Is Cryptocurrency Legal In The US and What Are The Regulations?
From Bitcoin to Ethereum, we’ve all heard of Cryptocurrency. However, the legality around the asset is sometimes confusing. Is the trading of cryptocurrency legal in the US? We’re breaking it down with a complete guide on regulations and who it is that regulates the currency.
Cryptocurrency is a type of digital asset which allows users to securely send or receive payment electronically. It eliminates the role of a third party to process payments as all transactions are permanently recorded on a digital ledger using blockchain. In the US, there are a large number of cryptocurrency investors and blockchain firms. However, the country hasn’t yet developed a clear regulatory framework for crypto assets.
Learn More: Understanding Money Laundering
Is Cryptocurrency Legal In The US?
The answer is a mixed bag of yes and no. While finding a consistent legal approach at the state level is difficult, the United States continues to make progress in drafting federal cryptocurrency legislation. Cryptocurrencies are not considered legal tender by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), but cryptocurrency exchanges are considered money transmitters since cryptocurrency tokens are "other value that substitutes for cash." The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) does not consider cryptocurrencies to be legal cash, but it has released tax guidance that defines it as "a digital representation of value that operates as a medium of exchange, a unit of account, and/or a store of value."
Who Regulates Cryptocurrency In The US?
The main federal agencies that came up with regulations, guidelines and enforcement with regard to cryptocurrencies are the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the Department of the Treasury, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
- SEC: The SEC considers crypto as a security, and has been monitoring Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) – the cryptocurrency industry’s equivalent to an initial public offering (IPO) -for fraud and other misconduct.
- CFTC: The CFTC has exercised its authority over derivatives linked to cryptocurrencies. The CFTC calls Bitcoin, the most popular and widely used crypto, a commodity.
- FinCEN: FinCEN has been classifying crypto exchanges as “money transmitters” subject to anti-money laundering (AML) requirements. Crypto exchanges in the US fall under the regulatory scope of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and are required to register with FinCEN. They are also required to comply with anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) obligations.
- Treasury: Regulators of the state bank have been observing cryptocurrency trading platforms for consumer protection.
- IRS: The IRS classifies cryptocurrencies as property for federal income tax purposes.
What Are The Sales Regulations on Cryptocurrency?
Cryptocurrency regulation in the US includes sales regulations. The sale of cryptocurrency is only regulated if the sale constitutes under State or Federal law. Or on the other hand, if money transmission is conducted under State law or otherwise, it makes the person a Money Services Business (MSB) under Federal law. The price of Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency is considered a commodity. Future derivative contracts are subject to regulation by the CFTC under the Commodity Exchange Act. The possibility of CFTC asserting its authority is much higher in today’s time.
What Are The Security Regulations on Cryptocurrency?
The SEC, under cryptocurrency laws in the US, regulates the issue and resale of any digital asset that constitutes a security. To determine whether a token or digital asset is an “investment contract”, the SEC looks at facts and circumstances to determine the substance of the transaction.
The person who issues cryptocurrency must register the security with the SEC or offer it pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements. SEC places fewer restrictions on the sale of securities to “accredited investors”. An “accredited investor” means that the investor is the director or executive officer of the company issuing the securities. That their net worth exceeds $1 million, excluding the value of their residence. Their income should exceed $200,000 in the two most recent years or a joint income that exceeds $300,000 in the two most recent years.
Two other implications under United States cryptocurrency regulations are:
- A person is required to be a broker-dealer licensed with the SEC and a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) for the sale of securities or to act as a market maker.
- A licensed securities exchange is required to be traded by the asset or an alternative trading system (ATS) approved by the SEC.
What are the Taxation Rules on Cryptocurrency?
In 2014, the IRS declared that cryptocurrency is to be taxed as property and not currency. Every person that owns cryptocurrency will be required to:
- keep a detailed record of cryptocurrency purchases and sales
- pay tax on profits made from the sale or purchase of any goods or services with cryptocurrency for cash
- pay taxes on the market value of collected cryptocurrency, on the date of the receipt
What Are The AML Regulations on Cryptocurrencies?
FinCEN regulates Money Services Businesses (MSBs) under the Bank Secrecy Act. FinCEN designated a virtual currency exchange and an administrator of a centralised virtual currency repository with the authority to issue and redeem the currency as MSBs in 2013.
MSBs must do a thorough risk assessment of their vulnerability to money laundering. They must also adopt anti-money laundering (AML) programmes based on their risk assessments. MSBs are required by FinCEN to establish, execute, and maintain a compliance programme to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing.
A typical AML programme for a US cryptocurrency exchange must include:
- Written policies, procedures, and internal controls such as an anti-money laundering suite must be incorporated to ensure ongoing compliance
- An individual compliance officer must be designated for assuring compliance with the programme
- Training should be provided for the appropriate personnel and for the detection of suspicious transactions
- An independent review to monitor and maintain the programme
It’s important to have a compliance programme in place to avoid receiving civil and criminal penalties from the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC). State laws for money transmissions under cryptocurrency laws in the US vary from each other but can be put into a few categories. They may include the following types of activities:
- money transmission
- issuing or selling payment instruments
- Issuing or selling stored value
- Some states regulate substitutes for money and consider virtual currency within the scope of their money transmission statutes.
Federal and state policymakers in the US are still on the lookout and continue to consider if and how to regulate cryptocurrency transactions.
Read More: New York State Department of Financial Services and Its Role in AML
Cryptocurrency and Money Laundering
While there may not be a competitor to the currency in terms of laundering volume at present, the ever-increasing use of cryptocurrency and their unregulated or less-regulated nature in many jurisdictions mean that the financial world has a lot to worry about. Many large companies now accept the digital currency for payments of products and services. Cryptocurrency really has the potential to replace its paper and plastic variants. Therefore, it is important to analyze the loopholes enabling these currencies to be used for money laundering and to develop adequate counter technologies to combat crime.
MSBs need to have a well-designed AML compliance programme. This should be a well-balanced combination of compliance personnel and technology. Having an in-house compliance team may be feasible only for large MSBs. However, the same is usually very expensive and impractical for smaller firms. They would have to rely more on highly intelligent process automation tools and platforms to sift out illegitimate transactions from large data sets.
We have developed a first-of-its-kind Typology Repository Management (TRM) framework to effectively solve the shortcomings of the static rules-based AML transaction monitoring environment that traditionally exists. It’s also software that uses collective intelligence instead of data that works in silos. Through continual learning, TRM is an intelligent and efficient means of identifying money laundering. Financial institutions will be able to capture shifting customer behaviour and stop bad actors with high accuracy and speed using this advanced machine learning approach.
To learn more about our AML solutions, speak to one of our experts.
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Top AML Scenarios in ASEAN

The Role of AML Software in Compliance

The Role of AML Software in Compliance


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Bank AML Compliance in Singapore: What It Takes to Stay Ahead in 2025
For banks in Singapore, AML compliance is more than just ticking regulatory boxes. It’s about protecting trust in one of the world’s most scrutinised financial systems.
As criminal tactics evolve and regulators sharpen their expectations, bank AML compliance has become a critical function. From onboarding and screening to real-time monitoring and STR filing, every touchpoint is under the microscope. And in Singapore, where the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) sets the pace for regional financial regulation, banks are expected to move fast, adapt constantly, and lead by example.
In this blog, we unpack what bank AML compliance really means in 2025, the challenges institutions face, and the tools helping them stay proactive.

