Smartcomply takes African compliance technology to UK as remittance risks drive new demand

Smartcomply has expanded into the United Kingdom, marking a major step by an African compliance technology firm to position itself inside one of the world’s busiest remittance and cross-border payments markets.

The company said on Tuesday that it has registered to operate in the UK and is launching Adhere, its artificial intelligence-powered anti-money laundering, KYC and fraud detection platform, to help UK financial institutions manage compliance risks tied to African payment corridors.

The move comes as banks, remittance firms and fintech companies in the UK face increasing regulatory pressure and rising compliance costs linked to transactions involving Sub-Saharan Africa.

According to data cited by the company from the World Bank and SWIFT, correspondent banking relationships into Sub-Saharan Africa have fallen by more than 25 percent over the past decade as global financial institutions reduce exposure to higher-risk markets. UK outbound remittances to Sub-Saharan Africa now exceed £4 billion annually, while average remittance costs to the region remain around 8.5 percent, far above the United Nations target of three percent.

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Smartcomply said its UK expansion is aimed at helping financial institutions reduce those risks while improving confidence in African transactions.

The company said Adhere was built specifically for African financial systems and payment behaviour, unlike many global compliance platforms designed mainly for European or North American markets.

The platform offers real-time transaction monitoring, automated KYC and KYB verification, sanctions and politically exposed persons screening, fraud detection and audit-ready reporting tools for financial institutions operating across African markets.

Initial target corridors include Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, South Africa and Uganda.

Gbemisola Osunrinde, chief executive officer, Smartcomply, stated, “African payment corridors should be a growth opportunity for the global financial system, not a liability. Adhere exists to make that growth possible without compromising on compliance. 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.”

Osunrinde said the company’s UK presence would give banks and fintech firms access to compliance infrastructure built with local African financial data and regulatory realities in mind.

Industry analysts say the expansion reflects a growing shift among African technology firms seeking to export specialised infrastructure products instead of competing only in consumer fintech services.

Cross-border payment providers serving Africa have increasingly struggled with fraud monitoring, sanctions compliance and customer verification due to fragmented data systems across multiple African jurisdictions.

Smartcomply said Adhere already monitors more than $1 billion in monthly transactions across its customer network in Africa. The company said customers using the platform have reported a 70 per cent reduction in manual compliance workload and a 40 per cent drop in false fraud alerts.

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Earlier this year, Smartcomply joined the Mastercard Engage Partner Program as a verified technology partner, giving it wider access to financial institutions and compliance ecosystems globally.

Anita Ajalla, the company’s chief technology officer, said most global compliance tools fail to properly interpret African financial identities and transaction patterns.

“We built Adhere because we lived the problem. Compliance technology designed in New York or London cannot read Nigerian Bank Verification Numbers, cannot understand mobile money flows in Kenya, and cannot make sense of West African mule networks. The companies that get to participate in African growth are the ones with infrastructure built for African reality. We are bringing that infrastructure to London,” Ajalla asserted.

The company said the platform is also aligned with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s March 2026 baseline standards for automated anti-money laundering solutions and continuously updates its compliance intelligence based on evolving global standards including FATF, GDPR and Nigeria’s NDPA framework.

With the UK expansion, Smartcomply now operates across Nigeria, Kenya and the United Kingdom as it seeks to position itself as a pan-African compliance infrastructure provider serving global financial institutions connected to Africa.