Smartcomply, a Nigerian compliance and cybersecurity startup, is expanding into the United Kingdom, targeting Electronic Money Institutions (EMIs), remittance firms, neobanks, and cross-border payment fintechs.
The startup is entering the market with Adhere, its AI-powered anti-money laundering (AML), Know Your Customer (KYC), and fraud-detection platform, which it said was designed for African financial systems and datasets. Its UK expansion focuses on the Nigerian, Kenyan, Ghanaian, South African, and Rwandan payment corridors.
The expansion comes as African regulators move to tighten anti-money laundering controls and transaction monitoring requirements. In March, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) introduced baseline standards for automated AML solutions, formally recognising artificial intelligence and machine learning as tools for monitoring financial crime.
“African payment corridors should be a growth opportunity for the global financial system, not a liability,” said Gbemisola Osunrinde, the company’s chief executive officer. “Smartcomply’s UK presence means that for the first time, UK fintechs and banks have direct access to an AML platform that understands African data the way it should be understood: from the inside out.”
