Top 5 Death Master File APIs for 2026: DMF Screening for Safer Payments
Death Master File (DMF) APIs are tools that help organizations screen payees and identities against death-related data sources—most notably SSA death data distributed through the DMF—so payments, refunds, and benefits aren’t sent to individuals who are deceased. Used appropriately, DMF screening is a practical control for reducing fraud tied to deceased identities.
Manual checks and static files are time-consuming and error-prone. When death screening is integrated into your business systems, identity checks can run automatically during onboarding, profile updates, and payment workflows—without relying on human operators for every decision.
Ahead, we look at five vendors that offer DMF-oriented screening and verification capabilities, and also explore how Compliancely can bring tax ID, sanctions, and business screening into a single, compliance-first workflow.
Why Death Master File Screening Matters for Modern Compliance
DMF screening helps you compare your payee or customer records against death information reported to the Social Security Administration (SSA) and distributed through NTIS.
Two things to know upfront:
- Recent records are restricted. DMF data for the three-calendar-year period after death generally requires certification through the NTIS Limited Access Death Master File (LADMF) program.
- Vendors don’t all use the same source. Depending on the use case, a “DMF API” provider may use LADMF-certified access, permitted DMF products, and/or other lawful death data sources.
Why teams use it
Death screening helps reduce:
- payments or refunds sent to deceased individuals
- fraud tied to deceased identities
- operational rework and downstream reporting issues
It’s most relevant for organizations that issue credit, pay insurance claims, process benefits, or send refunds—the line of work where a missed match can create financial loss, reputational damage, and compliance risk.
Top 5 Death Master File API Tools for 2026
Compliancely
Compliancely doesn’t treat DMF like a standalone “lookup and move on.” It’s part of a broader screening flow, so you can run DMF alongside sanctions/watchlist screening and the tax ID and identity checks your team already relies on (e.g., TIN/EIN, KYB/KYC). You can run screening through real-time APIs (with webhooks) or the dashboard, and support batch/bulk workflows for high-volume operations—depending on how your ops team actually works.
Key features
- Real-time DMF screening available via API endpoints
- DMF checks are combined with tax ID verification and sanctions/watchlist screening
- API and dashboard access, with audit-ready records to support compliance review
Pros
- Centralizes verification logic to reduce fragmentation across teams and tools
- Helps cut manual handling and inconsistent decisions
- Scales for high-throughput onboarding and payment/insurance operations
Cons
- Less suited to low-frequency, ad hoc screening needs
- It may seem more heavyweight than required for DMF-only use cases
LexisNexis Risk Solutions
LexisNexis Risk Solutions offers deceased and mortality-related screening as part of its broader risk and identity data services. In the U.S., offerings such as LexisNexis® Deceased Solutions/Death Records can help flag deceased identities by matching your records against the SSA Death Master File (DMF) plus other sources (e.g., state records, obituaries, and proprietary databases), and may return details like match strength and date of death (availability depends on entitlement/permissible use).
Key features
- Deceased screening/monitoring using SSA DMF, along with additional sources (state records, obituaries, proprietary databases)
- Match outputs may include match strength and date-of-death indicators (where available by source or permissions)
- Permissible-use and access controls apply—full DMF date-of-death data for recent deaths may require credentialing/certification
Pros
- Broad data ecosystem for complex financial services and insurance workflows
- Deceased indicators can strengthen broader fraud and identity risk decisioning
Cons
- Integration can be more involved (often implemented within larger risk/identity workflows, not as a lightweight “single endpoint” setup)
- DMF-derived signals are commonly packaged within broader deceased/identity data products or monitoring services, rather than positioned as a DMF-only API
- If you also need TIN/EIN verification and sanctions screening, those are typically handled as separate controls and may require additional products/vendors in your stack (depending on your current tooling)
Experian
Experian includes deceased indicators as part of its broader identity verification and fraud detection stack—typically surfaced alongside other identity, SSN, and credit-related risk signals. For example, Experian Fraud Shield can return a deceased Social Security number indicator (and may include fields like date of birth and date of death where available), while platforms like Precise ID and CrossCore are designed to deliver identity/fraud decisioning into real-time onboarding and transaction workflows.