What Is Bank AML Compliance?
Anti-money laundering (AML) compliance refers to the policies, procedures, systems, and reporting obligations banks must follow to detect and prevent the movement of illicit funds.
In Singapore, bank AML compliance includes:
- Know Your Customer (KYC) and customer due diligence (CDD)
- Ongoing transaction monitoring
- Sanctions screening and PEP checks
- Filing of suspicious transaction reports (STRs) via GoAML
- Internal training, audit trails, and governance structures
Banks are expected to align with MAS regulations, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards, and evolving international norms.
Why AML Compliance Is a Top Priority for Singaporean Banks
Singapore’s role as a global financial hub makes it both a gatekeeper and a target. As funds move across borders at record speed, banks must defend against a range of risks including:
- Mule accounts recruited through scam syndicates
- Corporate structures used for trade-based money laundering
- Digital wallets facilitating fund layering
- Deepfake impersonation enabling fraudulent transfers
- Shell firms used to obscure beneficial ownership
With MAS ramping up supervision and technology advancing rapidly, the margin for error is shrinking.
Key AML Requirements for Banks in Singapore
Let’s look at the core areas banks must cover to meet AML compliance standards in Singapore.
1. Customer Due Diligence (CDD) and KYC
Banks must identify and verify customers before account opening and on an ongoing basis. This includes:
- Collecting valid identification and proof of address
- Understanding the nature of the customer’s business
- Conducting enhanced due diligence (EDD) for high-risk clients
- Ongoing risk reviews, especially after trigger events
Failure to maintain strong CDD can result in onboarding fraud, mule account creation, or exposure to sanctioned entities.
2. Sanctions and Watchlist Screening
Banks must screen clients and transactions against:
- Global sanctions lists (OFAC, UN, EU)
- MAS-issued designations
- Politically exposed persons (PEPs)
- Adverse media and negative news
Screening must be:
- Real-time and batch capable
- Fuzzy-match enabled to detect name variations
- Localised for multilingual searches
3. Transaction Monitoring
Banks must monitor customer activity to detect suspicious behaviour. This includes:
- Identifying patterns like structuring or unusual frequency
- Flagging cross-border payments with high-risk jurisdictions
- Tracking transactions inconsistent with customer profile
- Layering detection through remittance and payment platforms
Monitoring should be ongoing, risk-based, and adaptable to emerging threats.
4. Suspicious Transaction Reporting (STR)
When suspicious activity is detected, banks must file an STR to the Suspicious Transaction Reporting Office (STRO) via GoAML.
Key requirements:
- Timely filing upon detection
- Clear, factual summaries of suspicious behaviour
- Supporting documentation
- Internal approval processes and audit logs
Delays or errors in STR submission can result in penalties and reputational damage.
5. Training and Governance
AML compliance is not just about technology — it’s about people and process. Banks must:
- Train staff on identifying red flags
- Assign clear AML responsibilities
- Maintain audit trails for all compliance activities
- Perform internal reviews and independent audits
MAS requires banks to demonstrate governance, accountability, and risk ownership at the senior management level.
Common Challenges in Bank AML Compliance
Even well-resourced institutions in Singapore face friction points:
❌ High False Positives
Traditional systems often flag benign transactions, creating alert fatigue and wasting analyst time.
❌ Slow Investigation Workflows
Manual investigation processes delay STRs and increase case backlogs.
❌ Disconnected Data
Siloed systems hinder holistic customer risk profiling.
❌ Outdated Typologies
Many banks rely on static rules that don’t reflect the latest laundering trends.
❌ Limited AI Explainability
Regulators demand clear reasoning behind AI-driven alerts. Black-box models don’t cut it.
These challenges impact operational efficiency and regulatory readiness.
How Technology Is Shaping AML Compliance in Singapore
Modern AML solutions help banks meet compliance requirements more effectively by:
✅ Automating Monitoring
Real-time detection of suspicious patterns reduces missed threats.
✅ Using AI to Reduce Noise
Machine learning models cut false positives and prioritise high-risk alerts.
✅ Integrating Case Management
Investigators get a unified view of customer behaviour, risk scores, and typology matches.
✅ Enabling STR Auto-Narration
AI-powered platforms now generate STR drafts based on alert data, improving speed and quality.
✅ Supporting Simulation
Before launching new rules or typologies, banks can simulate impact to optimise performance.
These capabilities free up teams to focus on decision-making, not admin work.

What Makes a Bank AML Solution Truly Effective in Singapore
To succeed in Singapore’s compliance environment, AML platforms must deliver:
1. MAS Alignment and GoAML Integration
Support for local regulation, including:
- STR formatting and digital filing
- Explainable decision paths for every alert
- Regulatory reporting dashboards and logs
2. Typology-Based Detection
Instead of relying solely on thresholds, platforms should detect patterns based on actual laundering behaviour.
Examples include:
- Investment scam layering through mule accounts
- Shell firm payments with no economic rationale
- Repeated use of new payment service providers
3. Access to Shared Intelligence
Platforms like Tookitaki’s FinCense connect with the AFC Ecosystem, giving banks access to regional typologies contributed by peers.
This improves detection and keeps systems updated with emerging risks.
4. AI Copilot Support for Investigators
Tools like FinMate assist compliance teams by:
- Highlighting high-risk activities
- Mapping alerts to known typologies
- Drafting STRs in natural language
- Suggesting investigation paths
5. Simulation and Threshold Tuning
Banks should be able to test detection logic before deployment, avoiding alert floods and system overload.
How FinCense Helps Banks Elevate AML Compliance
Tookitaki’s FinCense platform is purpose-built to support bank AML compliance across Asia, including Singapore.
Key features include:
- Real-time transaction monitoring
- Typology-based scenario detection
- MAS-compliant STR automation
- Explainable AI and audit trails
- AI-powered alert triage and FinMate copilot
- Access to the AFC Ecosystem for shared scenarios
The platform is modular, meaning banks can start with what they need and expand over time.
Results Achieved by Banks Using FinCense
Institutions using FinCense in Singapore report:
- 60 to 70 percent fewer false positives
- 3x faster investigation turnaround
- Improved STR quality and regulator satisfaction
- Lower operational burden on compliance teams
- Stronger audit readiness with full traceability
These results demonstrate the value of combining AI, domain expertise, and regulatory alignment.
Checklist: Is Your Bank AML Compliance Ready for 2025?
Ask yourself:
- Is your transaction monitoring real time and risk based?
- Are alerts mapped to real-world typologies?
- Can your team investigate and file an STR within one day?
- Does your platform comply with MAS requirements?
- Can you simulate detection rules before deploying them?
- Do you have explainable AI and audit logs?
- Are you collaborating with others to detect evolving threats?
If not, it may be time to consider a smarter approach.
Conclusion: Compliance Is a Responsibility and a Competitive Advantage
In a fast-changing landscape like Singapore’s, AML compliance is about more than avoiding penalties. It’s about protecting your institution, earning regulator trust, and staying resilient as financial crime evolves.
Banks that invest in smarter, faster, and more collaborative AML tools are not just staying compliant. They are setting the standard for the region.
Platforms like FinCense offer a clear path forward — one that combines regional insights, AI intelligence, and operational excellence.
If your compliance team is working harder than ever with limited results, it’s time to work smarter.

The High Cost of False Positives: Why Smarter AI Matters for Australian Banks
Every false alert costs time, money, and trust. For Australian banks, the path to smarter compliance begins with smarter AI.
Introduction
Australia’s financial institutions are under increasing pressure to detect and report suspicious activity faster and more accurately. With AUSTRAC intensifying its focus on proactive monitoring and real-time reporting, compliance teams are juggling thousands of alerts daily.
The challenge? Most of them turn out to be false positives.
These are alerts triggered by legitimate transactions that mimic suspicious patterns. They waste investigation resources, delay genuine case handling, and drive up operational costs. In a world where compliance budgets are already stretched, false positives represent one of the biggest hidden costs for Australian banks.
The solution lies in smarter artificial intelligence — systems that can learn, adapt, and make sense of context.

