Top 10 AML software for banks in 2025

A look at the best AML software options available

In the ever-evolving financial landscape, banks and financial institutions face the constant threat of financial crime. Anti-money laundering (AML) software has become a critical tool in combating these threats by detecting and preventing illicit activities. With the increasing complexity of financial crime, selecting the right AML software is crucial for compliance and security. In this article, we explore the top 10 AML software solutions, products, and applications available for banks today, offering an in-depth look at their features and benefits. 

What is AML software? 

Financial institutions use AML software to help prevent financial crime. Regulated entities such as banks and insurance companies must implement strong AML compliance protocols to stop any activity that could be linked to money laundering, fraud, and terrorist financing.  

Financial institutions require AML software to ensure that they comply within the laws and regulations where they operate. With increasingly complex legislation being imposed by governments and regulating bodies, and with millions of transactions occurring daily, organizations rely on sophisticated AML software to help them detect questionable activity, reduce false positives, and report suspicious activity. 

A robust AML software solution will provide an institution with the ability to sufficiently understand their customers (customer due diligence), assess their transactions to identify risk before it occurs (sanctions screening), and monitor payments or a series of payments between different entities (transaction monitoring). If suspicion arises, investigators use case management software like Sensa Investigation Hub to investigate alerts, and if the suspicion is confirmed, they will submit a suspicious activity report (SAR). 

An overview of the 10 best AML tools 

To provide you with a clear understanding of the leading AML software available, we have compiled a list of the top 10 AML tools. Below is a brief overview of each company: 

Essential features to look for in AML software 

When evaluating AML software for your bank, consider the following key features: 

• Advanced analytics and AI: Look for AML tools that use machine learning and AI to enhance detection capabilities. As banking and technology evolve, AI is at the forefront of the evolution, driving unprecedented productivity gains. 

• Real-time monitoring: Increasingly demanded by regulators, effective AML products should offer real-time or near real-time transaction monitoring to swiftly identify and prevent suspicious activities. 

• Continuous regulatory compliance: Ensure that the software complies with global regulatory standards and can be updated to reflect new regulations. Ideally, the AML software will be updated in real-time as regulations change, perpetually protecting the institution. 

• Scalability: Choose AML software that can grow with your institution and handle increased volumes of data. SaaS software offers many benefits for banks because it enables organizations to adjust spending costs as their needs require. 

• Configurability: AML solutions should allow for at least some form of customization to fit the specific needs of an organization (for example, risk tolerance varies from institution to institution).  

• Integration capabilities: The software should seamlessly integrate with existing systems and workflows. Alongside this, it is beneficial if the AML solution also integrates with any third-party software that a bank might be looking to use in the future. 

There are many features a bank should look for when assessing the best AML software for their needs. Such features are impossible to rank in order of importance because what is most important for one bank might be less so for another. The key is to know exactly what your financial institution’s specific needs and requirements are, and their order of importance, and decide accordingly.  

Top 10 AML Software for Banks

1. SymphonyAI

SymphonyAI stands at the forefront of AML software innovation, offering advanced AI-driven SaaS solutions tailored for financial institutions. The company’s comprehensive suite of AML tools includes transaction monitoring, customer due diligence (CDD), sanctions screening (name and transaction screening), investigations via Sensa Investigation Hub, and automated suspicious activity reporting. 

Microsoft’s Partner of the Year 2024 for AI Innovation within Business Transformation, SymphonyAI offers a distinctive combination of predictive and generative AI-driven features and capabilities. Its platform-agnostic AI overlays – which includes SensaAI for AML - integrate effortlessly with existing solutions, enhance operational efficiency, and ensure transparent risk detection. By providing end-to-end orchestration and third-party data integrations, SymphonyAI enhances the efficiency of investigations and ensures precise detection and prevention of money laundering activities. 

Key benefits of using SymphonyAI software: 

• AI-powered analytics for enhanced detection accuracy. A major challenge in AML compliance is the prevalence of false positive alerts. SymphonyAI helps reduce the number of false positives by refining detection methods and using more accurate algorithms to identify true threats. With fewer false positives, compliance teams can focus their efforts on investigating genuine risks, improving operational efficiency. African bank Absa used SensaAI for AML to great effect, winning an ICA Compliance Award as it reduced false positives by 77%. 

• Real-time monitoring for immediate threat identification. Accurately detect suspicious behavior across channels. SymphonyAI’s AML transaction monitoring solution tracks entity behavior in real time to expose money laundering techniques. With simplified workflows, reporting, and models, SymphonyAI’s financial crime prevention solutions enhance compliance and always evolve with mandates helping keep regulators happy. 

• Centralized dashboards for a holistic view of risk. Sensa Investigation Hub provides enterprise case management powered by AI. Consolidate your enterprise-wide risk and compliance tech stack with a single platform that grants investigators a holistic view of customer behavior. Sensa Investigation Hub is the financial crime prevention and investigation force multiplier. A next-gen case management system, Sensa Investigation Hub is 100% compatible with all third-party detection systems. With the Sensa Copilot generative AI assistant included as standard, financial crime prevention is accelerated, manual reviews are reduced by 30%, investigator consistency is improved, and anti-money laundering efforts are simplified. 

