Sells banks and payment firms a modular, cloud-based platform for AML transaction monitoring, screening and fraud prevention that can replace a rules engine or sit on top of one as an AI overlay, adding in 2026 AI agents that investigate AML alerts and review screening hits.
What is Hawk, and which banks use it?
Hawk is a private Munich software company, founded in 2018, that sells AI anti-money-laundering, sanctions-screening and fraud software to banks and payment firms. One Peak led its $56 million Series C in April 2025; Macquarie Capital and Rabobank are among earlier investors. Hawk reported more than 80 customers, and its named bank customers are European, including Commerzbank and Deutsche Bundesbank. No bank among our 100 largest US banks is publicly named as a customer. Pricing is not published; Hawk sells through demos and sales-led contracts.
Category
Founded
2018
Headquarters
Munich, Germany
Ownership
Private; founded by Tobias Schweiger and Wolfgang Berner. Its $56 million Series C (April 2025) was led by One Peak, with existing investors Macquarie Capital, Rabobank, BlackFin Capital Partners, Sands Capital, DN Capital, Picus and Coalition. No valuation has been disclosed.[10][1]
Deployment
SaaS (multi-tenant, multi-cloud) or private cloud
Pricing
Sales-led enterprise SaaS contracts; modules (AML, screening, fraud) sold separately or together under one contract · not published
Banks among the 100
0
- Hawk raised a $56 million Series C announced April 8, 2025, led by One Peak with existing investors Macquarie Capital, Rabobank, BlackFin Capital Partners, Sands Capital, DN Capital, Picus and Coalition; it said the money would fund product work and expansion, particularly into the US.
- Hawk said at the Series C that it had more than 80 customers, from large Tier 1 banks to mid-market financial institutions and fintechs (vendor-reported).
- Commerzbank uses Hawk's 'AML AI Extended Risk Model' on top of its existing rule-based compliance systems; Hawk's March 2026 release says the bank increased alert accuracy, reduced false positives and detected more novel money-laundering or fraud cases (no figures given).
- Deutsche Bundesbank selected Hawk in a tender, announced September 26, 2025, for fraud detection first, with sanctions screening, terrorist-financing monitoring and KYC to follow later.
- In January 2023 Hawk said more than 40% of its revenue came from the USA and that revenue grew 298% year over year in 2022; its first announced US customer was the payments company North American Bancard (April 2021).
- In 2026 Hawk added AI agents: an AML Investigative Agent that drafts case summaries and SAR narratives with human-in-the-loop checkpoints (March), and Payment and Customer Screening Agents that can close false-positive hits under the institution's policy (September).
- Pricing is not published; Hawk's site offers a demo request rather than plans or prices.
What does Hawk sell to banks?
| Product | What it does | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Transaction Monitoring and Customer Risk Rating[2][3] | AML transaction monitoring combining rules with explainable machine learning, and customer risk scoring, in real time or batch. | Generally available |
| AML AI Overlay (AML AI Extended Risk Model)[2][16] | AI models that sit on top of a bank's existing rule-based monitoring through an integration layer, without replacing it; the product Commerzbank uses. | Generally available |
| AML Investigative Agent[17] | An agentic-AI overlay, launched March 25, 2026, that gathers data, summarizes cases, identifies typologies and drafts SAR narratives, pausing at defined steps for human review. | Generally available |
| Customer Screening and Payment Screening[2][20] | Sanctions and watchlist screening of customers and payments, with an optional AI False Positive Reduction model added in September 2026. | Generally available |
| Payment Screening Agent and Customer Screening Agent[20][4] | AI agents, launched September 16, 2026, that gather internal, external and web data on screening hits and either prepare them for an analyst, act as one reviewer in a four-eye workflow, or close them under the institution's policy. | Generally available |
| Fraud prevention (transaction fraud, scams and mules)[2] | Real-time fraud prevention across payment rails and channels, with self-serve rules. | Generally available |
| Check fraud prevention[14] | A US check-fraud product, launched November 20, 2025, combining Mitek's image forensics and consortium data with Hawk's AI and rules. | Generally available |
| Analytics Studio[15] | AI model lifecycle tool, launched January 14, 2026, with model templates, copilot-guided model building, performance dashboards and automated model documentation. | Generally available |
How much does Hawk cost?
How it is charged: Sales-led enterprise SaaS contracts; modules (AML, screening, fraud) sold separately or together under one contract.
Hawk does not publish a price list.
