7 Best Know Your Customer Software Picks for Singapore SMEs

Picking the right Know Your Customer (KYC) software has become essential for businesses.

This software is used to verify their customers’ identities and screen the risks related to financial concerns, like money laundering and fraud.

Alongside this, KYC compliance has become a non-negotiable for all businesses in Singapore’s tightly regulated market.

This means that for companies in Singapore, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) regulated firms must follow strict anti-money laundering (AML) and KYC rules.

In fact, regulators are becoming more stringent than ever, especially in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region.

In 2019, the annual fines for compliance failures were at US$6.6 million, but soared to US$5.1 billion in 2020.

Fortunately, modern eKYC platforms can automate much of the work involved.

More than that, integrating effective KYC solutions with an expert compliance team, such as virtual assistants, can help ensure an efficient process.

This means that finding the right KYC software and services for your company’s needs must be chosen with care to ensure operational efficiency and meet compliance requirements.

A KYC software is a tool that can help businesses, especially SMEs, avoid penalties and build better customer trust through reliable digital onboarding.

The automated process includes:

• Checking National Registration Identity Cards (NRICs), passports, and driving licences (among many kinds of identification cards).
• Conducting facial recognitions
• Fulfilling customer profiles through a seamless customer onboarding experience
• Accomplishing the sanction-list screening

At its core, these software are focused on protecting the nation’s financial integrity as it also monitors any illicit activity (financial crime) in accordance with their laws—especially given Singapore’s status as a global financial hub.

As such, they are often tailored to adhere to the KYC and due diligence requirements in the region through automated compliance.

For resource-strapped SMEs, keeping up with the complex KYC regulations and obligations can be challenging.

Manual checks are, of course, time-consuming.

On top of that, any delays or mistakes can lead to legal repercussions.

That’s why many Singapore businesses are turning to AI-driven software for their operations, specifically for global KYC platforms that can automate customer due diligence (CDD) and provide verification services, such as:

• ID verification
• Screening against sanctions lists
• Ongoing monitoring.

The right digital solution can help SMEs ensure MAS regulation compliance, while streamlining customer onboarding. This reduces risks while enhancing operational efficiency.

But with the number of vendors in the global and local markets, how should an SME choose?

Below, we highlight 7 of the best KYC software solutions that support Singapore’s regulatory standards through their compliance tools, along with how they can fit into SMEs’ workflow.

Also, to help you decide, some user reviews are provided in this list of leading KYC risk management and compliance platforms.

1. Sumsub

Sumsub is an all-in-one KYC/AML platform widely used by fintech companies, crypto exchanges, online trading platforms, and even e-commerce businesses.

The company has been committed to a people-friendly digital future since 2015; hence, they offer comprehensive KYC requirements compliance.

As such, they offer all-in-one identity verification, document checks, AML screening, transaction monitoring, and fraud detection in a single dashboard.

Considerably, the company provides a Singapore-specific compliance toolkit for local businesses, as they promote a system with a built-in compliance alignment with MAS guidelines.

Sumsub also boasts an 86.08% average pass rate in Singapore’s legal framework. They also advertise:

• A 240% ROI achievement for fintech companies
• Global verification solution for crypto users
• Less than 30 seconds onboarding for traders, alongside 40% reduction in KYC/AML costs
• Achievement of 97% hit rate for e-commerce

Notably, their software offers continuous monitoring of transactions and even auto-generating suspicious activity reports.

This helps compliance officers meet reporting obligations without manual effort.

The company also highlights flexibility and scalability in terms of its modular pricing. This means that companies can pay only for the features they need.

The prices of their KYC tools depend on the subscription plan, with an average:

• Basic: $1.35 per verification, and $149 minimum monthly commitment
• Compliance: $1.85 per verification, and $299 minimum monthly commitment
• Enterprise: No pricing available on site. Must directly communicate.

All in all, Sumsub offers a fast, scalable KYC solution for Singapore SMEs to help maintain MAS compliance and minimise fraud risk.

2. Trulioo

Trulioo is one of the world’s leading identity verification networks, which covers more than 195 countries.

In 2022, they officially expanded to Singapore due to the growing demand in the APAC region.

The company provides comprehensive KYC solutions to manage their customer journey, alongside their Know Your Business (KYB) and AML solutions.

Through a single application programming interface (API) integration, they provide real-time verification of 5 billion consumers and 330 million business entities using their suite of tools.

For SMEs dealing with international customers or supply chains, Trulioo can verify them, while ensuring KYC compliance and global proof-of-address requirements.

Availing their services can help ensure Singapore businesses adhere to local MAS guidelines, while handling customers from other APAC markets.

While their website doesn’t specifically provide a list of pricing and plans, Trulioo utilises a usage-based model.

They are reported to have an approximate starting price of $99 per user per month.

3. Jumio

A veteran KYC provider is Jumio, which has been used by major banks, financial institutions, and fintechs.

Its AI-driven platform uses biometrics and document scanning to “streamline the identity verification process” for remote onboarding.

Considerably, Jumio can greatly support Singapore SMEs as the company specifically supports Singapore’s ID types.

This means that their software can extract and validate data from Singapore passports, NRIC cards, and driver’s licenses.

Aside from Jumio being designed to meet existing KYC requirements, its software is also designed to meet MAS AML/CFT regulations.

The company has a robust approach to KYC.

