An effective sanctions API to screen watchlists
Quickly, easily, and reliably screen for risky businesses with Middesk’s watchlist and sanctions screening API.
Business Profiles
Coverage in the US
Update frequency
Business registries
What is a watchlist & sanctions screening API?
A sanctions screening API or watchlist API, integrates with your KYB platform to automatically screen business customers against relevant sanctions lists. It will then alert you if any individuals or countries associated with the business you’re verifying are on a sanctions list (or other watchlist).
This enables organizations that are onboarding businesses to assess the potential risk (or legality) of working with a potential business. With an API, organizations get this information automatically so they can make these decisions quickly, helping them onboard businesses fast while still mitigating and managing risk.
How the watchlist & sanctions screening API works
Step 1
To start, you just need an API key, along with the names and addresses of the businesses you want to screen.
Step 2
Our Verify package automatically screens watchlists, including OFAC and other key US sanctions lists.
Step 3
We return whether or not there were any watchlist hits, and provide details about which entities were on which lists, as well as the total number of hits.
Step 4
We also provide a wealth of other information you can use to verify a business, and our API will automatically keep you informed of any changes to this info.
Information you can get using our watchlist & sanctions screening API
Along with the results of your sanctions and watchlist results, we provide a variety of other business verification details for you to help authenticate a business and determine the risk of a B2B relationship.
Middesk Business Verification Data Sources
Data You Can Access
What Do You Need to Know?
Watchlist hits & PEP screening
Is the business, the people associated with it, or the country in which it operates on the OFAC sanctions list, or any other US or global watchlists?
Is anyone involved in the business a politically exposed person (PEP)? If they are, how does this designation restrict or prevent me from establishing a business relationship with them? Are there any compliance or risk concerns?
Ultimate Beneficial Owner (UBO)
Who actually owns, controls, and operates the business? Is the identifying information they provided correct? Do these individuals appear on any sanctions lists or watchlists?
Business name, address, & phone number
Does the business information the company provided match official records, such SOS office filings? Can you verify the business is who they say they are, and that they are operating legally?
Business industry classification (NAICS, SIC)
What industry does the business operate in? Does their industry classification align with the business operations they claim to be conducting? Are there any unique restrictions, prohibitions, or compliance issues to be aware of in this industry?
Business license
Does the business have the licenses it needs to operate in their industry and are they operating in good standing?
EIN / Business Tax ID
Is the business registered with the IRS and any other necessary tax agencies?
Business documents
Am I able to view business documents that help me verify the business? Can I see their Articles of Incorporation and Certificate of Good Standing?
Bankruptcy data
Has the business ever filed for bankruptcy in the past? What financial risks are associated with engaging with this business?
Liens & litigations
Are there any clients or litigations filed against this business? What risks do these pose for a potential B2B relationship?
Applications for our watchlist & sanctions API
Ensure the entities you’re operating with are above board with our watchlist and sanctions screening API
Fintechs
Fintechs set themselves apart by providing speed and convenience for customers. With our sanctions screening API, they can do this without compromising on regulatory compliance or data security.
Insurance
Insurance companies need to ensure the businesses they extend coverage to aren’t a risk of fraud, terrorist financing, or other financial crimes. It’s critical to conduct adequate due diligence when underwriting new businesses during onboarding. A sanctions API lets you automate watchlist checks to save you significant time.
Commercial banking
Banks are constantly balancing risk and reward. With thousands of customers, the financial risk can be substantial for these institutions. A sanctions API helps these organizations screen against businesses — and their associated people and countries — to analyze risk so they can extend loans and financial services with confidence.
Lenders
Lending money to sanctioned entities can be extremely risky, as these entities could be involved in financial crime. Sanctions screening APIs help lenders ensure the money they’re extending isn’t funding terrorism, being laundered, or involved in some other financial crimes.
Marketplace
Online marketplaces are at risk of being exploited by criminals looking to commit fraud or launder money. To maintain their reputation and ensure customer safety, marketplaces need to screen businesses against watchlists before initiating in a B2B relationship.
Payments platforms
Payment platforms are responsible for transacting large sums of money on a regular basis. It’s essential that these businesses screen against watchlists and sanctions lists to ensure the entities they are dealing with are legitimate. Our sanctions API helps you authenticate where the money is coming from so you can confidently process payments.