Pricing is not published; Hawk's site asks buyers to request a demo and lists no plans, tiers or prices.
Which banks use Hawk?
None of the 100 largest US banks covered on this site is publicly named as a Hawk customer as of Sep 24, 2026. Customers the company names are listed in the key points above.
Among the 100 largest US banks on this site, from sources that name the bank: the bank, Hawk or the press. Status is the furthest stage a source confirms.
What is Hawk AML, screening and fraud platform?
One platform with AML (transaction monitoring, customer risk rating, AML AI overlay, AML Investigative Agent), screening (customer and payment screening) and fraud (transaction fraud, check fraud, scams and mules) modules, delivered as SaaS or in a private cloud, with Analytics Studio (2026) for building and governing the AI models.[2][3][15]
What has Hawk done, and when?
- Sep 16, 2026
Launches AI screening agents[20]
Hawk launched an AI False Positive Reduction model and Payment and Customer Screening Agents for sanctions and watchlist hits.
- Jul 22, 2026
Hires NICE Actimize veteran Eli Chamoun as President and CRO[19]
Chamoun joined after 18 years at NICE Actimize, where he was Global Vice President and Global Head of Sales.
- Mar 25, 2026
Releases AML Investigative Agent[17]
Hawk released an agentic-AI tool that automates data gathering, case summaries and SAR narrative drafts, with human review steps.
- Mar 10, 2026
- Jan 14, 2026
Launches Analytics Studio[15]
Hawk launched Analytics Studio for building, retraining, documenting and governing its fraud and AML models.
- Nov 20, 2025
Launches US check-fraud product with Mitek[14]
Hawk launched check-fraud prevention for US banks and credit unions, combining Mitek image forensics and consortium data with its own AI.
- Sep 26, 2025
Selected by Deutsche Bundesbank[13]
The Bundesbank awarded Hawk a tendered contract for fraud detection, to be extended later to sanctions screening, terrorist-financing monitoring and KYC.
- Apr 8, 2025
- Jul 31, 2024
Macquarie Capital joins as investor[9]
Macquarie Capital joined a further Series B extension, which Hawk said would support growth in Asia-Pacific and the US.
- Jun 11, 2024
Rabobank joins in Series B extension[8]
Rabo Investments joined an extension of the Series B, which Hawk said came with a substantial increase in valuation (not disclosed).
- Jan 26, 2023
$17 million Series B led by Sands Capital[7]
Sands Capital led a $17 million Series B with DN Capital, Coalition, BlackFin and Picus; Hawk reported 298% revenue growth in 2022 and more than 40% of revenue from the USA.
- Jun 23, 2021
$10 million Series A led by BlackFin[6]
BlackFin Capital Partners led a $10 million Series A, with Picus Capital increasing its stake, to expand in Europe and the US and into Singapore and the UAE.
- Apr 7, 2021
North American Bancard becomes first announced US customer[5]
US payments company North American Bancard adopted Hawk's real-time AML transaction monitoring; Hawk said the deal started its US expansion, alongside a new US-based SaaS offering.
- Jan 1, 2018
Founded in Munich as HAWK:AI[1]
Wolfgang Berner and Tobias Schweiger founded the company, originally named HAWK:AI, in Munich to apply AI to AML and regulatory compliance.
What do banks use Hawk for?
| Use | What it does | Status | Use case |
|---|---|---|---|
| AML transaction monitoring and AI overlay[16][2] | Rules plus machine-learning monitoring, or an AI overlay on an existing rules engine, to raise alert accuracy and cut false positives; in use at Commerzbank. | In production | AML / KYC |
| Sanctions and watchlist screening[2][20] | Customer and payment screening, with AI false-positive reduction and screening agents added in September 2026. | In production | AML / KYC |
| Payment and check fraud prevention[13][14] | Real-time fraud scoring across payment rails, and a US check-fraud product built with Mitek; the Bundesbank is implementing Hawk for fraud detection first. | Rolling out | Fraud detection |
| AI agents for AML investigations and screening hits[17][20] | Agents that gather evidence, summarize cases, draft SAR narratives and close or escalate screening hits under the institution's policy, with human checkpoints. | Announced | Generative & agentic AI |
| Model lifecycle and governance[15][21] | Analytics Studio's model documentation, versioning and performance dashboards, and a 2026 paper with Oliver Wyman on governing AI agents in financial-crime work. | Announced | Model risk management |
What has Hawk disclosed in numbers?
