The co-founder of a platform looking to overhaul how financial crime is combated has outlined its focused strategy for growth in the UK.
CEO Bradley Elliott (pictured right) founded RelyComply with CTO James Saunders (left) in South Africa in 2020. The business is one of a new wave of RegTechs focused on global problems that may not be considered ‘flashy’ yet can quietly save financial institutions and FinTechs millions of pounds.
Specialising in Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Know-Your-Customer (KYC), and Know-Your-Business (KYB) processes, it significantly decreases the likelihood of financial crime through enhanced identity verification, with integrated bias mitigation and region-based government identification capabilities.
When RelyComply formally entered the UK last year, it did so with intent rather than noise.
“The UK is one of the most sophisticated and demanding financial services markets in the world,” says Brad. “If you can build credibility here, you can build it anywhere.”
He says the UK launch has delivered strong early traction. RelyComply’s UK operation is powered by a compact commercial team working closely with senior leadership and Saunders. That tight configuration has enabled speed, senior engagement, and disciplined execution across PR, partnerships and early customer conversations.
“What market penetration means for us right now is quality engagement with partners, prospective customers, regulators and the broader ecosystem,” Brad explains. “We’re not chasing vanity metrics.
“We’re using what we’ve achieved in other countries to illustrate the value we can add to the UK market.”
RelyComply’s strategy is to convert credible interest into enterprise opportunities. Brad is explicit about the expansion strategy: depth first, then scale.
This year the focus is on securing long-term partnerships with UK financial institutions, building sustained thought leadership and strengthening enterprise credibility. A targeted sales and marketing content strategy will run in parallel with owned formats such as executive roundtables and high-profile industry sponsorships.
UK-specific content and media placements will further consolidate authority. “We are investing where it compounds,” says Brad. “Enterprise traction, trusted partnerships and measurable pipeline influence.”
Product strategy is equally focused. RelyComply is strengthening its AI and Agentic capabilities specifically for the UK market. As contracts scale and support needs grow, UK headcount will expand in step, he says – disciplined, capital-efficient and aligned to revenue.
As for the landscape, one of the most concerning developments is the rise of ‘financial crime as a service’.
Put simply, criminal groups now commercialise their tools and expertise. Fraud kits, mule account networks, botnets, API exploits and synthetic identity packages can be rented or purchased by less sophisticated actors.
The result is scalable, turnkey fraud operations – the criminal equivalent of outsourcing.
“The adversary has become modular and scalable,” Brad says. “Banks are no longer dealing with isolated bad actors. They are facing coordinated, systemic threats.”
So how should banks and other financial institutions tackle the challenge?
Progress is visible, says Brad – but not yet sufficient at scale. Many institutions still rely on legacy systems layered over time, creating complexity, high compliance costs and blind spots between onboarding, transaction monitoring and case management. While regulators and boards recognise the scale of the challenge, implementation often lags intent.
“There’s a gap between strategic ambition and operational deployment,” Brad notes. “That gap is where organised crime thrives.”
He says that the stakes extend beyond fines: financial crime enables human trafficking, organised exploitation and large-scale consumer harm. It erodes trust in the financial system and constrains institutional growth.
Regulatory penalties and reputational damage are measurable consequences, whereas loss of systemic confidence is harder to quantify but equally significant.
“The institutions that win will be those that treat compliance as engineered infrastructure, not regulatory paperwork,” Brad says. “This is about building systems that anticipate risk rather than absorb loss.”