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28 June 2019

Anti-money laundering (AML) pioneer SmartSearch has increased new client numbers by 45% in the five months to the end of May, compared to the same period in 2018, and added more than 3,650 new users to the platform.

Launched in 2011, SmartSearch is the only organisation in the UK with the ability to verify individuals and companies in the UK and internationally all in a single platform with full Sanction, PEP and adverse media screening and then ongoing monitoring.

Thanks to its unique offering and increased demand for RegTech solutions, the growth of the business has been phenomenal. Turnover has increased by 2,137% since 2011 and is on target to increase 48% in 2019.

Staff numbers have almost doubled since 2015 to 98, and the platform now has more than 4,000 clients, including 1-in-4 of the top 200 law firms and 1-in-3 of the top 100 accountancy practices.

And with the 5th money laundering directive mandating that electronic identification is used where possible, this growth is set to continue. In fact, in the first five months of 2019, more than 300 new clients were onboarded taking total user numbers to more than 38,000.

John Dobson, CEO at SmartSearch said: “We have always had a keen commercial eye on profitability and have delivered impressive incremental growth in both sales and pre-tax profit in every year of operation.

“Our dual focus has always been continued product innovation and profitable growth. We now have more than 4,000 client firms on board which will deliver profit in excess of £4 million.”

John says that SmartSearch has really traditional values when it comes to looking after clients; the fastest growing department is account management who ensure all clients get full value for money from the platform.

“As a result, we have an amazing 98% client retention rate, which not only shows what a good product SmartSearch is - and continues to be - but also says a great deal about the service our clients receive,” says John.

John concludes: “We will continue to innovate in this space to ensure the business remains market leader. Those innovations and future implementations will be driven by both new regulation and, most importantly, client feedback and demand for new innovations and functionality.”