Key features
- Identity and fraud checks that include death and credit indicators
- APIs delivering risk scores into onboarding and payment processes
Pros
- Best for organizations already relying on Experian data and workflows
- Helps reduce fraud tied to deceased identities
Cons
- DMF-specific controls are less visible than in dedicated DMF tools
- Tax ID and sanctions screening often require a separate vendor
- Costs can increase if DMF screening is the primary requirement
MicroBilt
Instead of positioning itself as a broad “platform,” MicroBilt leads with a single-purpose DMF Verification/Validation service. You submit identity details, and the service returns a deceased/not-deceased result—plus city and state when a deceased record is found. That makes it a practical pre-check for claims, benefits, and other payout workflows where you want a quick deceased-identity signal before funds go out.
Key features
- Deceased or non-deceased signals are based on submitted identity details
- Reference data supporting eligibility, claims, and fraud workflows
Pros
- Simple, DMF-focused API that is easy to integrate
- Can work with existing systems without replacing them
Cons
- Narrower scope than unified verification platforms
- If you need DMF plus tax ID verification (TIN/EIN) and sanctions/watchlist screening, you’ll typically add separate products/tools (and possibly separate vendors)
Equifax
Rather than positioning DMF as a dedicated “death master file API,” Equifax typically surfaces deceased/death-related signals as part of broader credit and identity risk workflows. For example, Equifax notes that once a deceased notice is present, credit searches in the deceased person’s name can return a flag to the lender to help reduce fraud risk.
Key features
- Death-related signals show up as part of broader identity and credit risk checks
- You can plug the data into lending, onboarding, and fraud decisions through APIs
Pros
- Trusted choice for lenders and large financial teams
- Allows identity and credit risk handling in the same place as deceased indicators
Cons
- The DMF is part of a wider risk product
- Not built around a single workflow that also covers tax ID validation and sanctions screening
Evaluating Death Master File API Providers
Before choosing a DMF provider, start by defining where death screening matters most in your workflow:
- Claims processing
- Retirement or benefit disbursements
- Vendor payments and refunds
- Tax reporting and filings
Decide what’s “good enough” coverage
In some workflows, a point-in-time check at onboarding or right before payment is enough. In others, DMF works better as a standing control that runs in the same flow as TIN/EIN verification, sanctions and watchlist screening, and KYC/KYB checks—so the decision is consistent and repeatable, not a one-off lookup.
Validate performance against your operational reality
Evaluate providers based on:
- Expected volumes
- Response times/latency requirements
- Match accuracy and match logic transparency
- False positives
Test with real cases
If your goal is to confirm the system can detect risk consistently and produce audit-ready documentation of what was checked, when, and what the result was, use real-world scenarios, historical fraud examples, or even edge cases like name changes and incomplete records.
Avoid gaps created by file-based methods
Relying on static, file-based checks can create gaps between identity verification, DMF screening, and tax workflows—especially when data changes between file refreshes or between teams/systems.
How Does Compliancely Elevate Your DMF Screening Process?
Compliancely acts as a central verification layer that brings DMF screening together with TIN/EIN validation, KYB/KYC, sanctions/watchlist screening, and address verification in one governed system. Instead of managing multiple tools and spreadsheets, teams can work from a single entity record with audit-friendly results for each check—what was run, when it was run, and what the outcome was—plus webhook support to automate downstream workflows.
FAQs
1. What is a Death Master File API?
It’s a way to check a person’s identity details against death data—often tied to SSA/DMF sources where access is allowed—to help spot a “likely deceased” match before you onboard someone, send money, or file reports. Depending on the provider, you can run it instantly in a workflow or process a batch file.
2. Who benefits most from DMF screening?
Any team that sends money at scale. So, banking and lending, insurance, pensions/benefits, payroll, and tax operations can benefit from DMF screening, as payments to the wrong identity can lead to losses and complex cleanup issues.
3. Can DMF checks be combined with TIN/EIN and sanctions screening?
Yes. Many teams run death screening alongside tax ID validation (TIN/EIN), KYB/KYC, and sanctions or watchlist checks so that all decisions are consistent and stay documented in one place.
The Bottom Line
Do not rely on outdated records. Modernize your DMF screening with Compliancely to help reduce fraud, overpayments, and payments to incorrect identities.
Schedule a demo to see how DMF screening fits into a broader workflow that supports tax ID validation, sanctions screening, and audit-ready documentation