What Are False Positives in AML Compliance?
In anti-money laundering (AML) systems, a false positive occurs when a transaction or customer is flagged as suspicious but later found to be legitimate.
These false alerts stem from traditional rule-based systems that rely on static thresholds and rigid logic. For example:
- A large overseas transfer triggers an alert even if it’s a routine business payment.
- Multiple small transactions appear suspicious, though they align with a customer’s usual behaviour.
- A new account is flagged for activity that is common within its demographic or industry.
Each false positive requires review, documentation, and manual clearance — a costly exercise when multiplied across millions of transactions.
The Scale of the Problem in Australia
1. Alert Explosion
Australian banks generate tens of thousands of alerts per day, most of which require some level of human review. Estimates suggest that up to 95 percent of these are false positives.
2. Compliance Cost Surge
According to industry benchmarks, false positives account for up to 80 percent of AML compliance costs in financial institutions. These costs include analyst time, technology upkeep, and audit documentation.
3. Workforce Strain
Investigators spend hours resolving cases that lead nowhere, leading to burnout, delays, and skill underutilisation.
4. Delayed Detection
With teams focused on clearing irrelevant alerts, truly suspicious activity can slip through the cracks, exposing institutions to regulatory and reputational risk.
5. AUSTRAC Pressure
AUSTRAC expects timely reporting of suspicious matters under the AML/CTF Act 2006. Excessive false positives slow down compliance responsiveness, raising questions about system efficiency and oversight.
The bottom line: false positives are not just a nuisance — they are a strategic risk.
Why Traditional Systems Struggle
1. Rule-Based Rigidities
Legacy systems rely on pre-set thresholds and binary logic, unable to adapt to evolving customer behaviour or emerging crime patterns.
2. Lack of Context
Rules detect anomalies but not intent. They miss the subtlety that distinguishes a genuine transaction from a laundering attempt.
3. Disconnected Data
Fragmented customer, transaction, and behavioural data make it difficult to form a holistic risk picture.
4. Slow Feedback Loops
Analyst outcomes rarely feed back into the model, preventing systems from improving over time.
5. Over-Correction
In an effort to stay compliant, institutions often tighten rules, which only increases the number of false positives.
The result is a cycle of inefficiency that drains resources without necessarily improving detection accuracy.
The Financial Cost of False Positives
1. Investigation Labour
Each false alert can cost AUD 30–50 in labour hours. For institutions reviewing hundreds of thousands of cases annually, this translates into millions in unnecessary expenditure.
2. Technology Maintenance
Older systems require frequent recalibration and patchwork upgrades to stay relevant.
3. Reputational Risk
Slow investigations and delayed customer responses can frustrate legitimate clients, eroding trust.
4. Opportunity Loss
Time spent on false positives could be used for higher-value analysis, such as typology discovery or system optimisation.
5. Regulatory Penalties
Poor alert management can draw scrutiny from AUSTRAC, particularly if genuine suspicious activity goes unreported.
Reducing false positives is not merely about cutting costs — it is about strengthening the institution’s overall compliance posture.

How Smarter AI Solves the Problem
Artificial intelligence transforms AML compliance from a reactive process to an intelligent, adaptive system that learns continuously.
1. Contextual Understanding
AI models analyse multiple dimensions of a transaction — customer profile, behaviour history, peer group, and timing — before flagging it as suspicious.
2. Dynamic Thresholding
Instead of static rules, AI dynamically adjusts thresholds based on evolving risk indicators and customer segments.
3. Behavioural Modelling
Machine learning identifies deviations from individual behavioural patterns, reducing unnecessary alerts from normal activity.
4. Entity Resolution
AI links fragmented data to uncover hidden relationships between accounts, reducing duplicate or redundant alerts.
5. Continuous Learning
Every alert outcome — whether genuine or false — feeds back into the model to refine future accuracy.
6. Explainability
AI-driven systems include built-in explainable AI (XAI) layers that clarify why a decision was made, ensuring transparency for investigators and regulators alike.
AUSTRAC’s View on AI and Automation
AUSTRAC has publicly supported the adoption of RegTech and AI solutions that improve compliance efficiency and accuracy.
The regulator emphasises three key principles for institutions adopting AI:
- Transparency: Systems must provide clear reasoning for every alert.
- Accountability: Humans must remain responsible for final decisions.
- Validation: Models must be regularly tested for accuracy, fairness, and bias.
Smarter AI aligns perfectly with these expectations, helping banks deliver faster, more consistent, and auditable outcomes.
Case Example: Regional Australia Bank
Regional Australia Bank, a community-owned institution, has demonstrated how data-driven innovation can make compliance both efficient and effective. By leveraging intelligent automation, the bank has reduced investigation times and improved alert accuracy while maintaining complete transparency with AUSTRAC.
Its experience shows that advanced technology is not reserved for major players — smaller institutions can also lead in compliance excellence.
Spotlight: Tookitaki’s FinCense — Smarter AI for Smarter Compliance
FinCense, Tookitaki’s AI-powered compliance platform, is built to solve the false positive problem at scale.
- Adaptive Learning: Continuously refines alert logic using investigator feedback and new data.
- Behaviour-Based Risk Models: Understands normal customer patterns to reduce unnecessary flags.
- Federated Intelligence: Incorporates anonymised typologies from the AFC Ecosystem to detect emerging risks.
- Agentic AI Copilot (FinMate): Assists investigators by explaining alerts and drafting SMR narratives.
- Explainable AI: Every detection is auditable and regulator-ready.
- Unified Case Management: Integrates AML, fraud, and sanctions workflows under one intelligent dashboard.
By combining real-time analytics with continuous learning, FinCense delivers measurable results — improving detection accuracy while cutting investigation workload dramatically.
Quantifying the Impact: What Smarter AI Can Achieve
- Up to 90% Reduction in False Positives: AI-powered monitoring can distinguish legitimate transactions from genuinely suspicious ones.
- 50% Faster Case Resolution: Automated summaries and contextual analysis accelerate investigations.
- 30% Lower Operational Costs: Streamlined workflows reduce labour and system maintenance expenses.
- Improved Audit Readiness: Transparent models simplify regulator interactions.
- Higher Staff Retention: Investigators focus on meaningful work instead of repetitive reviews.
These improvements transform compliance from a cost centre into a competitive advantage.
Implementation Roadmap for Australian Banks
- Assess Data Quality: Ensure structured, consistent data across systems.
- Integrate AI Gradually: Start with specific modules like transaction monitoring or case summarisation.
- Train and Upskill Teams: Equip investigators to interpret AI-driven outputs effectively.
- Establish Governance: Maintain clear accountability for model oversight and validation.
- Collaborate with AUSTRAC: Engage early to align innovation with regulatory expectations.
- Measure Outcomes: Track KPIs such as false positive reduction, case closure time, and reporting accuracy.
Challenges in Transitioning to Smarter AI
- Cultural Resistance: Teams may be hesitant to trust AI-generated insights.
- Integration Complexity: Legacy systems can make implementation difficult.
- Model Governance: Ensuring fairness, accuracy, and explainability requires disciplined oversight.
- Cost of Transition: Initial investment may be significant, but long-term savings justify it.
With clear planning, these challenges can be overcome to achieve a more effective and sustainable compliance model.
The Future: Predictive and Collaborative Compliance
The next evolution of compliance will combine predictive AI with collaborative intelligence.
- Predictive Compliance: Systems will forecast potential suspicious activity before it occurs.
- Federated Learning: Banks will share anonymised insights across networks to improve collective accuracy.
- Agentic AI Copilots: Intelligent assistants will handle first-level investigations autonomously.
- Real-Time Regulator Engagement: AUSTRAC will increasingly leverage direct data feeds for continuous oversight.
Australian banks that adopt these innovations early will lead the region in both compliance performance and customer trust.
Conclusion
False positives are more than a technical flaw — they represent lost time, wasted resources, and missed opportunities to stop real crime.
By embracing smarter, context-aware AI, Australian banks can reduce alert fatigue, improve operational efficiency, and meet AUSTRAC’s expectations for speed and accuracy.
Regional Australia Bank shows how innovation at any scale can deliver meaningful impact. With Tookitaki’s FinCense, compliance teams can finally move beyond endless alerts to focus on what truly matters — preventing financial crime and protecting customer trust.
Pro tip: The smartest compliance systems don’t just detect risk; they understand it — and that understanding begins with smarter AI.

