NameScan review
Pay-as-you-go PEP, sanctions and adverse media screening with ID verification and KYB — a screening tool, not a full compliance program.
At a glance
- Pricing
- pay-per-check credits — Prepaid credit packs valid 12 months; Sapphire (PEP/sanctions) and Emerald (adds adverse media) tiers; free introductory checks. Third-party sources cite from ~$0.55/check for basic screening with packs such as ~$90 for 50 scans — unverified against the live rate card; confirm on namescan.io/pricing. Part of the MemberCheck group.
- Sectors covered
- Accountants, Legal practitioners, Real estate
- Best for
- Firms that already have their program and records sorted and just need fast, cheap screening — or a screening layer beside a program-only tool.
- Website
- https://namescan.io
AUSTRAC obligation coverage
| Obligation | Coverage |
|---|---|
| AUSTRAC enrolment | Unverified |
| ML/TF risk assessment | Partial |
| AML/CTF program & policies | No |
| Initial customer due diligence | Partial |
| Ongoing CDD & monitoring | Partial |
| Suspicious matter reports | No |
| Threshold transaction reports | No |
| Record keeping | Partial |
| Staff training | No |
| Compliance officer & governance | Unverified |
| Independent evaluation | Unverified |
“Unverified” means we haven't yet confirmed this with the vendor or in testing — why we show gaps.
Where it's strong
- Cheapest per-screen cost in the market for straight PEP/sanctions checks
- No contract, no minimum — credits on demand, valid for a year
- Daily-updated proprietary database plus Acuris-backed deeper tier
- Solid REST API for firms wiring screening into existing systems
Where it falls short
- Not a Tranche 2 program platform — no AML/CTF program, no SMR workflow, no training
- You'll still need to solve risk assessment, program and records separately
- Exact current per-check pricing requires checking their live rate card
NameScan is the odd one out in our database: it isn't a Tranche 2 compliance platform at all. It's a screening tool — pay-as-you-go PEP, sanctions and adverse-media checks, with ID verification and KYB — and on straight screening cost it's the cheapest option we've found. Part of the MemberCheck group, it runs on a daily-updated database with an Acuris-backed deeper tier and a solid REST API.
The honest summary: excellent at the one job it does, and deliberately not trying to do the rest. It won't build your AML/CTF program, run a suspicious-matter workflow or train your staff — so read it as a component, not a complete answer. And note upfront: its current per-check pricing is Unverified on our table — the figures below are third-party and need checking against the live rate card.
What NameScan is — and isn't
The coverage table above tells the story by what's missing. NameScan handles the screening slice of customer due diligence — checking a customer against politically-exposed-person, sanctions and adverse-media lists — plus ID verification and business (KYB) checks. What it doesn't do: there's no AML/CTF program builder, no risk-assessment engine beyond the basics, no suspicious-matter or threshold reporting workflow, and no staff training. Those rows are 'No' or 'partial' on our table for a reason.
That's not a criticism — it's a category. A reporting entity has to run a program and screen customers; NameScan does the second, very well and very cheaply, and leaves the first to you or another tool. If you came looking for an all-in-one platform, you want a different page (start with the sector comparison); if you came looking for the cheapest way to screen a name, you're in the right place.
Sapphire vs Emerald checks
Two tiers. Sapphire covers PEP and sanctions screening — the core watchlist check. Emerald adds adverse media (negative news), drawing on Acuris-backed data for deeper coverage. For many small firms doing standard customer checks, Sapphire is the everyday tool and Emerald is what you reach for on higher-risk customers where enhanced due diligence is warranted.
Both run on prepaid credits that are valid for 12 months, with free introductory checks to trial it, and no contract or minimum. The REST API is the other draw: firms wiring screening into an existing workflow or their own system will find NameScan straightforward to integrate, which is a genuine differentiator against platforms that only work inside their own portal.
Pairing NameScan with a program tool
The natural way to use NameScan is as a screening layer beside a tool that doesn't include one — or to top up a platform whose bundled screening allowance you've exhausted. Arctic Intelligence is the clearest pairing: it does risk assessment and program properly but no verification at all, so NameScan fills the exact gap. FreeAML is the other budget comparison, bundling a program generator with its own pay-per-use checks.
Note that several platforms now include screening outright — Flagship AML bundles PEP, sanctions and watchlist screening with 30 complimentary screenings a month at $73.37 incl. GST — so check what you already have before paying twice. The trade-off with any two-tool stack is record-keeping: make sure your audit trail is coherent across both systems.
Verdict
NameScan is the best-value screening tool in our database and an easy recommendation for what it is: fast, cheap, pay-as-you-go PEP/sanctions/adverse-media checks with a clean API and no lock-in. For a firm that already has its program and records sorted and just needs to screen customers, it's hard to beat on cost.
Score it as a component, not a compliance solution — on its own it doesn't make a reporting entity compliant, and treating it as if it does is the mistake to avoid. And because its live per-check pricing is Unverified on our table, confirm the current rate card at namescan.io/pricing before you budget. How we make money — and why it never changes a verdict.