Credas vs Stratum for UK letting agents — which AML provider?
Credas and Stratum / Certaby compete on UK letting-agent AML compliance but at very different volume tiers and pricing models. Credas is the residential-property market incumbent — the firm claims 60% of UK housing transactions involve them, 350,000+ monthly users, and the #1 position in UK identity verification by app-store reviews. Stratum / Certaby is a new entrant focused on per-call transparency + property-risk depth.
**On capabilities, Credas wins**: ID + biometric verification, AML, sanctions, PEPs, source-of-funds via Open Banking, KYB across 400M+ companies, Right-to-Rent + Right-to-Work checks, plus Trust Framework certification under the UK Government's Digital Identity scheme. Credas also ships the Credas Wallet (shareable compliance credentials) and Director Checks. Stratum / Certaby today ships sanctions, PEP, adverse media, UBO walk, and property risk; biometric ID and Source-of-Funds are queued behind paying-customer signal per the W30 routing.
**On pricing model, Stratum / Certaby wins for low-volume buyers**: Credas is subscription-based with multi-year contracts and a quote-only entry tier (sales-cycle gated). Stratum / Certaby is per-call PAYG — £4.95 per letting-agent suite check at single-volume, dropping to £2.95 at 1000-pack. No contract, no minimum monthly commitment, no demo required.
**On the unique angle, Stratum / Certaby is differentiated**: the property-risk overlay (flood, radon, coal mining, contaminated land, knotweed, EPC + MEES, postcode-level crime) is bundled into the same audit-grade PDF as the AML check at no additional cost. None of the 22 vendors surveyed in the 2026-05 competitive landscape — including Credas — overlay this on a compliance flow. The audit-grade PDF with SHA-256 hash binding + 7-year retention + public verifier URL is also unique.
For a 1-10-staff letting agency running <500 lets per year, the Stratum / Certaby PAYG entry beats Credas on cost-to-first-check + contract flexibility. For a 50+-staff regional group running >2,000 lets per year, Credas's volume-pricing + biometric depth may win. The pivot point is around 500 checks per year.
Source: Credas
Last updated 2026-05-09.