Watching Every Move: How Smart AML Transaction Monitoring is Reinventing Compliance in the Philippines
In the Philippines’ fast-changing financial system, staying ahead of money launderers means thinking faster and smarter than ever before.
The Philippines has rapidly evolved into one of Southeast Asia’s most dynamic financial markets. Digital payments, e-wallets, and online remittance platforms have transformed how money moves. But they’ve also created fertile ground for criminals to exploit loopholes and move illicit funds at unprecedented speed.
The result? A new era of financial crime that demands a new kind of vigilance. Traditional compliance systems, built on static rules and manual intervention — can no longer keep up. To detect, prevent, and respond to suspicious activity in real time, financial institutions in the Philippines are turning to AML transaction monitoring software powered by Agentic AI.
This isn’t just an upgrade in technology — it’s a complete reinvention of how compliance works.

The Evolving AML Landscape in the Philippines
Over the past decade, the Philippines has strengthened its anti-money laundering (AML) framework under the guidance of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). Both regulators have introduced data-driven, risk-based supervision that demands faster suspicious transaction reporting (STRs) and more proactive monitoring.
Yet, challenges remain. The country continues to face money-laundering threats tied to predicate crimes such as:
- Investment and crypto scams
- Online gambling and cyber fraud
- Terrorism financing through cross-border remittance
- Organised mule networks moving small-value transactions in bulk
The FATF’s ongoing scrutiny of the Philippines has added further urgency for compliance transformation. Local banks and fintechs are now expected to show measurable improvements in real-time detection, reporting accuracy, and data transparency.
For compliance leaders, this isn’t simply about meeting regulations. It’s about restoring trust — building a financial system that citizens, partners, and regulators can rely on.
What AML Transaction Monitoring Really Means
At its core, AML transaction monitoring refers to the continuous analysis of financial transactions to detect patterns that could indicate money laundering, fraud, or other suspicious activity.
Unlike static rules engines, modern systems learn from data. They evaluate not just whether a transaction breaks a threshold — but whether it makes sense given a customer’s behaviour, network, and risk profile.
A modern AML monitoring system typically performs four key tasks:
- Data Integration: Collects and consolidates customer, account, and transaction data from multiple systems.
- Pattern Detection: Analyses transaction sequences to flag anomalies — such as rapid fund transfers, unusual remittance corridors, or inconsistent counterparties.
- Alert Generation: Flags high-risk transactions and assigns risk scores based on behavioural analytics.
- Case Management: Escalates suspicious activity to investigators with contextual evidence.
But what separates smart AML systems from the rest is their ability to adapt — to learn from investigator feedback, detect unseen typologies, and evolve with each new risk.
The Challenge for Philippine Financial Institutions
While most major Philippine banks have some form of automated transaction monitoring, several pain points persist:
- High false positives: Legacy systems trigger excessive alerts for legitimate activity, overwhelming investigators.
- Fragmented data: Disconnected payment, lending, and remittance systems make it difficult to see the full picture.
- Limited investigative capacity: Compliance teams often face resource constraints and manual processes.
- Regulatory pressure: AMLC and BSP expect near real-time STR submissions and audit-ready documentation.
- Emerging typologies: From synthetic identities to mule rings and crypto crossovers, criminals constantly evolve their methods.
To meet these challenges, financial institutions need intelligent AML transaction monitoring — systems that can reason, learn, and explain.
Enter Agentic AI: The Brain of Modern Transaction Monitoring
Traditional AI systems detect patterns. Agentic AI, however, understands purpose. It can analyse intent, connect context, and take autonomous actions to assist investigators.
In the world of AML transaction monitoring, Agentic AI brings three major shifts:
- Contextual Awareness: It understands the “why” behind each transaction, identifying behavioural deviations that static models would miss.
- Dynamic Adaptation: It adjusts to emerging risks in real time, learning from each investigation outcome.
- Interactive Collaboration: Investigators can communicate with the AI using natural language — asking questions, exploring relationships, and receiving guided insights.
This makes Agentic AI the missing link between raw data and human judgment. Instead of replacing analysts, it amplifies their intelligence, handling repetitive tasks and surfacing critical insights at lightning speed.
Tookitaki FinCense: Agentic AI in Action
At the forefront of this evolution is Tookitaki’s FinCense, an end-to-end compliance platform designed to build the Trust Layer for financial institutions.
FinCense combines Agentic AI, federated learning, and collective intelligence to power smarter, explainable, and regulator-ready AML transaction monitoring.
Key Capabilities of FinCense
- Adaptive Risk Models: Continuously refine detection logic based on feedback from investigators.
- Real-Time Detection: Identify abnormal patterns within milliseconds across high-volume payment systems.
- Federated Learning: Enable cross-institutional intelligence sharing without compromising data privacy.
- Scenario-Driven Insights: Leverage typologies and red flags contributed by the AFC Ecosystem to detect emerging threats.
- Explainability: Every decision and alert can be traced back to its logic, ensuring full transparency for auditors and regulators.
FinCense helps Philippine banks transition from reactive monitoring to predictive compliance — detecting risk before it materialises.
Agentic AI Meets Human Expertise: FinMate, the Copilot for Investigators
Monitoring is only half the battle. Once alerts are raised, investigators need to understand context, trace transactions, and document findings. This is where FinMate, Tookitaki’s Agentic AI-powered investigation copilot, steps in.
FinMate acts as a virtual assistant that supports analysts during investigations by:
- Summarising alert histories and previous cases.
- Suggesting possible linkages across accounts, networks, or jurisdictions.
- Drafting narrative summaries for internal and regulatory reporting.
- Learning from investigator corrections to improve future recommendations.
For compliance teams in the Philippines — where staff often juggle high alert volumes and tight deadlines — FinMate helps turn hours of analysis into minutes of decision-making. Together, FinCense and FinMate form an intelligent ecosystem that makes transaction monitoring not just faster, but smarter and fairer.
Core Features of Next-Gen AML Transaction Monitoring
The future of AML transaction monitoring is defined by five core principles that every institution in the Philippines should look for:
1. Dynamic Risk Scoring
Customer risk is no longer static. Modern systems assess behaviour in real time, considering peer groups, network exposure, and transaction context to continuously recalibrate risk scores.
2. Federated Learning for Privacy and Collaboration
Instead of sharing sensitive data, institutions using FinCense participate in federated model training. This allows collective learning from typologies seen across multiple banks — without exposing customer information.
3. Scenario-Based Detection from the AFC Ecosystem
The AFC Ecosystem contributes thousands of expert-curated scenarios and red flags from across Asia. When integrated into FinCense, these scenarios help Philippine banks recognise typologies early — from fraudulent lending apps to cross-border mule pipelines.
4. Explainable AI for Regulatory Confidence
Every alert and score must be defensible. FinCense offers clear audit trails and interpretable AI outputs so regulators can verify how a decision was made — strengthening transparency and accountability.
5. Agentic AI Copilot for Decision Support
FinMate transforms the analyst experience by providing context-aware recommendations, case summaries, and guidance in plain language. It helps investigators focus on judgment rather than data retrieval.

