifyorg.com/v1/screening/aml \
  -H "X-IdentifyOrg-Key: io_test_sk_..." \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name": "Amina Bello", "birth_year": 1980, "country": "NG"}'

import { IdentifyOrg } from "@identifyorg/node-sdk";
const io = new IdentifyOrg({ apiKey: process.env.IDENTIFYORG_KEY });

// Pick the checks you need...
const aml = await io.screening.aml({ name: "Amina Bello", birth_year: 1980, country: "NG" });
const pep = await io.screening.pep({ name: "Amina Bello", birth_year: 1980 });

// ...or run all three person checks for one lower price
const bg = await io.screening.backgroundCheck({ name: "Amina Bello", birth_year: 1980 });
if (bg.overall !== "clear") sendToCompliance(bg);

// A company, its register entry and its directors
const kyb = await io.screening.kyb({ company_name: "Sample Trading Ltd", country: "GB", registration_number: "01234567", include_officers: true });

from identifyorg import IdentifyOrg
io = IdentifyOrg(api_key="io_test_sk_...")

aml = io.screen_aml("Amina Bello", birth_year=1980, country="NG")
pep = io.screen_pep("Amina Bello", birth_year=1980)
media = io.screen_adverse_media("Amina Bello", context="Lagos fintech founder")
bg = io.background_check("Amina Bello", birth_year=1980)   # all three, one price
kyb = io.screen_business("Sample Trading Ltd", country="GB", registration_number="01234567", include_officers=True)

aml, err := client.ScreenAML(map[string]any{"name": "Amina Bello", "birth_year": 1980, "country": "NG"})
bg, err := client.BackgroundCheck(map[string]any{"name": "Amina Bello", "birth_year": 1980})
kyb, err := client.ScreenBusiness(map[string]any{"company_name": "Sample Trading Ltd", "country": "GB", "registration_number": "01234567", "include_officers": true})

$aml = $io->screenAml('Amina Bello', 'person', 1980, 'NG');
$pep = $io->screenPep('Amina Bello', 1980);
$bg  = $io->backgroundCheck('Amina Bello', 1980);
$kyb = $io->screenBusiness('Sample Trading Ltd', 'GB', '01234567', true);

Prefer no code? Open AML & background screening in your dashboard: choose the checks, enter the details and read the results.

Long checks: run them in the background

Most checks answer in a second or two. The news and business checks can take longer, so any screening call also accepts ?mode=async. It answers at once with a job id, the check runs in the background, and you read its progress and result (or receive it by webhook) when it is ready. Your server never holds a connection open waiting.

# 1. Start it: you get an id straight away
curl -X POST "https://api.identifyorg.com/v1/screening/background-check?mode=async" \
  -H "X-IdentifyOrg-Key: io_test_sk_..." -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"name": "Amina Bello", "birth_year": 1980}'
# -> 202 {"id": "scj_8f2c...", "status": "queued", "poll_after_ms": 1500, ...}

# 2. Read progress and the result
curl https://api.identifyorg.com/v1/screening/jobs/scj_8f2c... -H "X-IdentifyOrg-Key: io_test_sk_..."
# -> {"status": "running", "progress": [{"step": "Sanctions lists", "state": "done"}, ...]}
# -> {"status": "done", "result": { ...the same answer a direct call returns... }}

Billing is the same: you are charged when the check completes, a failed check costs nothing, and results are kept for seven days. You can have up to 10 checks active at once. See the jobs endpoint and the webhook events screening.completed and screening.failed.

Employee background check

To check an employee, a job applicant, a tenant or a partner, use POST /v1/screening/requests. By default the person receives a private link and nothing is checked or charged until they agree. If you have a lawful basis to check without asking (for example a legal duty), send mode: "discreet" with your basis; it is recorded. You get leads, each with a link to where it came from. You open them, decide whether each is about the right person, and record that with POST /v1/screening/requests/{id}/decisions. Results are leads for human review, never a verdict, and criminal records are not searched. Reports are deleted after 90 days. Prefer no code? Use Employee background check in your dashboard.

What to send

• name: a person's full name as on their ID (at least two words), or a company's registered name. A single name gives too many false matches, so people need two or more words.
• birth_year and country: optional, but send them whenever you have them. Many people share a name, and a matching birth year confirms a match while a different one lowers it.
• type: person (default) or entity for sanctions and news checks on a company.
• context (adverse media): a few words such as "Lagos fintech founder" to help tell the subject from a namesake.
• countries (adverse media, background check, KYB): the countries whose news to search, as two-letter codes such as ["NG", "GH"]. Leave it out to search all countries. Use this when you know where the person has lived or worked, or search every country to see whether they have been in trouble anywhere. GET /v1/screening/countries lists what is available.
• company_name, country, registration_number, include_officers (KYB).

Reading the result

• result on a single check is clear, possible_match or match (adverse media: clear, possible or adverse_found).
• overall on the background check and KYB is clear, possible_findings, review_required or incomplete. Open the check that has findings to see why. If the news search is temporarily unavailable, you still get the other checks: partial is true, adverse_media.result is unavailable, the news part is not charged, and overall is incomplete when nothing was found. Run the news check again later on its own.
• Every sanctions finding carries its score (0 to 100), the alias it matched, the list's own reference, the programme, the date listed, and a link to the publisher.
• lists_checked shows when each list was published and when we last updated it. Keep it with your records as evidence of how current the check was; GET /v1/screening/lists shows the same at any time.
• A match is a prompt for a person to confirm, not a verdict. Clear means nothing was found by these checks, not that the person is cleared of everything.

Coverage

Each check is clear about what it covers and what it does not. This is not a criminal-records or credit check.

Test mode

Test keys never contact a list or a news source and are never charged. They return the real response shape with sample data. Put one of these phrases anywhere in the name (case does not matter):

For KYB, send country GB with registration number 01234567 and include_officers: true to see a sample register entry and two sample directors.

Using it responsibly

• Screening results are an aid to your own due diligence, not a legal determination. Your compliance team or regulator decides what is required of you and what to do with a match.
• Names are personal data. Screen only people you have a lawful reason to screen, tell them you do, and keep results no longer than you need.
• We do not store the details you send beyond the record of the check (type, outcome, time and cost).