ThetaRay and Matrix USA have announced a partnership to help financial institutions modernise transaction monitoring programmes without replacing existing rules-based infrastructure.
The collaboration combines ThetaRay's AI detection engine and agentic investigation suite with Matrix USA's integration expertise across legacy and hybrid AML environments. The offering is positioned as a turnkey AI overlay, allowing banks and fintechs to layer machine learning-driven scoring and anomaly detection on top of established platforms rather than undertaking full system replacement.
Regulatory drivers and implementation approach
The partnership comes ahead of significant regulatory changes taking effect across the US and Europe in 2026. In the US, FinCEN's AML modernisation initiatives are pushing institutions towards advanced analytics and adaptive monitoring. In Europe, the EU's new Anti-Money Laundering Regulation and the establishment of the Anti-Money Laundering Authority are similarly accelerating the shift away from purely rules-based compliance programmes.
Many financial institutions face a practical constraint, namely, deploying AI within legacy infrastructure that was built over decades and cannot be easily replaced. Matrix USA brings over two decades of experience working with global banks and payment firms operating complex cross-border and on-premise environments. ThetaRay contributes its cognitive AI detection engine alongside Ray, its agentic investigation suite, designed to augment rather than displace existing controls.
The combined offering targets false-positive reduction, faster alert resolution, improved analyst productivity, and automated transaction monitoring investigations, within existing system architectures. Implementation is led by Matrix USA's AML specialists and is intended to be low-disruption.
Brad Levy, CEO of ThetaRay, described the current moment in AML as a transition from debating whether AI belongs in financial crime compliance to determining how it is deployed responsibly at scale. Lior Blik, CEO of Matrix USA, framed the partnership as a practical path for institutions that need to meet evolving regulatory expectations without rebuilding their entire technology stack.
Market context
The AML technology market has seen growing demand for solutions that bridge the gap between legacy rules engines and modern AI capabilities, particularly as supervisory expectations shift towards programme effectiveness rather than checklist compliance. Partnerships that combine AI detection with systems integration expertise are emerging as a common response to this challenge across the banking and fintech sectors.