Hence, they can help Singaporean companies to satisfy CDD rules (e.g. MAS Notice PSN01 on non-face-to-face transactions) while they conduct KYC checks, verify customer identities, and monitor customer transactions.

In fact, the company boasts 120 transactions processed per second and more than 5,000 supported global ID types.

In terms of pricing and plans, Jumio offers a:

• Starting price of $1.25 per identity verification.
• An $853,750 total cost of ownership (TCO) for online identity verification per year.

4. Shufti

Shufti is a real-time KYC and AML solutions provider in Singapore, which proudly boasts its compliance process with:

• Financial Action Task Force (FATF)
• Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)
• Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)
• Commercial Affairs Department (CAD) – Singapore Police Force

Their cloud-based verification suite prides itself with their lightning-fast checks.

This is because their simple API integration allows for remote customer identification verification to be done in seconds. For time-sensitive onboarding, this is very crucial.

Their KYC service also supports Singapore-specific ID checks, such as the verification of Singapore NRIC cards, passports, and driving licenses with fraud-detection rules down to the last pixel.

In practice, a local SME could call ShuftiPro’s API to instantly check whether a new client appears on Singapore’s own MAS/terrorism lists.

For businesses, especially SMEs, with tight resources, Shufti offers a tiered pricing structure to provide KYC solutions for all businesses:

• Free Forever: $0 (up to 10 verifications per month)
• Essentials: Starts at $1 per check (for 2,500 to 20,000 checks per year)
• Enterprise: Request pricing for monthly or annual renewal options

5. iCOMPASS

As a Singapore-headquartered RegTech firm that specialises in AI-driven solutions, iCompass offers simple and smart regulatory compliance with the country’s legal frameworks.

Specifically, with MAS’s AML/CFT and Law Society Practice Direction requirements.

This homegrown Singaporean platform was built specifically for MAS-regulated entities, like fund managers, law firms, and corporate service providers.

Moreover, the company claims to be tailored for Singapore use, and that they can reduce customer onboarding costs by up to 30% through the automated processes.

For example, an investment advisory firm in Singapore could use iCOMPASS to automatically screen every new client against Singapore’s PEP and sanction lists, then generate audit-ready risk assessments.

You can request a demo or have a consultation for free through the contact channels, as they don’t appear to have a list of pricing and plans publicly available.

6. Cynopsis Solutions (Artemis)

Founded in 2014, Cynopsis Solutions boasts more than 3,000 monthly active users as they are deployed in 184 countries.

They are a Singapore-headquartered RegTech company that offers an end-to-end compliance platform.

Additionally, they promise a KYC/AML/CFT compliance through their combination of regulatory expertise and innovative technology to reduce non-compliance risks and ensure exceptional customer experience.

In fact, they ensure solutions that are compliant with FATF recommendations and MAS regulations.

And should companies need to meet KYC requirements specific to a country or region, Cypnosis Solutions can provide tailored solutions.

To further prove their expertise in integrated solutions, Cypnosis Solutions highlights that their team have over 70 years of collective experience in finance and compliance.

Hence, they can sufficiently address all needs at every stage of the customer life cycle.

They don’t have publicly available pricing and plans on their website, but they can be contacted for a consultation.

7. Ingenique Solutions (SentroWeb)

Ingenique Solutions focuses on helping small businesses and large enterprises with their KYC screening and due diligence solutions, alongside AML/CFT compliance.

Focusing on customer verification, the company offers compliance solutions involving:

• Dynamic AML/CFT screening system
• Digitalised and streamlined CDD
• Automated ongoing monitoring
• Informative dashboard analytics

In practice, SentroWeb by Ingenique Solutions is a cloud-based platform that offers AI-driven tools which are accessible through a simple web interface.

It allows businesses to perform PEP and sanctions screening in seconds by checking client names (or even their ID photos) against reputable databases like Dow Jones and Acuris, which cover millions of profiles worldwide.

One of the biggest draws of SentroWeb for Singapore companies is its official recognition and support.

The software is a pre-approved solution under Infocomm Media Development Authority’s (IMDA) “SMEs Go Digital” programme. This means that local SMEs who adopt it are eligible for up to 50% subsidy via the Productivity Solutions Grant (PSG)

According to the IMDA, Sentroweb’s packages are priced at:

• Regular 500: $1,700 price after grant
• Premium DJ 8K: $3,200 price after grant

KYC Compliance for Singapore SMEs is far too important to leave to chance.

Aside from just avoiding penalties, businesses must invest in robust KYC processes to build customer and partner trust.

Investing in KYC equally demands resources, especially with the ongoing compliance requirements and customer verification process expectations, alongside ensuring that customer data is safe and private.

The good news?

Many companies offer tools innovated by KYC experts that can be tailored to the needs of your business to ensure compliance with local regulations in Singapore, alongside providing seamless customer support.

Their solutions make it feasible to meet these regulatory demands through improved compliance and reduced operational costs. All while providing a smooth onboarding experience that can improve customer satisfaction.

However, even with the best KYC software, execution matters.

Many Singapore SMEs find it efficient to outsource parts of the KYC workflow so staff can focus on growth.

For example, routine tasks like data entry, customer follow-up or document review can be handled by trained teams.

Services like Outpost’s Virtual Assistants can be onboarded to manage these compliance tasks, while the SME’s core team focuses on clients and strategy.

By combining one of the above eKYC platforms with experienced support staff and a compliance team, a Singapore SME can stay fully compliant without stretching its resources.