| Metric | Value | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Series C funding | $56 million, led by One Peak[10][11] | Apr 8, 2025 |
| Customers (vendor-reported) | More than 80 customers globally, from Tier 1 banks to mid-market institutions and fintechs[10] | Apr 8, 2025 |
| Earlier rounds | $10 million Series A (June 2021) and $17 million Series B (January 2023), with undisclosed Series B extensions in 2024[6][7][9] | Jul 31, 2024 |
| Revenue growth and US share (vendor-reported) | 298% year-over-year revenue growth in 2022; more than 40% of revenue from the USA; operations in more than 60 countries[7] | Jan 26, 2023 |
| Results claimed on Hawk's homepage (vendor-reported) | 70% fewer false alerts, 62% less AML investigation time, 55% fewer payments wrongly blocked for sanctions, 30% more fraudulent customers caught[2] | Sep 24, 2026 |
“Every financial institution that wants to reduce compliance workloads and increase the accuracy of risk detection should be using AI to achieve those goals”[10]
Tobias Schweiger · CEO, Hawk · Apr 8, 2025
“Given the complexity of the landscape, we can only successfully combat financial crime with the help of AI.”[16]
Viktor Kraus · Cluster Lead Global Financial Crime Prevention Platform, Commerzbank · Mar 10, 2026
“The cost savings offered by agentic AI in financial crime and compliance are simply too compelling for any bank or payment firm to ignore”[17]
Wolfgang Berner · Chief Product Officer, Hawk · Mar 25, 2026
Who runs Hawk?
Which rules apply to a bank using Hawk?
| Authority | Why it matters here | Documents |
|---|---|---|
| FinCEN | Hawk's transaction monitoring and AML Investigative Agent feed a bank's BSA suspicious-activity process, including SAR narrative drafts; the 2018 joint statement lets banks pilot such tools without presuming a pilot alone meets BSA obligations, and FinCEN's April 2026 proposal would weigh effective use of AI in assessing an AML/CFT program. | 2018 Joint Statement on BSA/AML Innovation 2026 AML/CFT Program Proposed Rule |
| Federal Reserve | Hawk's machine-learning detection models and the models built in its Analytics Studio are vendor models a bank must validate under SR 26-2, which replaced the 2021 BSA/AML model risk statement. | SR 26-2 |
| OCC | A US bank that runs AML monitoring or sanctions screening on Hawk's SaaS takes on third-party risk that OCC Bulletin 2023-17 covers across the vendor relationship, and OCC Bulletin 2026-13 sets model-risk expectations for the AI models it obtains from Hawk. | OCC Bulletin 2023-17 OCC Bulletin 2026-13 |
| OFAC sanctions compliance | Hawk's Payment and Customer Screening Agents can close sanctions hits as false positives under a bank's policy; the bank, not Hawk, stays liable for any payment to a sanctioned party, so the policy and audit trail behind each automated closure matter. |
Linked authorities have a page in the AI Regulation Tracker; the others are named for completeness.
What should a bank note before buying Hawk?
Analysis by BankingNewsAI from the sources cited on this page. Observations, not advice or a recommendation.
01
Pricing is not published
Hawk lists no plans or prices; its site routes buyers to a demo request, and contracts are sales-led.
02
No large US bank is publicly named as a customer
None of our 100 largest US banks appears in Hawk's releases or case studies. Its named US customers are payments and fintech firms such as North American Bancard, and its named bank customers are in Germany (Commerzbank, the Bundesbank).
03
Results are vendor-reported
The false-positive, investigation-time and detection figures come from Hawk's own site and releases; Commerzbank's release describes improvements without figures, and none of the numbers is independently audited in the sources reviewed.
04
The AI agents are new
The AML Investigative Agent (March 2026) and the screening agents (September 2026) are recent; Hawk's published evidence is a single measured deployment on its product page, and Hawk itself says governance guidance for such agents does not yet exist.
05
The Bundesbank contract is phased
The Bundesbank release covers fraud detection first; sanctions screening, terrorist-financing monitoring and KYC are described as later extensions.
06
Senior commercial team changed in 2026
Hawk appointed a new Chief Customer Officer in May 2026 and a President and Chief Revenue Officer from NICE Actimize in July 2026.
What are the alternatives to Hawk?
NICE Actimize
Fraud, AML, sanctions screening, KYC, case management and trade surveillance software for banks, on X-Sight and Xceed platforms.
Quantexa
Decision Intelligence platform: entity resolution and network analytics for AML, KYC and fraud; Cloud AML SaaS for US mid-size banks.
