Salv raises $4.26 million for launch into UK

The round includes investments from new and existing investors, bringing its capital raised this year to $8.63 million and total funding to $13.22 million

Estonian Regtech Salv has raised €3.9 million ($4.26 million) in new funding to spearhead a launch into the UK.

The round includes investments from new and existing investors, bringing its capital raised this year to €7.9 million ($8.63 million) and total funding to €12.1 million ($13.22 million).

Launched in 2019, Salv was founded by former anti-money laundering experts from Skype and Wise, Taavi Tamkivi and Jeff McClelland, along with Wise's former software engineer Sergei Rumjantsev. Its range of products include tools to detect, prevent and stop fraud, and money laundering.

The company counts 53 financial institutions across 12 countries among its customer. Providers, including LHV Bank, Swedbank and SEB, rely on Salv for customer and sanctions screening, real-time inbound and outbound transaction monitoring and risk scoring.

The investment will assist Salv's expansion in the UK, a market currently experiencing a steep rise in Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud, where criminals use social engineering attacks involving impersonation to mislead consumers or businesses into transferring money to their accounts.

The UK’s Payment Systems Regulator will introduce mandatory reimbursement for Authorised Push Payment fraud victims next year, placing equal liability on both sending and receiving payment firms.

So far, most banks and payment companies have overlooked inbound transaction monitoring, only focusing on funds leaving their client’s accounts, says Salv Chief Executive Officer Tamkivi who views the rule change as an important growth opportunity.

As the UK moves towards shared responsibility for Authorised Push Payment fraud refunds, financial institutions must adapt, Tamkivi adds. Our suite, especially the inbound monitoring feature, is critical for detecting fraudulent activities and money mule accounts, thereby reducing the financial institution’s liability. This feature, along with tools like our Bridge platform, is designed to meet the evolving regulatory requirements, and the soon-to-launched AI-based no-code rule generator will let financial institutions quickly adapt to new criminal behaviour.