Simplify watchlist screening with our sanctions API
Screen entities against official watchlists
Our sanctions API screens entities against relevant watchlists, including OFACs Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list and other important US watchlists.
Automatically receive the latest watchlist information
Our sanctions screening API refreshes data daily from official government sources, so you know the data you’re working with is always current and up-to-date.
Get full coverage with all US watchlists
Our Verify package automatically checks official sanctions lists and watchlists. This helps you know who you’re dealing with so you can effectively manage risk when onboarding new businesses.
Save time by screening watchlists in bulk
Our watchlist API automatically screens businesses against OFAC and other official US sanctions lists, so you have all the information you need to verify and onboarding new businesses.
Start building in no time with our easy-to integrate sanctions API
What makes Middesk’s watchlist screening API unique?
Full coverage of US watchlists
Middesk screens against all major US sanctions lists and watchlists, including those managed by OFAC, BIS, and the State Department.
Get fresh data daily
Middesk pulls data direction from US government sources every 24 hours, so the data you get is always fresh. You’ll also be alerted of any changes to entities you’re tracking.
Search using flexible parameters
Our sanctions API has advanced features like fuzzy name matching, data of birth filtering, and filtering by watchlist or issuing agency so you can narrow your search.
More than sanctions screening
Our Verify tool provides you with additional KYB data so you can authenticate a business and conduct an adequate risk assessment. TIN and EIN matching also give you early signals that can help screen risky entities.
How Radius Bank finds more hours in the day with Middesk
“Every minute we’re able to save in processing loans is a minute faster than a small business will have access to the capital they need. With Middesk, what ordinarily would have taken us hours to do is now taking us minutes. We take pride in partnering with technology companies that help us serve our customers better.”
How Novo redefines its KYB process with Middesk’s verification product
“Middesk's market-leading methods challenge the established legacy approach to verification. Their product has unlocked significant efficiency, enhancing the onboarding experience for small businesses to access Novo. Middesk’s ground-up approach to product development played an integral part in increasing confidence in KYB, both internally and with partners.”
Driving team efficiency and performance with Clearco
“Middesk's Lien Search product has allowed my team to focus on value-add activities like making deals rather than tedious tasks like sifting through UCC portals. My team is faster and happier with getting business owners the capital they need to grow their businesses.”
Leveling up Plaid’s onboarding process with seamless KYB
“When a customer signs up for Plaid, they want to start building on our APIs right away. Middesk has been a critical partner enabling us to quickly and seamlessly onboard new customers.”
Frequently Asked Questions about watchlist and sanctions screening APIs
US government agencies apply restrictions and prohibitions on various businesses, people, and countries to protect US national security and foreign policy. Organizations that conduct businesses with these sanctioned entities not only expose themselves to potential fraud and financial crime, but they can become involved or associated with financial crimes themselves.
Our sanctions API data comes directly from official US sanctions lists and watchlists, including those managed by Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the US Department of the Treasury, the US Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS), the State Department, and more. Our data is refreshed every 24 hours so it’s always up-to-date.
While you can certainly manually search for and download this information, there are a few major shortcomings.
The main issue is that you’ll have to manually conduct each search one at a time. This means you’ll have to individually search each entity, which is extremely time-consuming. On top of that, it consistently leads to errors and inefficiencies, especially when operating at scale.
Secondly, the search tools provided by these agencies are relatively rudimentary. They often don’t have advanced features like fuzzy name matching, date of birth filtering, or other filtering capabilities. This makes it challenging to reduce false positives and negatives due to unavoidable name variations.
All you need is an account with us at Middesk, our Verify product, and an API key. We can set you up with these in a matter of minutes!
At a bare minimum, you’ll need the business’ official name and address. You can also input additional details (such as their website or associated individuals) to help narrow your search. The more information you can use in your search, the faster we can find the business and verify the details are accurate.
All you need to do is create a “Business” file (or update an existing one), fill in necessary information, and place an “Order” request for a “Watchlist”. Middesk takes care of the rest for you. This can all be done in just a few minutes.
Automatically screen watchlists with a sanctions API
See how our sanctions screening API can help you onboard businesses faster.