• Assess risk and remain compliant regardless of resources. Preventing criminal onboarding is complex, requiring disparate data from internal and external sources to be considered in real-time. SymphonyAI’s customer due diligence (CDD) solution supports investigators with a unified picture of evolving risk before it becomes problematic. Automate real-time onboarding and create a frictionless customer experience. 

• Quickly screen 350+ global watchlists in 60 languages. SymphonyAI’s AML transaction screening and AML name screening software enable the prioritization of critical alerts and effective investigations. With these powerful sanctions screening tools, banks and other financial institutions are able to remain vigilant with an always-on solution. Give current AML software an immediate AI upgrade with SensaAI for Sanctions to assess matches with far greater accuracy using predictive and generative AI. 

• Upgraded scalable solutions without replacing your current compliance stack. Legacy tech stacks are often hard to replace, inefficient, and can’t keep pace with evolving risk. SymphonyAI’s AI overlays for anti-money laundering and sanctions allow organizations to strengthen compliance operations without needing to ‘rip and replace’. Support your investigators with powerful AML software that improves productivity, enhances effectiveness, and reduces costs with the ability to scale as needed.

2. NICE Actimize

NICE Actimize is an Israel-based company that sells financial crime prevention software. Their AML products are designed to meet the diverse needs of banks and financial institutions. In their own words, ‘NICE Actimize’s entity-centric AML solutions, infused with AI and machine learning, not only optimize efficacy and accuracy but also provide full regulatory compliance coverage and auditability’.

3. ComplyAdvantage

ComplyAdvantage is a London-based provider of fraud and AML software, helping institutions navigate the complexities of evolving global risks. The company provides security and risk mitigation, and support for scaling.

4. LexisNexis

LexisNexis is a New York-based data analytics company with offices worldwide. Mostly known for its legal and tax solutions, the organization also provides risk management software that allows institutions to more effectively manage risk.

5. Oracle

Oracle is a multinational technology company based in Austin, Texas. One of the largest IT companies in the world, it offers cloud applications across numerous industries including financial services. As part of this offering, it supplies financial crime and compliance tools for retail and corporate banks.

6. SAS

SAS is an American data analytics company that develops and markets software for banking, insurance, life sciences, retail, and the public sector. This includes AI-infused AML software to allow organizations to detect and protect against financial crime. 

7. Napier AI

Based in London, Napier AI provides an intelligent AML software platform that uses AI and machine learning to deliver a financial crime compliance solution for banking, payments, and wealth and asset management.

8. Quantexa

Quantexa allows for automation and augmentation of decision-making with its Decision Intelligence Platform. Providing contextual decision intelligence, it enhances AML capabilities by improving data visibility and insight.

9. Lucinity

An Icelandic AML software provider, Lucinity uses the power of AI to improve processes and provide banks with an efficient and effective financial crime detection solution.

10. Fiserv

Fiserv is a Wisconsin-based global fintech and payments company offering a suite of financial crime risk management solutions, including advanced AML software designed to meet the needs of banks. 

Which AML software is right for your bank? 

Choosing the right AML software requires careful consideration of various factors specific to your bank’s needs. Here are six essential points to consider: 

• Regulatory compliance: Ensure the software aligns with local and international AML regulations where your organization does business. Be aware that some countries (such as the US) may sanction a company for flouting their laws even if the offending action occurred beyond their borders. 

• Integration capabilities: Consider how well the software integrates with your existing systems or whether it integrates with solutions that your organization will perhaps soon be using. Being forward-thinking on a company’s needs can help avoid problems later. 

• Scalability: Assess whether the AML solutions can accommodate your institution’s growth. Does the provider have everything that you will require, or do they at least have it within their product roadmap? 

• Customizability: All banks are different, and most will require some level of customization to their AML software. Look for tools that can be tailored to your bank’s specific requirements, or for a vendor that has these requests in their roadmap. 

• Cost-effectiveness: Evaluate the cost in relation to the features and benefits offered. In many cases, SaaS software offers many benefits because it allows companies to scale up or reduce their spending as required. 

• Vendor support: Consider the level of support and training provided by the vendor. Has the vendor been around a long time? How is their customer support? Will they be able to assist you through every difficulty? 

There are many questions to consider when looking at the best AML software for a bank. The most important aspect of any decision is to make sure that, to the best of a company’s abilities, the correct amount of time has been taken for the decision and that every voice has had an opportunity to be heard to ensure that there are no hidden risks to upgrading. 

Conclusion 

Selecting the best AML software for banks is a critical decision that requires careful evaluation of your organization’s unique needs and compliance requirements. SymphonyAI’s AML software solutions are used by the top banks around the globe, and offer state-of-the-art features and benefits, have been recognized as a leading solution in multiple research analyst reports, and are built on 10+ years of AI knowledge and decades of financial risk industry expertise.  

All research for this article was conducted online, and no hands-on testing was carried out.