Malta’s very own KYC Portal, a real-time, risk-driven Client Lifecycle Management platform recently took home two prestigious international awards, cementing its position as a rising leader in the compliance and RegTech space.

In a span of five years, the team behind KYC Portal managed to get a concept software to be one of the most dynamic award winning due diligence automation tools worldwide. KYC Portal is touted as the most complete end-to-end Client Lifecycle Management solution on the market, and the number of accolades being awarded stands as a testament to the company’s innovative product.

Early in 2017, KYC Portal submitted the first version of the product to the board of Finovate Conferences, and, out of 900 applicants, the company was chosen as one of the top 16 to demo their product live on stage in London, giving it the required boost to officially launch on the international market.

Today, the Malta-based company boasts over 60 clients, spread across five continents, in a variety of industries, from banking, payment providers, corporate service providers, legal and accounting, to logistics, gaming, precious metal refineries and oil and gas, to mention a few.

International recognition

Last month, KYC Portal was awarded the Best Risk Calculation Engine for Regulatory Compliance by the prestigious RegTech Insight Awards for the APAC region. Just last week, it was a winner in the Rising Star category by the infamous Chartis Research RiskTech100® list, which boasts the most comprehensive independent study of the world’s major players in risk and compliance technology. The RiskTech100® list strives to highlight the strength and versatility of established providers and new entrants.

Commenting on the achievements just five short years since launching, CEO Kristoff Zammit Ciantar says “the feeling is indescribable”.

“It is a huge honour for us to receive this award as recognition of all our hard work and dedication towards making KYC Portal one of the top AML/KYC products in the industry, especially in a region such as APAC where we have only just started exploring,” says Nickii Mallia Business Development Manager at KYC Portal.

“KYC Portal has attracted the attention of companies from all over the world, and in various industries – both regulated and not. We currently sell to over 17 countries spanning from the USA to Dubai, Mauritius, Russia, South Africa, the UK and all over Europe.”

(left) Kristoff Zammit Ciantar - KYC Portal Founder & CEO / Ivan Bonello - KYC Portal Co-Founder & CTO

Winning these awards gives the company validation that its product is getting recognised for its powerful features, that it is a product that helps organisations remain compliant and safeguarded from all aspects of risk.

“It solidifies our reputation as a trustworthy brand that delivers. Receiving these awards means more visibility and a larger reach for our brand, it is one thing for us to know how great KYC Portal is, however, it is another for the industry to feel the same towards us too, and that alone is a great feeling indeed!”

So, what are KYC Portal’s powerful features??

The portal is a real-time, risk driven Client Lifecycle Management platform with full ownership of policy automation. It is a product that focuses on increasing operational efficiencies whilst reducing the risk exposure of due diligence.

Furthermore, it is a system that redefines business relationship outreach, focusing on automating the human element, the human aspect of KYC, due diligence, and AML.

One of the main elements that helped the product stand out and achieve such an international footprint is the fully dynamic configuration engine, referring to a module that allows the customer to be in full control of defining the entire regulatory process.

This gives customers the ability to tweak and change the entire process based on regulatory updates, market happenings or changes in internal policy, these changes are instantly reflected in the risk being updated in real time on all the subjects in the database. 

The other main feature in KYCP is the embedded customer outreach aspect of the product. One of the most time-consuming elements in due diligence processes is the constant to-ing and fro-ing with end users.

This is anything from face-to-face meetings, requests for documentation, filling in of questionnaires or forms and much more. KYC Portal offers embedded features that allow for such communication to happen digitally and seamlessly from within the product itself.

One of the biggest selling points of the platform is the level of flexibility awarded to compliance teams.

KYC Portal services different teams, within different industries and within various jurisdictions, so the key to success was that of developing a solution that allows the compliance team to be able to define and change all that is required to make KYC Portal fit their needs from their on-boarding process all throughout the ongoing aspect.

“So, yes, we feel our dynamic configuration engine is the module that led KYC Portal to its success. Clients like to have everything in their control, they feel safeguarded, and it increases trust in the product as they do not have to rely on our team to update their risk scoring for them,” the CEO shares.

The road ahead

KYC Portal grew so much that it now caters for 95 per cent of the company’s entire business.

The team behind KYC Portal has become one of the leading factors of our success. A product that they believe in personally and do their utmost to ensure the best possible deliverable. “We are fully focused on keeping this level of growth both within our team as well as the R&D, leading to enhancing our product to ensure that KYC Portal remains the market leader.”

“This strategy is also driven by the nature of the new features we are deploying in the product on a quarterly basis based on client feedback.”