The world of compliance and Know Your Customer (KYC) screening has long been plagued by inefficiencies and inaccuracies, forcing organizations to choose between false positives and missed risks. At AlertSpeed, we’ve reimagined how screening tools should operate by introducing Whole Entity Matching—a transformative, innovative, and disruptive approach to entity screening.
If you’ve been relying on traditional tools or are considering a new screening solution, it’s time to rethink what you expect from your operations. Here’s why our approach is not just an improvement but a complete redefinition of how you should evaluate risk, save costs, and simplify compliance.

The Problem with Traditional Screening
Traditional screening tools are built on a name-based matching methodology, which relies heavily on string comparisons. These systems attempt to determine matches based solely on the similarity between names, often ignoring other critical pieces of information that could provide clarity. This overreliance on a narrow scope results in:
False Positives: These occur when unrelated entities are flagged as matches. For example, two individuals with the name "John Smith" might be flagged as the same person—even if their addresses, dates of birth, or identification numbers clearly indicate otherwise.
Missed Matches: These happen when the system fails to account for variations or nuances, such as alternative spellings (e.g., "Jon" vs. "John") or transliterations of names across languages (e.g., "Mohammed" vs. "Muhammad").
Limited Context: Name-matching systems focus on a single attribute and overlook the "bigger picture." They don’t consider other factors like a person’s address, date of birth, or identification numbers, which provide crucial insight into whether a record actually represents the same entity.
These limitations leave organizations exposed to risk, whether that’s wasted resources chasing false positives or failing to detect potential threats.
AlertSpeed’s Whole Entity Matching
Leveraging Full Context
AlertSpeed’s Whole Entity Matching transforms screening by evaluating the full context of an entity. This means it doesn’t just look at a name—it examines multiple attributes simultaneously to build a holistic understanding of the person or entity being screened. These attributes include:
Names
Dates of birth
Addresses
Identification numbers (e.g., passport, tax ID)
Transaction histories
By considering all available data, the system paints a comprehensive picture of the entity being evaluated. “Full context” means looking at the entity as a whole—how each piece of information interacts and reinforces or conflicts with other attributes. For example, a partial name match might initially suggest a potential connection, but conflicting dates of birth or addresses could clarify that it’s not a match at all.
Why You Can Trust The AlertSpeed Confidence Score
Breaking Down Confidence Scores
A confidence score reflects the likelihood that two records represent the same entity. Traditional tools tend to inflate confidence scores by focusing solely on name similarity. While this might make the scores seem "better" at first glance, it actually hides the fact that these tools are inaccurate because they ignore other critical attributes, like mismatched dates of birth or addresses.
What this means for you: A high score from a traditional system might make you think you’ve identified a match, but it’s more likely to waste your team’s time chasing false positives—or worse, make you miss a critical match because it wasn’t flagged.
A More Reliable Measure
AlertSpeed’s Whole Entity Matching assigns confidence scores differently. Our system evaluates multiple attributes holistically, weighting each attribute by its reliability and importance. For example:
Names, which can be common or prone to variation, receive moderate weight.
Identification numbers, which are unique and definitive, carry higher weight.
Conflicting attributes, like mismatched dates of birth, receive negative weight to penalize the score and prevent false positives.
This approach ensures that lower scores aren’t a sign of weaker performance—they’re a sign of greater precision and reliability.
What this means for you: A lower score from AlertSpeed reflects the system’s careful evaluation of all available data, meaning flagged matches are more likely to be accurate and actionable.
The Real Impact on Productivity and Morale
Traditional systems not only flood teams with false positives but also fail to deliver insights that compliance officers can act on confidently. By contrast, AlertSpeed’s nuanced confidence scoring creates richer, more actionable alerts that are easier and quicker to work through.
What this means for your team:
Shorter queues: Because there are fewer false positives, your team’s workload is reduced, allowing them to focus on genuine matches and process cases faster.
Increased productivity: With a system that minimizes unnecessary distractions, your team can spend their time on tasks that matter, boosting operational efficiency.
Higher satisfaction and morale: A reduced workload and more meaningful alerts translate to a less frustrating, more rewarding work environment. Teams feel more confident in the tools they use, which builds trust and engagement.
Precision and Recall
What They Mean and Why They Matter
When evaluating screening systems, two critical metrics must be understood: precision and recall.
Precision refers to how many flagged matches are actually correct (true positives). High precision means fewer false positives, which saves time and resources.
Recall refers to how many actual matches are successfully detected. High recall ensures fewer missed matches, reducing exposure to risk.
Traditional tools often sacrifice one for the other. For example:
A system that emphasizes recall might flag many matches, but at the cost of high false positives (low precision).
A system overly focused on precision might avoid false positives but miss critical matches (low recall).
AlertSpeed’s Whole Entity Matching excels because it balances precision and recall, delivering actionable matches with minimal noise. This balance is critical for compliance teams, who need systems that are both accurate and efficient.
Should Deceased Individuals Be Included?
Whether deceased individuals on watchlists should generate hits depends on regulatory requirements and your organization's priorities. AlertSpeed offers configurable options to handle this.
Include for Risk Mitigation: Deceased individuals may need to be flagged if their estates, accounts, or historical activity remain tied to risk.
Exclude to Reduce Noise: If deceased individuals aren’t relevant to your organization’s objectives, they can be filtered out to streamline workflows.
What this means for you: AlertSpeed ensures flexibility. You can configure the system to include or exclude deceased individuals based on your needs, avoiding unnecessary noise while maintaining compliance.
Seeing Is Believing
How and Why to Test Vendors
When considering a new screening vendor, it’s essential to dig deeper than surface-level claims about "match rates" or "confidence scores." Here’s how you can evaluate a solution effectively:
Test for Precision and Recall: Examine vendors’ ability to balance precision (fewer false positives) and recall (fewer missed matches).
Evaluate Match Rates and False Positives Together: High match rates are meaningless if they’re accompanied by excessive false positives. Ensure vendors provide detailed reporting on how many matches at each confidence level were true positives versus false positives.
Request Configurability Demonstrations: Test whether the vendor’s solution can adjust attribute weights to align with your organization’s priorities.
Evaluate Transparency: Ensure the system provides clear reasoning for every match, so your team knows why a record was flagged.
Why Whole Entity Matching Is the Future
AlertSpeed’s Whole Entity Matching represents the next evolution in KYC screening. By leveraging the full context of an entity, delivering trustworthy confidence scores, and balancing precision and recall, it ensures fewer false positives, fewer missed matches, and more accurate compliance operations.
It’s time to move beyond outdated tools and embrace a system built for the challenges of today.
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