Building a Collaborative Defence: The AFC Ecosystem
While AI technology drives efficiency, collaboration drives resilience.
The AFC Ecosystem, powered by Tookitaki, is a community of AML and fraud experts who contribute real-world typologies, scenarios, and red-flag indicators. These insights are continuously fed into systems like FinCense, enriching transaction monitoring with intelligence gathered from live cases across the region.
Why It Matters for the Philippines
- Cross-border typologies like remittance layering or online gambling proceeds are often first detected in neighbouring markets.
- Shared insights allow Philippine banks to update detection logic pre-emptively, rather than after exposure.
- Compliance teams gain access to Federated Insight Cards, summarising trends and risks from collective learning.
This model of community-powered compliance ensures the Philippines is not only compliant — but one step ahead of evolving financial crime threats.
Case in Focus: Transforming AML Monitoring for a Leading Philippine Bank and Wallet Provider
A leading Philippine financial institution recently partnered with Tookitaki to replace its traditional FICO system with FinCense Transaction Monitoring. The goal: to improve accuracy, reduce false positives, and accelerate compliance agility.
The results were remarkable. Within months of deployment, the bank achieved:
- >90% reduction in false positives
- 10x faster deployment of new scenarios, improving regulatory readiness
- >95% accuracy and higher alert quality
- >75% reduction in alert volume, while processing 1 billion transactions and screening over 40 million customers
These outcomes were powered by FinCense’s intelligent risk models and the AFC Ecosystem’s continuously updated typologies.
Tookitaki’s consultants also played a crucial role — helping the client prioritise regulatory features, train internal teams, and resolve technical gaps. The collaboration demonstrated that the combination of AI innovation and expert enablement can fundamentally transform compliance operations in the Philippines.
From Detection to Prevention: The Road Ahead
The evolution of AML transaction monitoring in the Philippines is shifting from detection-centric to prevention-oriented. With real-time data streams, open banking integrations, and cross-border digital rails, the lines between fraud, AML, and cybersecurity are blurring.
The Next Frontier
- Predictive Monitoring: Using behavioural modelling and external intelligence feeds to forecast potential laundering attempts.
- AI Governance: Embedding ethical, explainable frameworks that satisfy both regulators and internal stakeholders.
- Regulator-Industry Collaboration: AMLC and BSP’s future initiatives may emphasise data interoperability and collective intelligence for ecosystem-wide risk mitigation.
As these changes unfold, Agentic AI will play a critical role — serving as the analytical bridge between human intuition and machine precision.
Conclusion: Smarter Monitoring for a Smarter Future
The Philippines stands at a defining moment in its financial compliance journey. With evolving threats, tighter regulation, and fast-moving digital ecosystems, the success of AML programmes now depends on intelligence — not just rules.
AML transaction monitoring software, powered by Agentic AI, is the new engine driving this transformation. Through Tookitaki’s FinCense and FinMate, Philippine financial institutions can move beyond reactive compliance to proactive prevention — reducing risk, building trust, and strengthening the country’s position as a credible financial hub in Asia.
The message is clear: in the fight against financial crime, those who collaborate and innovate will always stay one step ahead.

Bank AML Compliance in Singapore: What It Takes to Stay Ahead in 2025
For banks in Singapore, AML compliance is more than just ticking regulatory boxes. It’s about protecting trust in one of the world’s most scrutinised financial systems.
As criminal tactics evolve and regulators sharpen their expectations, bank AML compliance has become a critical function. From onboarding and screening to real-time monitoring and STR filing, every touchpoint is under the microscope. And in Singapore, where the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) sets the pace for regional financial regulation, banks are expected to move fast, adapt constantly, and lead by example.
In this blog, we unpack what bank AML compliance really means in 2025, the challenges institutions face, and the tools helping them stay proactive.

What Is Bank AML Compliance?
Anti-money laundering (AML) compliance refers to the policies, procedures, systems, and reporting obligations banks must follow to detect and prevent the movement of illicit funds.
In Singapore, bank AML compliance includes:
- Know Your Customer (KYC) and customer due diligence (CDD)
- Ongoing transaction monitoring
- Sanctions screening and PEP checks
- Filing of suspicious transaction reports (STRs) via GoAML
- Internal training, audit trails, and governance structures
Banks are expected to align with MAS regulations, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) standards, and evolving international norms.
Why AML Compliance Is a Top Priority for Singaporean Banks
Singapore’s role as a global financial hub makes it both a gatekeeper and a target. As funds move across borders at record speed, banks must defend against a range of risks including:
- Mule accounts recruited through scam syndicates
- Corporate structures used for trade-based money laundering
- Digital wallets facilitating fund layering
- Deepfake impersonation enabling fraudulent transfers
- Shell firms used to obscure beneficial ownership
With MAS ramping up supervision and technology advancing rapidly, the margin for error is shrinking.
Key AML Requirements for Banks in Singapore
Let’s look at the core areas banks must cover to meet AML compliance standards in Singapore.
1. Customer Due Diligence (CDD) and KYC
Banks must identify and verify customers before account opening and on an ongoing basis. This includes:
- Collecting valid identification and proof of address
- Understanding the nature of the customer’s business
- Conducting enhanced due diligence (EDD) for high-risk clients
- Ongoing risk reviews, especially after trigger events
Failure to maintain strong CDD can result in onboarding fraud, mule account creation, or exposure to sanctioned entities.
2. Sanctions and Watchlist Screening
Banks must screen clients and transactions against:
- Global sanctions lists (OFAC, UN, EU)
- MAS-issued designations
- Politically exposed persons (PEPs)
- Adverse media and negative news
Screening must be:
- Real-time and batch capable
- Fuzzy-match enabled to detect name variations
- Localised for multilingual searches
3. Transaction Monitoring
Banks must monitor customer activity to detect suspicious behaviour. This includes:
- Identifying patterns like structuring or unusual frequency
- Flagging cross-border payments with high-risk jurisdictions
- Tracking transactions inconsistent with customer profile
- Layering detection through remittance and payment platforms
Monitoring should be ongoing, risk-based, and adaptable to emerging threats.
4. Suspicious Transaction Reporting (STR)
When suspicious activity is detected, banks must file an STR to the Suspicious Transaction Reporting Office (STRO) via GoAML.
Key requirements:
- Timely filing upon detection
- Clear, factual summaries of suspicious behaviour
- Supporting documentation
- Internal approval processes and audit logs
Delays or errors in STR submission can result in penalties and reputational damage.
5. Training and Governance
AML compliance is not just about technology — it’s about people and process. Banks must:
- Train staff on identifying red flags
- Assign clear AML responsibilities
- Maintain audit trails for all compliance activities
- Perform internal reviews and independent audits
MAS requires banks to demonstrate governance, accountability, and risk ownership at the senior management level.
Common Challenges in Bank AML Compliance
Even well-resourced institutions in Singapore face friction points:
❌ High False Positives
Traditional systems often flag benign transactions, creating alert fatigue and wasting analyst time.
❌ Slow Investigation Workflows
Manual investigation processes delay STRs and increase case backlogs.
❌ Disconnected Data
Siloed systems hinder holistic customer risk profiling.
❌ Outdated Typologies
Many banks rely on static rules that don’t reflect the latest laundering trends.
❌ Limited AI Explainability
Regulators demand clear reasoning behind AI-driven alerts. Black-box models don’t cut it.
These challenges impact operational efficiency and regulatory readiness.
How Technology Is Shaping AML Compliance in Singapore
Modern AML solutions help banks meet compliance requirements more effectively by:
✅ Automating Monitoring
Real-time detection of suspicious patterns reduces missed threats.
✅ Using AI to Reduce Noise
Machine learning models cut false positives and prioritise high-risk alerts.
✅ Integrating Case Management
Investigators get a unified view of customer behaviour, risk scores, and typology matches.
✅ Enabling STR Auto-Narration
AI-powered platforms now generate STR drafts based on alert data, improving speed and quality.
✅ Supporting Simulation
Before launching new rules or typologies, banks can simulate impact to optimise performance.
These capabilities free up teams to focus on decision-making, not admin work.

