Name Matching Algorithms & SWIFT Payment Screening Explained | AML Ep 4 of 8

Welcome to Episode 4 of the AML Screening Masterclass — Name, Payment and Watchlist Screening. Mohammed. Mohamed. Muhammad. Muhammed. Mohammad. All the same person — and all potentially the same sanctioned individual on the OFAC list. Does your screening system catch every variation? This episode explains exactly how it should. WHAT YOU WILL LEARN: ✅ The 3 name matching algorithms: Exact, Fuzzy (Levenshtein distance) and Phonetic (Soundex) — how each works and when each is needed ✅ Transliteration challenges — why Arabic, Chinese, Russian and Korean names have multiple valid English spellings and how to screen them all ✅ SWIFT MT103 payment screening — all 6 fields that must be checked in real-time, including the free-text Field 70 that most systems miss ✅ Real-time vs Batch screening — the exposure window risk and when to run emergency batch jobs ✅ Internal Watchlist — the 4 types: Blacklist, Fraud Database, SAR-filed entities and High-Risk Monitoring List WHY THIS MATTERS: A single character change in a name can defeat basic exact matching. The Levenshtein distance algorithm closes that gap — but only if your system is configured correctly. This episode gives you the technical understanding to challenge your own screening setup. 🎓 FULL SERIES — AML Screening Masterclass: ▶ Ep 1 — Introduction to AML Screening [link] ▶ Ep 2 — Sanctions Screening Deep Dive [link] ▶ Ep 3 — PEP and Adverse Media Screening [link] ▶ Ep 4 — Name, Payment and Watchlist Screening (YOU ARE HERE) ▶ Ep 5 — Screening Operations and Alert Management [coming next] ▶ Ep 6 — Red Flags, Escalation and FATF Risk Lists ▶ Ep 7 — Case Studies and Programme Governance ▶ Ep 8 — Interview Prep and Final Assessment 💬 COMMENT CHALLENGE: Can you name at least 5 different valid English spellings of the Arabic name Mohammed? Drop your answers below — I'll reply with the full list. 🔔 SUBSCRIBE — new episode every week. #AMLScreening #NameScreening #SWIFTPayments #KYC #AML #FATF #BankingCompliance #CAMS #FinancialCrimeAcademy #ComplianceTraining #Levenshtein #PaymentScreening