General questions
Answers to the questions people ask most about what FlowSentry is, who it is for and how the workspace behaves.
tocOn this page
- About FlowSentry
- What is FlowSentry?
- Who is it for?
- What principles does it follow?
- Does FlowSentry make us compliant?
- Your institution's data
- Can other institutions see our data?
- Can our thresholds and workflows differ from other institutions'?
- Where does the data come from?
- How quickly do figures update?
- Using the workspace
- Why can't I see a page that a colleague can see?
- How do I find my way around?
- What is Ask Sentry?
- Where do I approve things?
- Browsers and appearance
- Which browsers are supported?
- Can I use dark mode?
- Is the workspace accessible?
- Getting help
- Where can I get help?
- Related
This page answers the questions we hear most often from new users and from institutions evaluating FlowSentry. If your question is about a specific area, the other FAQ pages cover AI, security, screening and risk, and troubleshooting in more depth.
About FlowSentry
What is FlowSentry?
FlowSentry is an AI-assisted anti-money-laundering (AML) and transaction-monitoring platform. It brings together, in one workspace:
- transaction monitoring with real-time rules and scenarios
- screening against sanctions, PEP and internal lists
- customer risk rating with enhanced due diligence (EDD)
- client onboarding, where your institution has switched it on
- case management and investigations
- regulatory reporting, including goAML STR/SAR and CTR files for the Financial Reporting Centre (FRC)
- dashboards and analytics
- AI assistants that draft, explain and summarise, but never decide
Who is it for?
FlowSentry is built for banks, SACCOs, microfinance institutions, digital lenders, payment service providers and fintechs. It is designed for Kenya first and applies equally across Africa and beyond. Inside an institution, it serves analysts and investigators, MLROs and their deputies, KYC and onboarding staff, risk managers, administrators, integration engineers, auditors and senior management, each with a view suited to their role.
What principles does it follow?
Three principles shape every screen:
- Human accountable, AI accelerated. Assistants prepare drafts; people make every regulated decision.
- Maker-checker on every regulated outcome. One person proposes, a different person approves, so no one acts alone on a filing, a rule, a list or a sensitive setting.
- Every action is attributed. Actions are recorded against a named person in a tamper-evident audit trail.
Does FlowSentry make us compliant?
FlowSentry supports your compliance programme with monitoring, screening, risk rating, case management, reporting and evidence. Your institution remains responsible for its programme, its policies and its decisions.
Your institution's data
Can other institutions see our data?
No. FlowSentry is multi-tenant: each institution (a tenant) is isolated. Every record belongs to one institution, and that is enforced on every query. Your internal watchlists are never used to screen another institution's customers.
Can our thresholds and workflows differ from other institutions'?
Yes. Every threshold, list and workflow is configurable per institution. Built-in monitoring scenarios use named parameters that your institution can tune, and a tuned version applies to your institution only.
Where does the data come from?
Customers, accounts and transactions arrive from your own systems, such as core banking, brokerage or mobile-money platforms, through signed API connections or file uploads. Every record traces back to the run that loaded it. Sanctions and PEP lists are maintained by the FlowSentry list desk, and your institution can add its own internal lists.
How quickly do figures update?
It depends on where you are looking:
| Where | How fresh |
|---|---|
| Alerts raised by monitoring rules | As transactions arrive and are evaluated |
| Customer register | Within about 15 minutes of a change |
| Dashboards and analytics | Refreshed about every 15 minutes, and dashboards auto-refresh every five minutes; the Updated time shows when |
| Risk ratings | Rated automatically when a customer is loaded or changed, with a regular catch-up for anyone missed |
Note: Dashboards read summary data prepared in the background, not the live transaction tables. After a new deployment, figures fill in within about 15 minutes.
Using the workspace
Why can't I see a page that a colleague can see?
What you see is driven by your roles. A module appears in the icon rail only if you can open at least one of its pages, and a page you cannot open never appears in the rail, flyouts or command palette. The same checks run on the server every time you act, so hiding a button is never the only control. If you believe you need access, ask your administrator.
How do I find my way around?
Use the icon rail on the left to open each module's flyout, or press Ctrl+K (⌘K on a Mac) to open the command palette and jump straight to a page, action or record. See Finding your way and Keyboard shortcuts.
What is Ask Sentry?
Ask Sentry is a read-only AI copilot available on every page. Open it with Ctrl+J (⌘J) or the sparkle button in the app bar and ask about the page or records you can already see. It answers with links to its sources and never takes action for you.
Where do I approve things?
The notifications bell in the app bar shows items waiting for you, and My approvals (/approvals/inbox) collects everything waiting for a second pair of eyes across every module. You cannot approve your own changes.
Browsers and appearance
Which browsers are supported?
Use a current version of a modern browser such as Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox or Safari. FlowSentry keeps a live connection to the server while you work, so a stable network connection matters more than the browser you choose. Passkeys need a browser and device that support them, such as Windows Hello, Touch ID or a security key.
Can I use dark mode?
Yes. Open the user menu by selecting your name in the app bar and choose Theme: Light, Dark or System. Your choice is remembered in that browser.
Is the workspace accessible?
Everything is keyboard operable, with a visible focus ring and a Skip to main content link. Esc closes overlays such as the palette, flyouts, drawers and dialogs.
Getting help
Where can I get help?
- Open the Help menu in the icon rail for help and presentation links.
- Ask Sentry can explain what is on the page you are looking at.
- For access, roles, account resets or anything about your institution's configuration, ask your administrator.
- For platform issues, your administrator can contact the FlowSentry team.
Tip: When you report a problem, include the time it happened and, if an error page appeared, the Reference it showed. Never share passwords or authenticator codes.