Assessment
Hawk watches transactions and screens payments and customers, then uses machine learning to rank or close alerts with a written reason. Use it when an AML team is buried in false positives from a rules-based system. Hawk can also sit on top of an existing system through its AML AI Overlay, which spares a bank a full replacement.
Hawk was founded in Munich, Germany, in 2018 and reports more than 80 customers, from Tier 1 banks to fintechs. One Peak led its ~$56M Series C in April 2025, with Macquarie Capital and Rabobank among the existing investors. German accounts show gross profit of ~$11M for 2024 and a loss of ~$6M; revenue itself is not published.
It fits a mid-size or large bank, a payment company or a fintech with high transaction volumes. It is a weaker fit for a small firm that mainly needs identity checks at sign-up.
Rating by criterion
Each of the eight criteria below is scored out of 100.
Sector criteria
Hawk screens customers and payments against sanctions, PEP and adverse-media lists, but it does not check identity documents. Pair it with an ID verification vendor at sign-up.
Transaction monitoring, payment screening, fraud detection and customer risk rating share one set of data. A bank can combine static details such as product and country with transaction behaviour when it sets risk ratings.
Each alert carries the risk factors that drove it and the expected range of normal behaviour, in plain language. An investigator can close or escalate with the reason already written, and screening agents can prepare or close alerts under the bank's own policy.
Hawk's case to regulators is explainability: each model decision can be traced back to its inputs. A bank should still run its own model validation before switching off rules.
Vendor criteria
Hawk has added the AML AI Overlay for existing systems and screening agents that cut false hits. The company says alert accuracy reached almost 90% in some cases.
The overlay lets a bank start without removing its current system, which shortens the first project. A full replacement is still a large project for a bank.
No prices are published. A buyer has to request a quote.
Contract terms are not public. Ask about the term length, exit rights and how alert data is returned at the end.
Against its peers
These are the other companies in KYC, AML and identity, with their ratings.
Fact file
| Headquarters | Munich, Germany |
|---|---|
| Customers | More than 80, from Tier 1 banks to fintechs |
| 2024 gross profit | ~$11M, from German accounts; revenue not published |
| Products | Transaction monitoring, payment screening, customer screening, fraud detection, customer risk rating |
| Latest round | ~$56M Series C, April 2025, led by One Peak |
Competitive landscape
Transaction-monitoring and screening vendors a bank would compare with Hawk.
Hawk: 76
- Hawk76
- ComplyAdvantage80
- Strise75
- Napier AI75
- Salv73
- NICE ActimizeNot reviewed
- FeedzaiNot reviewed
Comparisons
Key leadership
Tobias Schweiger co-founded Hawk in 2018 and is chief executive. Wolfgang Berner, the other co-founder, is chief product officer.
How this review was created
This profile gives our own assessment of Hawk to companies selecting a KYC, AML & identity provider. The Fintech Index receives nothing for featuring a firm, for sponsorship, or for advertising, and Hawk gave us no payment for the profile.
The rating equals the average of eight criteria, with every criterion running from 0 to 100. Four address buyer needs in this sector, and four address the company together with its commercial terms.
Ratings are our editorial judgment, made from public information: pricing and legal pages, product documentation, compliance disclosures, and filings. Fact-checking took place on October 21, 2026.