ComplyAdvantage
AML screening, monitoring and payment screening on its own risk data (sanctions, PEPs, adverse media), with AI agents for alert review.
Unit21
Fraud and AML platform: transaction monitoring, screening, case management and SAR filing, with AI agents that run alert investigations.
SymphonyAI
Financial-crime software for banks: AML transaction monitoring, sanctions screening, KYC, payment fraud and AI investigation agents.
How much does Hawk cost?
Hawk does not publish pricing. Its website asks prospective buyers to request a demo and does not list plans, tiers or prices. It sells its AML, screening and fraud modules through sales-led contracts, and says institutions can run several modules under one contract, delivered as multi-tenant SaaS or in a private cloud.
Which banks use Hawk?
No bank among our 100 largest US banks is publicly named as a Hawk customer. Hawk's named bank customers are German: Commerzbank uses its AML AI Extended Risk Model, and Deutsche Bundesbank selected it in 2025 for fraud detection. Its first named US customer was the payments company North American Bancard, in 2021. Hawk reported more than 80 customers in April 2025.
Who owns Hawk?
Hawk is privately held. It was founded in Munich in 2018 by Tobias Schweiger, its CEO, and Wolfgang Berner, its Chief Product Officer. One Peak led its $56 million Series C in April 2025, joined by earlier investors Macquarie Capital, Rabobank, BlackFin Capital Partners, Sands Capital, DN Capital, Picus and Coalition. Hawk has not disclosed a valuation.
Is Hawk a bank or a regulated financial institution?
No. Hawk is a software vendor that sells AML, sanctions-screening and fraud tools to banks and payment firms. The banks that use it remain responsible for their BSA/AML and sanctions obligations and examine Hawk as a third party under vendor-risk guidance; Hawk itself is not a bank.
Does Hawk replace a bank's existing AML system?
It can do either. Hawk says its modular platform can replace a rules-based system or enhance one: its AML AI overlay, which Commerzbank uses, adds AI models on top of existing rule-based monitoring through an integration layer. Its 2026 AML Investigative Agent is also described as an overlay that fits existing case-management tools.
What is Hawk's AML Investigative Agent?
Launched March 25, 2026, it is an agentic-AI tool that gathers data for an AML case, summarizes it, identifies typologies and drafts suspicious activity report narratives. Hawk says it pauses at defined steps for human review or approval, and records its reasoning, confidence scores, citations and actions for auditors.
- Hawk — Ending Financial Crime. Together. (undated page, retrieved 2026-09-24)
- Hawk – Increase Your Risk Coverage. Improve Efficiency. (undated page, retrieved 2026-09-24)
- The Cloud-Native Technology Powering Hawk (undated page, retrieved 2026-09-24)
- Payment Screening Agent: Agentic AI for Sanctions Hit Review (undated page, retrieved 2026-09-24)
- North American Bancard enters partnership with HAWK:AI
- HAWK:AI raises 10M USD in Series A led by BlackFin Capital Partners
- Hawk AI Accelerates Global Expansion with $17 Million Series B
- Hawk Extends Series B Funding, As Rabobank Joins Existing Investors To Fuel Global Banking Client Growth
- Hawk Expands Series B Funding with Macquarie to Accelerate Global Banking Client Growth
- Hawk Raises $56 Million in Series C Funding
- Hawk Raises $56 Million to Help Banks Counter Financial Crime
- Commerzbank Taps Hawk to Fight Money Laundering With AI
- Bundesbank Strengthens Fraud Prevention with Hawk Technology
- Hawk Expands U.S. Fraud Solutions Portfolio with Check Fraud Technology
- Hawk Unveils Analytics Studio, Enabling Financial Institutions to Optimize AI Model Lifecycle for Fraud and AML
- Commerzbank Optimizes Anti-Money Laundering Measures through AI Partnership with Hawk
- Hawk Releases AML Investigative Agent to Drastically Reduce Costs and Enhance Quality of Anti-Money Laundering Investigations
- Hawk Appoints Daniel Marshall as Chief Customer Officer to Expand Global Customer Success and Scale AI Value Delivery
- Hawk Appoints NICE Actimize Veteran as President & Chief Revenue Officer to Scale Use of AI in Anti-Financial Crime
- Hawk Launches New AI Risk Screening Capabilities to Tackle False Positives
- Hawk Outlines Framework for Governing Agentic AI in Financial Crime Investigations
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