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The Problem of Name Matching

When it comes to Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Sanctions screening, the complexities of name matching represent a significant obstacle for compliance professionals. Although fuzzy matching algorithms can help navigate challenges such as typos or incomplete strings, they fall short when dealing with nuances like transliterated names, variations of nicknames, or missing name elements. As a result, companies often resort to broad, imprecise search parameters. This approach, unfortunately, leads to an overwhelming number of false positives and, more critically, the risk of false negatives.

Overcoming Name Matching Challenges with sanctions.io

At sanctions.io, we have developed a next-generation name-matching solution that merges machine learning with traditional methods like name lists, common keys, and rule-based systems. This fusion allows us to generate a comprehensive matching score, effectively overcoming the unique challenges posed by name matching in AML and Sanctions compliance.

By applying this advanced technology, we provide our customers with a robust tool to enhance their compliance processes, reducing the risk of false positives and negatives.

Name Matching Challenges

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Challenge Examples
Phonetic similarity Jesus ⇔ Heyzeus ⇔ Haezoos
Transliteration spelling differences Abdul Rasheed ⇔ Abd al-Rashid
Nicknames William ⇔ Will ⇔ Bill ⇔ Billy
Missing spaces or hyphens MaryEllen ⇔ Mary Ellen ⇔ Mary-Ellen
Titles and honorifics Dr. ⇔ Mr. ⇔ Ph.D.
Truncated name components McDonalds ⇔ McDonald ⇔ McD
Missing name components Phillip Charles Carr ⇔ Phillip Carr
Out-of-order name components Diaz, Carlos Alfonzo ⇔ Carlos Alfonzo Diaz
Initials J. E. Smith ⇔ James Earl Smith
Names split inconsistently across database fields Dick Van Dyke ⇔ Dick Van . Dyke
Same name in multiple languages Mao Zedong ⇔ Мао Цзэдун ⇔ 毛泽东 ⇔ 毛澤東
Semantically similar names Eagle Pharmaceuticals, Inc. ⇔ Eagle Drugs, Co.
Semantically similar names across languages Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation ⇔ 日本電信電話株式会社

Supported Languages

We support the following languages to ensure global accessibility and ease of use:

Arabic German Khmer Spanish
Burmese Greek Korean Thai
Chinese, Simplified Hebrew Pashto Urdu
Chinese, Traditional Hungarian Persian Vietnamese
English Italian Portuguese  
French Japanese Russian  

Supported Languages, Scripts, and Transliteration Standards

Language Script Sample Supported transliteration standards
Arabic Arabic محمد أنور السادات IC, SATTS, BGN, Basis, Buckwalter, and others
Persian (Dari/Farsi) Arabic عذرا جعفری (Dari) شیرین عبادی (Farsi) BGN, IC, MELTS
Pashto Arabic حامد کرزی BGN, JDEC-Afghanistan
Urdu Arabic عبد السلام BGN, IC
Burmese Burmese မြန်မာ Folk (Basis), MLCTS
Chinese Hanzi 刘晓波 Hanyu Pinyin, Wade-Giles
Korean Hanja, Hangul 金木中 김대중 BGN, Korda, McCune-Reischauer, Revised Romanization of Korean
Hebrew Hebrew עברית ISO 259-2:1994, Folk (Basis), ICU
Japanese Kanji, Hiragana, Katakana 鈴木章 かづさ スズキ Hepburn, Kunrei
Russian Cyrillic Михаил Сергеевич Горбачёв BGN, IC
Greek Greek Ἀριστοτέλης ISO 843:1997, ICU
Thai Thai พระพุทธยอดฟ้าจุฬาโลก ICU, ISO :11940-2, ISO 11940-2:2007

More information on Intelligent Name Matching.


 

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