In a market where premium databases sell on quote at banking rates, Dilisense stands out: screening from €0.01 per check, batch screening straight from an Excel file with zero integration, a documented REST API, and even a full database download to screen on your own servers. For a budget-constrained NGO, it is the anti-World-Check.
One question remains that price does not settle: does a one-cent screening produce audit-proof compliance? This article details what Dilisense solves — and what it leaves open.
Dilisense for NGOs: one-cent screening, and the true cost of everything else
Reading time: ~4 min
Table of contents
- What is dilisense?
- Its strengths
- The limits for an NGO
- Comparison with Abvius integrated screening
- The Abvius approach
- Mini FAQ
1. What is dilisense?
Dilisense is a Swiss screening data and API provider: sanctions (OFAC, EU, OFSI, UN and 120+ other lists), PEPs, criminal watchlists and adverse media, with sources from more than 190 jurisdictions, each traceable to its official origin. The database refreshes multiple times per day. Three usage modes: a real-time REST API, batch screening from Excel with no integration, or a full database download for on-premise screening — without sending names externally. Pricing from €0.01 per screening breaks the market's codes.
2. Its strengths
Price. At this level, screening cost stops being a reason not to screen. For a small NGO, that is a real unlock.
Excel batch with no integration. Screening 2,000 suppliers by dropping a file, with no IT department or technical project: the lowest entry step on the market.
Source traceability. Every record links back to its official source — exactly what an auditor wants to verify.
The on-premise option. Download the database and screen locally, without exposing your partners' names to a third party: a genuine asset in sensitive contexts.
3. The limits for an NGO
Point-in-time screening is not a framework. A quarterly Excel batch leaves gaping blind spots: the supplier created between two batches and paid unscreened, the list update the following week, the hit noted in a comment cell. An auditor spots those holes immediately.
Hit disposition and evidence stay artisanal. Who analysed the hit on row 847? With what elements? Where is the decision archived? Excel answers none of this in an evidentiary way.
No link to financial flows. Nothing blocks a payment to a doubtful third party; nothing attaches the screening to the expense, the project, the donor.
4. Comparison with Abvius integrated screening
| Criterion | Dilisense | Abvius integrated screening |
|---|---|---|
| Nature | Data + API + Excel batch | Service embedded in the humanitarian ERP |
| Unit cost | From €0.01 per screening | Included in the platform |
| Entry step | Very low (Excel file) | None: automatic screening in the flow |
| Continuity | Batches to re-run manually (or API to integrate) | Automatic triggers + rescreening on updates |
| Hit disposition | Outside the tool (to organise) | Built-in traced workflow |
| Payment blocking | No | Automatic on unresolved hit |
| Audit evidence | Batch results to archive yourself | Certificate filed in the project's audit folder |
5. The Abvius approach
Abvius shares a conviction with Dilisense: screening should not be a luxury reserved for large organisations. The difference is in the form: rather than an on-demand service the NGO must orchestrate, Abvius integrates screening into the natural flow of work — third-party creation, commitment, payment — with automatic rescreening of the master on every list update. Hit disposition is a traced workflow, a doubtful third party blocks financial flows, and the compliant certificate is automatically filed in the project's audit folder. One cent per screening becomes zero actions per screening.
6. Mini FAQ
Is dilisense a good starting point for a small NGO?
Yes — a regular Excel batch beats no screening at all, by far. But formalise from day one a written policy, a batch calendar, a documented hit-disposition process and evidentiary archiving. And anticipate the moment when volume makes this setup untenable.
Can the dilisense API be plugged into an existing ERP?
Technically yes, and it is a sound choice if you have a technical team. You will still need to build the triggers, financial blocking, hit workflow and per-project evidence filing — the core of what an auditor evaluates.
Is on-premise screening useful in humanitarian contexts?
In some sensitive contexts, not transmitting local partners' names to an external provider is a genuine protection consideration. Assess that need in your risk analysis.
Summary
Dilisense has democratised access to screening data — a real service to the sector. But between data access and a compliant framework lies the whole process: triggers, hit disposition, blocking, evidence filed per project. That process is what Abvius embeds natively. To go further: NGO screening guide and Excel and NGO financial management: the 5 major risks. To discuss it, contact our teams via abvius.org.