What Makes a Bank AML Solution Truly Effective in Singapore
To succeed in Singapore’s compliance environment, AML platforms must deliver:
1. MAS Alignment and GoAML Integration
Support for local regulation, including:
- STR formatting and digital filing
- Explainable decision paths for every alert
- Regulatory reporting dashboards and logs
2. Typology-Based Detection
Instead of relying solely on thresholds, platforms should detect patterns based on actual laundering behaviour.
Examples include:
- Investment scam layering through mule accounts
- Shell firm payments with no economic rationale
- Repeated use of new payment service providers
3. Access to Shared Intelligence
Platforms like Tookitaki’s FinCense connect with the AFC Ecosystem, giving banks access to regional typologies contributed by peers.
This improves detection and keeps systems updated with emerging risks.
4. AI Copilot Support for Investigators
Tools like FinMate assist compliance teams by:
- Highlighting high-risk activities
- Mapping alerts to known typologies
- Drafting STRs in natural language
- Suggesting investigation paths
5. Simulation and Threshold Tuning
Banks should be able to test detection logic before deployment, avoiding alert floods and system overload.
How FinCense Helps Banks Elevate AML Compliance
Tookitaki’s FinCense platform is purpose-built to support bank AML compliance across Asia, including Singapore.
Key features include:
- Real-time transaction monitoring
- Typology-based scenario detection
- MAS-compliant STR automation
- Explainable AI and audit trails
- AI-powered alert triage and FinMate copilot
- Access to the AFC Ecosystem for shared scenarios
The platform is modular, meaning banks can start with what they need and expand over time.
Results Achieved by Banks Using FinCense
Institutions using FinCense in Singapore report:
- 60 to 70 percent fewer false positives
- 3x faster investigation turnaround
- Improved STR quality and regulator satisfaction
- Lower operational burden on compliance teams
- Stronger audit readiness with full traceability
These results demonstrate the value of combining AI, domain expertise, and regulatory alignment.
Checklist: Is Your Bank AML Compliance Ready for 2025?
Ask yourself:
- Is your transaction monitoring real time and risk based?
- Are alerts mapped to real-world typologies?
- Can your team investigate and file an STR within one day?
- Does your platform comply with MAS requirements?
- Can you simulate detection rules before deploying them?
- Do you have explainable AI and audit logs?
- Are you collaborating with others to detect evolving threats?
If not, it may be time to consider a smarter approach.
Conclusion: Compliance Is a Responsibility and a Competitive Advantage
In a fast-changing landscape like Singapore’s, AML compliance is about more than avoiding penalties. It’s about protecting your institution, earning regulator trust, and staying resilient as financial crime evolves.
Banks that invest in smarter, faster, and more collaborative AML tools are not just staying compliant. They are setting the standard for the region.
Platforms like FinCense offer a clear path forward — one that combines regional insights, AI intelligence, and operational excellence.
If your compliance team is working harder than ever with limited results, it’s time to work smarter.

The High Cost of False Positives: Why Smarter AI Matters for Australian Banks
Every false alert costs time, money, and trust. For Australian banks, the path to smarter compliance begins with smarter AI.
Introduction
Australia’s financial institutions are under increasing pressure to detect and report suspicious activity faster and more accurately. With AUSTRAC intensifying its focus on proactive monitoring and real-time reporting, compliance teams are juggling thousands of alerts daily.
The challenge? Most of them turn out to be false positives.
These are alerts triggered by legitimate transactions that mimic suspicious patterns. They waste investigation resources, delay genuine case handling, and drive up operational costs. In a world where compliance budgets are already stretched, false positives represent one of the biggest hidden costs for Australian banks.
The solution lies in smarter artificial intelligence — systems that can learn, adapt, and make sense of context.

What Are False Positives in AML Compliance?
In anti-money laundering (AML) systems, a false positive occurs when a transaction or customer is flagged as suspicious but later found to be legitimate.
These false alerts stem from traditional rule-based systems that rely on static thresholds and rigid logic. For example:
- A large overseas transfer triggers an alert even if it’s a routine business payment.
- Multiple small transactions appear suspicious, though they align with a customer’s usual behaviour.
- A new account is flagged for activity that is common within its demographic or industry.
Each false positive requires review, documentation, and manual clearance — a costly exercise when multiplied across millions of transactions.
The Scale of the Problem in Australia
1. Alert Explosion
Australian banks generate tens of thousands of alerts per day, most of which require some level of human review. Estimates suggest that up to 95 percent of these are false positives.
2. Compliance Cost Surge
According to industry benchmarks, false positives account for up to 80 percent of AML compliance costs in financial institutions. These costs include analyst time, technology upkeep, and audit documentation.
3. Workforce Strain
Investigators spend hours resolving cases that lead nowhere, leading to burnout, delays, and skill underutilisation.
4. Delayed Detection
With teams focused on clearing irrelevant alerts, truly suspicious activity can slip through the cracks, exposing institutions to regulatory and reputational risk.
5. AUSTRAC Pressure
AUSTRAC expects timely reporting of suspicious matters under the AML/CTF Act 2006. Excessive false positives slow down compliance responsiveness, raising questions about system efficiency and oversight.
The bottom line: false positives are not just a nuisance — they are a strategic risk.
Why Traditional Systems Struggle
1. Rule-Based Rigidities
Legacy systems rely on pre-set thresholds and binary logic, unable to adapt to evolving customer behaviour or emerging crime patterns.
2. Lack of Context
Rules detect anomalies but not intent. They miss the subtlety that distinguishes a genuine transaction from a laundering attempt.
3. Disconnected Data
Fragmented customer, transaction, and behavioural data make it difficult to form a holistic risk picture.
4. Slow Feedback Loops
Analyst outcomes rarely feed back into the model, preventing systems from improving over time.
5. Over-Correction
In an effort to stay compliant, institutions often tighten rules, which only increases the number of false positives.
The result is a cycle of inefficiency that drains resources without necessarily improving detection accuracy.
The Financial Cost of False Positives
1. Investigation Labour
Each false alert can cost AUD 30–50 in labour hours. For institutions reviewing hundreds of thousands of cases annually, this translates into millions in unnecessary expenditure.
2. Technology Maintenance
Older systems require frequent recalibration and patchwork upgrades to stay relevant.
3. Reputational Risk
Slow investigations and delayed customer responses can frustrate legitimate clients, eroding trust.
4. Opportunity Loss
Time spent on false positives could be used for higher-value analysis, such as typology discovery or system optimisation.
5. Regulatory Penalties
Poor alert management can draw scrutiny from AUSTRAC, particularly if genuine suspicious activity goes unreported.
Reducing false positives is not merely about cutting costs — it is about strengthening the institution’s overall compliance posture.

