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About Risk Scoring

TrustGate's Risk Engine provides intelligent, configurable risk scoring to help you make informed decisions about customers and transactions.

What is Risk Scoring?​

Risk scoring quantifies the potential risk associated with an applicant, company, or transaction based on multiple factors. A higher score indicates higher risk.

Risk Score Scale​

Score RangeRisk LevelTypical Action
0-25LowAuto-approve
26-50MediumStandard review
51-75HighEnhanced review
76-100CriticalSenior escalation

How Risk Scores are Calculated​

┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                    RISK INPUTS                          │
├─────────────┬─────────────┬─────────────┬──────────────┤
│ Identity    │ Screening   │ Geography   │ Behavior     │
│ Factors     │ Results     │ Risk        │ Signals      │
└──────┬──────┴──────┬──────┴──────┬──────┴───────┬──────┘
       │             │             │              │
       v             v             v              v
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│              RISK ENGINE (AI + Rules)                   │
│  • Weight factors based on configuration                │
│  • Apply business rules                                 │
│  • Adjust for context                                   │
└─────────────────────────┬───────────────────────────────┘
                          │
                          v
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│                  RISK SCORE (0-100)                     │
│          + Factor Breakdown + Recommendations           │
└─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘

Risk Score Components​

Identity Risk​

Factors from identity verification:

FactorImpact
Document verification failed+20
Biometric match failed+25
Multiple verification attempts+10
Data inconsistencies+15

Screening Risk​

Factors from AML screening:

FactorImpact
Sanctions match+50
PEP match+25
Adverse media (high risk)+20
Adverse media (medium risk)+10

Geographic Risk​

Factors from location data:

FactorImpact
High-risk country (residence)+20
High-risk country (nationality)+15
Sanctioned jurisdiction+40
Tax haven jurisdiction+10

Behavioral Risk​

Factors from applicant behavior:

FactorImpact
Multiple applications+10
Rapid resubmission+15
Device fingerprint anomaly+20
VPN/proxy detected+10

Viewing Risk Scores​

Get Applicant Risk Score​

curl -X GET "https://api.bytrustgate.com/api/v1/applicants/{applicant_id}/risk-breakdown" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Response​

{
  "applicant_id": "550e8400-e29b-41d4-a716-446655440000",
  "risk_score": 45,
  "risk_level": "medium",
  "calculated_at": "2025-01-20T14:30:00Z",
  "factors": [
    {
      "category": "screening",
      "factor": "pep_match",
      "contribution": 25,
      "details": "PEP Tier 2 - Family member of government official"
    },
    {
      "category": "geography",
      "factor": "high_risk_country",
      "contribution": 15,
      "details": "Nationality: Country with elevated AML risk"
    },
    {
      "category": "identity",
      "factor": "verification_passed",
      "contribution": 0,
      "details": "All identity checks passed"
    }
  ],
  "recommendation": "enhanced_review",
  "recommendation_reason": "PEP status requires enhanced due diligence"
}

Company Risk Scores​

Company risk scoring is coming soon. Currently, company risk levels can be set during company review via the POST /api/v1/companies/{company_id}/review endpoint.

Risk Score History​

Track risk score changes over time:

curl -X GET "https://api.bytrustgate.com/api/v1/workflows/risk/{applicant_id}/history" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
{
  "history": [
    {
      "score": 25,
      "level": "low",
      "calculated_at": "2025-01-15T10:00:00Z",
      "trigger": "initial_verification"
    },
    {
      "score": 45,
      "level": "medium",
      "calculated_at": "2025-01-16T14:30:00Z",
      "trigger": "screening_completed",
      "change_reason": "PEP match identified"
    }
  ]
}

Recalculating Risk​

Manual Recalculation​

curl -X POST "https://api.bytrustgate.com/api/v1/workflows/risk/{applicant_id}/recalculate" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Automatic Triggers​

Risk scores recalculate when:

  • Verification status changes
  • Screening results update
  • Documents are verified
  • Cases are resolved
  • Monitoring alerts trigger

Risk-Based Decisions​

Risk-based decisions (auto-approve, auto-reject, escalation) are configured through workflow rules, not a dedicated settings endpoint. Use the workflow rules API to create rules that trigger actions based on risk score thresholds:

curl -X POST "https://api.bytrustgate.com/api/v1/workflows/rules" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "name": "Auto-approve low risk",
    "conditions": {"risk_score_max": 25, "all_checks_passed": true},
    "action": "approve"
  }'

See Workflow Rules for full configuration options including auto-reject and escalation rules.

Best Practices​

  1. Calibrate thresholds: Adjust score thresholds based on your risk appetite
  2. Review edge cases: Manually review scores near threshold boundaries
  3. Monitor trends: Track average scores to identify systematic issues
  4. Document decisions: Record rationale for risk-based decisions
  5. Periodic review: Reassess scoring weights quarterly

Next Steps​