Surging demand drives rapid growth at anti-money laundering business
Anti-money laundering specialist SmartSearch has achieved its best ever first half year results in 2021, following a surge in demand for its online ID check and due diligence platform.
The RegTech specialist, based in Ilkley, West Yorkshire recorded a 27% rise in business growth and an increase in users from 45,000 to 53,000.
In addition, the firm has seen a 21% expansion in headcount in the first half of the year, increasing staff numbers from 135 in January to 164 in June.
It notes that across industries, there have been increasing fraud and money-laundering attempts since the outbreak of the pandemic in March 2020. The crisis opened a window for attempted fraud as lockdown caused face-to-face interactions to become scarce, and criminals used this opportunity to digitally alter documents.
SmartSearch began offering its services internationally last year. The business opened an office in the USA in July last year, and in May 2021 expanded into the Netherlands.
John Dobson, CEO, said the results were a reward for the hard work of the SmartSearch team.
He said: “We have been continually innovating in the past year to stay ahead of the competition. The market is getting more crowded, but none of the other entrants to the sector offer the breadth, or efficiency of our product.
“The pandemic certainly has attracted the attention of those looking to attempt fraud, and our product has never been more critical to prevent it.
“Even with lockdown restrictions easing, some businesses are still operating remotely when on-boarding clients, and our system provides a quick and easy method to accurately identify customers.
“Despite the rapid recruitment achieved already, we are still looking to expand our team due to the growth we’ve achieved in the first-six months of the year. We are recruiting for a range of roles, including developers, sales staff and customer service professionals.
“We recently celebrated our tenth-year in operation, and the business continues to go from strength-to-strength.
“Each year has brought its own challenges, perhaps none as tough as last year, but we are proud to be on course for another record-breaking year in 2021.”