How Smarter AI Solves the Problem
Artificial intelligence transforms AML compliance from a reactive process to an intelligent, adaptive system that learns continuously.
1. Contextual Understanding
AI models analyse multiple dimensions of a transaction — customer profile, behaviour history, peer group, and timing — before flagging it as suspicious.
2. Dynamic Thresholding
Instead of static rules, AI dynamically adjusts thresholds based on evolving risk indicators and customer segments.
3. Behavioural Modelling
Machine learning identifies deviations from individual behavioural patterns, reducing unnecessary alerts from normal activity.
4. Entity Resolution
AI links fragmented data to uncover hidden relationships between accounts, reducing duplicate or redundant alerts.
5. Continuous Learning
Every alert outcome — whether genuine or false — feeds back into the model to refine future accuracy.
6. Explainability
AI-driven systems include built-in explainable AI (XAI) layers that clarify why a decision was made, ensuring transparency for investigators and regulators alike.
AUSTRAC’s View on AI and Automation
AUSTRAC has publicly supported the adoption of RegTech and AI solutions that improve compliance efficiency and accuracy.
The regulator emphasises three key principles for institutions adopting AI:
- Transparency: Systems must provide clear reasoning for every alert.
- Accountability: Humans must remain responsible for final decisions.
- Validation: Models must be regularly tested for accuracy, fairness, and bias.
Smarter AI aligns perfectly with these expectations, helping banks deliver faster, more consistent, and auditable outcomes.
Case Example: Regional Australia Bank
Regional Australia Bank, a community-owned institution, has demonstrated how data-driven innovation can make compliance both efficient and effective. By leveraging intelligent automation, the bank has reduced investigation times and improved alert accuracy while maintaining complete transparency with AUSTRAC.
Its experience shows that advanced technology is not reserved for major players — smaller institutions can also lead in compliance excellence.
Spotlight: Tookitaki’s FinCense — Smarter AI for Smarter Compliance
FinCense, Tookitaki’s AI-powered compliance platform, is built to solve the false positive problem at scale.
- Adaptive Learning: Continuously refines alert logic using investigator feedback and new data.
- Behaviour-Based Risk Models: Understands normal customer patterns to reduce unnecessary flags.
- Federated Intelligence: Incorporates anonymised typologies from the AFC Ecosystem to detect emerging risks.
- Agentic AI Copilot (FinMate): Assists investigators by explaining alerts and drafting SMR narratives.
- Explainable AI: Every detection is auditable and regulator-ready.
- Unified Case Management: Integrates AML, fraud, and sanctions workflows under one intelligent dashboard.
By combining real-time analytics with continuous learning, FinCense delivers measurable results — improving detection accuracy while cutting investigation workload dramatically.
Quantifying the Impact: What Smarter AI Can Achieve
- Up to 90% Reduction in False Positives: AI-powered monitoring can distinguish legitimate transactions from genuinely suspicious ones.
- 50% Faster Case Resolution: Automated summaries and contextual analysis accelerate investigations.
- 30% Lower Operational Costs: Streamlined workflows reduce labour and system maintenance expenses.
- Improved Audit Readiness: Transparent models simplify regulator interactions.
- Higher Staff Retention: Investigators focus on meaningful work instead of repetitive reviews.
These improvements transform compliance from a cost centre into a competitive advantage.
Implementation Roadmap for Australian Banks
- Assess Data Quality: Ensure structured, consistent data across systems.
- Integrate AI Gradually: Start with specific modules like transaction monitoring or case summarisation.
- Train and Upskill Teams: Equip investigators to interpret AI-driven outputs effectively.
- Establish Governance: Maintain clear accountability for model oversight and validation.
- Collaborate with AUSTRAC: Engage early to align innovation with regulatory expectations.
- Measure Outcomes: Track KPIs such as false positive reduction, case closure time, and reporting accuracy.
Challenges in Transitioning to Smarter AI
- Cultural Resistance: Teams may be hesitant to trust AI-generated insights.
- Integration Complexity: Legacy systems can make implementation difficult.
- Model Governance: Ensuring fairness, accuracy, and explainability requires disciplined oversight.
- Cost of Transition: Initial investment may be significant, but long-term savings justify it.
With clear planning, these challenges can be overcome to achieve a more effective and sustainable compliance model.
The Future: Predictive and Collaborative Compliance
The next evolution of compliance will combine predictive AI with collaborative intelligence.
- Predictive Compliance: Systems will forecast potential suspicious activity before it occurs.
- Federated Learning: Banks will share anonymised insights across networks to improve collective accuracy.
- Agentic AI Copilots: Intelligent assistants will handle first-level investigations autonomously.
- Real-Time Regulator Engagement: AUSTRAC will increasingly leverage direct data feeds for continuous oversight.
Australian banks that adopt these innovations early will lead the region in both compliance performance and customer trust.
Conclusion
False positives are more than a technical flaw — they represent lost time, wasted resources, and missed opportunities to stop real crime.
By embracing smarter, context-aware AI, Australian banks can reduce alert fatigue, improve operational efficiency, and meet AUSTRAC’s expectations for speed and accuracy.
Regional Australia Bank shows how innovation at any scale can deliver meaningful impact. With Tookitaki’s FinCense, compliance teams can finally move beyond endless alerts to focus on what truly matters — preventing financial crime and protecting customer trust.
Pro tip: The smartest compliance systems don’t just detect risk; they understand it — and that understanding begins with smarter AI.

Watching Every Move: How Smart AML Transaction Monitoring is Reinventing Compliance in the Philippines
In the Philippines’ fast-changing financial system, staying ahead of money launderers means thinking faster and smarter than ever before.
The Philippines has rapidly evolved into one of Southeast Asia’s most dynamic financial markets. Digital payments, e-wallets, and online remittance platforms have transformed how money moves. But they’ve also created fertile ground for criminals to exploit loopholes and move illicit funds at unprecedented speed.
The result? A new era of financial crime that demands a new kind of vigilance. Traditional compliance systems, built on static rules and manual intervention — can no longer keep up. To detect, prevent, and respond to suspicious activity in real time, financial institutions in the Philippines are turning to AML transaction monitoring software powered by Agentic AI.
This isn’t just an upgrade in technology — it’s a complete reinvention of how compliance works.

The Evolving AML Landscape in the Philippines
Over the past decade, the Philippines has strengthened its anti-money laundering (AML) framework under the guidance of the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC) and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). Both regulators have introduced data-driven, risk-based supervision that demands faster suspicious transaction reporting (STRs) and more proactive monitoring.
Yet, challenges remain. The country continues to face money-laundering threats tied to predicate crimes such as:
- Investment and crypto scams
- Online gambling and cyber fraud
- Terrorism financing through cross-border remittance
- Organised mule networks moving small-value transactions in bulk
The FATF’s ongoing scrutiny of the Philippines has added further urgency for compliance transformation. Local banks and fintechs are now expected to show measurable improvements in real-time detection, reporting accuracy, and data transparency.
For compliance leaders, this isn’t simply about meeting regulations. It’s about restoring trust — building a financial system that citizens, partners, and regulators can rely on.
What AML Transaction Monitoring Really Means
At its core, AML transaction monitoring refers to the continuous analysis of financial transactions to detect patterns that could indicate money laundering, fraud, or other suspicious activity.
Unlike static rules engines, modern systems learn from data. They evaluate not just whether a transaction breaks a threshold — but whether it makes sense given a customer’s behaviour, network, and risk profile.
A modern AML monitoring system typically performs four key tasks:
- Data Integration: Collects and consolidates customer, account, and transaction data from multiple systems.
- Pattern Detection: Analyses transaction sequences to flag anomalies — such as rapid fund transfers, unusual remittance corridors, or inconsistent counterparties.
- Alert Generation: Flags high-risk transactions and assigns risk scores based on behavioural analytics.
- Case Management: Escalates suspicious activity to investigators with contextual evidence.
But what separates smart AML systems from the rest is their ability to adapt — to learn from investigator feedback, detect unseen typologies, and evolve with each new risk.
The Challenge for Philippine Financial Institutions
While most major Philippine banks have some form of automated transaction monitoring, several pain points persist:
- High false positives: Legacy systems trigger excessive alerts for legitimate activity, overwhelming investigators.
- Fragmented data: Disconnected payment, lending, and remittance systems make it difficult to see the full picture.
- Limited investigative capacity: Compliance teams often face resource constraints and manual processes.
- Regulatory pressure: AMLC and BSP expect near real-time STR submissions and audit-ready documentation.
- Emerging typologies: From synthetic identities to mule rings and crypto crossovers, criminals constantly evolve their methods.
To meet these challenges, financial institutions need intelligent AML transaction monitoring — systems that can reason, learn, and explain.
Enter Agentic AI: The Brain of Modern Transaction Monitoring
Traditional AI systems detect patterns. Agentic AI, however, understands purpose. It can analyse intent, connect context, and take autonomous actions to assist investigators.
In the world of AML transaction monitoring, Agentic AI brings three major shifts:
- Contextual Awareness: It understands the “why” behind each transaction, identifying behavioural deviations that static models would miss.
- Dynamic Adaptation: It adjusts to emerging risks in real time, learning from each investigation outcome.
- Interactive Collaboration: Investigators can communicate with the AI using natural language — asking questions, exploring relationships, and receiving guided insights.
This makes Agentic AI the missing link between raw data and human judgment. Instead of replacing analysts, it amplifies their intelligence, handling repetitive tasks and surfacing critical insights at lightning speed.
Tookitaki FinCense: Agentic AI in Action
At the forefront of this evolution is Tookitaki’s FinCense, an end-to-end compliance platform designed to build the Trust Layer for financial institutions.
FinCense combines Agentic AI, federated learning, and collective intelligence to power smarter, explainable, and regulator-ready AML transaction monitoring.
Key Capabilities of FinCense
- Adaptive Risk Models: Continuously refine detection logic based on feedback from investigators.
- Real-Time Detection: Identify abnormal patterns within milliseconds across high-volume payment systems.
- Federated Learning: Enable cross-institutional intelligence sharing without compromising data privacy.
- Scenario-Driven Insights: Leverage typologies and red flags contributed by the AFC Ecosystem to detect emerging threats.
- Explainability: Every decision and alert can be traced back to its logic, ensuring full transparency for auditors and regulators.
FinCense helps Philippine banks transition from reactive monitoring to predictive compliance — detecting risk before it materialises.
Agentic AI Meets Human Expertise: FinMate, the Copilot for Investigators
Monitoring is only half the battle. Once alerts are raised, investigators need to understand context, trace transactions, and document findings. This is where FinMate, Tookitaki’s Agentic AI-powered investigation copilot, steps in.
FinMate acts as a virtual assistant that supports analysts during investigations by:
- Summarising alert histories and previous cases.
- Suggesting possible linkages across accounts, networks, or jurisdictions.
- Drafting narrative summaries for internal and regulatory reporting.
- Learning from investigator corrections to improve future recommendations.
For compliance teams in the Philippines — where staff often juggle high alert volumes and tight deadlines — FinMate helps turn hours of analysis into minutes of decision-making. Together, FinCense and FinMate form an intelligent ecosystem that makes transaction monitoring not just faster, but smarter and fairer.
Core Features of Next-Gen AML Transaction Monitoring
The future of AML transaction monitoring is defined by five core principles that every institution in the Philippines should look for:
1. Dynamic Risk Scoring
Customer risk is no longer static. Modern systems assess behaviour in real time, considering peer groups, network exposure, and transaction context to continuously recalibrate risk scores.
2. Federated Learning for Privacy and Collaboration
Instead of sharing sensitive data, institutions using FinCense participate in federated model training. This allows collective learning from typologies seen across multiple banks — without exposing customer information.
3. Scenario-Based Detection from the AFC Ecosystem
The AFC Ecosystem contributes thousands of expert-curated scenarios and red flags from across Asia. When integrated into FinCense, these scenarios help Philippine banks recognise typologies early — from fraudulent lending apps to cross-border mule pipelines.
4. Explainable AI for Regulatory Confidence
Every alert and score must be defensible. FinCense offers clear audit trails and interpretable AI outputs so regulators can verify how a decision was made — strengthening transparency and accountability.
5. Agentic AI Copilot for Decision Support
FinMate transforms the analyst experience by providing context-aware recommendations, case summaries, and guidance in plain language. It helps investigators focus on judgment rather than data retrieval.

Building a Collaborative Defence: The AFC Ecosystem
While AI technology drives efficiency, collaboration drives resilience.
The AFC Ecosystem, powered by Tookitaki, is a community of AML and fraud experts who contribute real-world typologies, scenarios, and red-flag indicators. These insights are continuously fed into systems like FinCense, enriching transaction monitoring with intelligence gathered from live cases across the region.
Why It Matters for the Philippines
- Cross-border typologies like remittance layering or online gambling proceeds are often first detected in neighbouring markets.
- Shared insights allow Philippine banks to update detection logic pre-emptively, rather than after exposure.
- Compliance teams gain access to Federated Insight Cards, summarising trends and risks from collective learning.
This model of community-powered compliance ensures the Philippines is not only compliant — but one step ahead of evolving financial crime threats.
Case in Focus: Transforming AML Monitoring for a Leading Philippine Bank and Wallet Provider
A leading Philippine financial institution recently partnered with Tookitaki to replace its traditional FICO system with FinCense Transaction Monitoring. The goal: to improve accuracy, reduce false positives, and accelerate compliance agility.
The results were remarkable. Within months of deployment, the bank achieved:
- >90% reduction in false positives
- 10x faster deployment of new scenarios, improving regulatory readiness
- >95% accuracy and higher alert quality
- >75% reduction in alert volume, while processing 1 billion transactions and screening over 40 million customers
These outcomes were powered by FinCense’s intelligent risk models and the AFC Ecosystem’s continuously updated typologies.
Tookitaki’s consultants also played a crucial role — helping the client prioritise regulatory features, train internal teams, and resolve technical gaps. The collaboration demonstrated that the combination of AI innovation and expert enablement can fundamentally transform compliance operations in the Philippines.
From Detection to Prevention: The Road Ahead
The evolution of AML transaction monitoring in the Philippines is shifting from detection-centric to prevention-oriented. With real-time data streams, open banking integrations, and cross-border digital rails, the lines between fraud, AML, and cybersecurity are blurring.
The Next Frontier
- Predictive Monitoring: Using behavioural modelling and external intelligence feeds to forecast potential laundering attempts.
- AI Governance: Embedding ethical, explainable frameworks that satisfy both regulators and internal stakeholders.
- Regulator-Industry Collaboration: AMLC and BSP’s future initiatives may emphasise data interoperability and collective intelligence for ecosystem-wide risk mitigation.
As these changes unfold, Agentic AI will play a critical role — serving as the analytical bridge between human intuition and machine precision.
Conclusion: Smarter Monitoring for a Smarter Future
The Philippines stands at a defining moment in its financial compliance journey. With evolving threats, tighter regulation, and fast-moving digital ecosystems, the success of AML programmes now depends on intelligence — not just rules.
AML transaction monitoring software, powered by Agentic AI, is the new engine driving this transformation. Through Tookitaki’s FinCense and FinMate, Philippine financial institutions can move beyond reactive compliance to proactive prevention — reducing risk, building trust, and strengthening the country’s position as a credible financial hub in Asia.
The message is clear: in the fight against financial crime, those who collaborate and innovate will always stay one step ahead.


