Heka vs Sardine (2026)
The choice is between a platform that reads the device, the session and the payment and a layer that checks the identity behind them, and Heka positions itself beside Sardine rather than in its place. Sardine folds device intelligence and behavior biometrics, from a network it puts at 6.5 billion devices profiled, into fraud scoring from onboarding through payments, and adds sanctions screening, transaction monitoring, credit underwriting and ten agents that work alert queues. Its Sonar consortium shares anonymized risk intelligence among members. Heka scores only the identity: whether an applicant's digital footprint, social presence, contact data, public records and breach exposure agree, returned as a 0 to 100 score with the source for each signal. Heka's argument is that a careful fraudster can keep a device clean while the identity behind it has no history, so the two products read different evidence about the same applicant. Sardine names customers from FIS and Coastal to Nubank and Kalshi, while Heka's fraud results come from unnamed lenders. Both are sold through a demo, with no published price.
- Device and session checks pass and losses arrive months later. Heka tests whether the identity behind a clean device has a history anywhere outside the application.
- Thin file applicants clog manual review. A global payments platform cut those reviews by 90 percent after adding Heka's evidence on top of its controls.
- Account changes need checking against the customer's past. Heka flags a new phone or email that has no history with the identity or turns up in breach data.
- Pension tracing or underwriting research is also on the list. The same engine traces members, confirms deaths and sorts adverse findings by severity.
- Fraud, sanctions screening and transaction monitoring should come from one vendor. Sardine runs them on one platform with one contract and one API.
- Account takeover and scams show up in how people use their device. Sardine fuses device intelligence and behavior biometrics into every signal it scores.
- Alert queues are outgrowing the team. Sardine offers ten agents, from transaction monitoring to suspicious activity report drafting, that run against queues or inside an institution's own systems.
- Credit decisions need fraud signals in the same flow. Sardine extends from onboarding and payments into credit underwriting.
This comparison is published by AI FinTech Index, an independent research platform that publishes independent ratings of AI vendors for financial services. Heka and Sardine are each graded against the same capability taxonomy, from each vendor's own public materials and the regulatory record, under the AI FinTech Index verification standard. No vendor pays for placement, and no vendor has reviewed this page. How this evidence is graded
Plain facts
| Heka | Sardine | |
|---|---|---|
| Primary category | Fraud Detection & Transaction Risk | Fraud Detection & Transaction Risk |
| Founded | 2021 | Not published |
| Headquarters | New York, New York, United States | San Francisco, California, United States |
| Website | hekaglobal.com | www.sardine.ai |
Side by Side
Select any grade to read the note behind it.
| Axis | H Heka |
S Sardine |
|---|---|---|
| AI Centrality | ||
| Autonomy and Oversight Model | ||
| Model Risk Management and Transparency | ||
| Operational and Outcome Evidence | ||
| AI Safety and Data Stewardship | ||
| GLBA and Data Privacy Posture | ||
| Security Certifications and Trust Center | ||
| Regulatory Status and Licensure | ||
| AI Governance and Bias Disclosure | ||
| AI Liability and Recourse | ||
| Model Supply Chain Disclosure | ||
| Core Systems and Integration Depth | ||
| Deployment Model and Data Residency | ||
| Commercial Transparency | ||
| Institution and Segment Coverage |
The short version of each
Heka
Heka sells the identity layer of a fraud stack to lenders, banks, card issuers, fintechs and payment platforms. It resolves an applicant's digital footprint, social presence, contact data, public records and breach exposure to one person and returns a 0 to 100 identity risk score with the source behind each signal. For existing customers it checks changed contact details against the footprint it already holds. A global payments platform cut thin file manual reviews by 90 percent with Heka on top of its controls, and the same engine traces UK pension members.
Source: AI FinTech Index, 2026
Sardine
Sardine, headquartered in San Francisco, unifies fraud prevention, anti money laundering compliance and credit underwriting on one platform built around device intelligence and behavior biometrics, which it folds into every signal. It covers onboarding, account funding and payments, adds sanctions and politically exposed person screening, transaction monitoring and network investigation, runs the Sonar consortium for shared risk intelligence and offers ten agents for alert work. Named customers range from FIS, Coastal and LHV to Nubank and Kalshi, and its developer documentation is public.
Source: AI FinTech Index, 2026
Common questions
Is Heka a replacement for Sardine?
Heka works best as an added layer beside Sardine rather than a replacement, according to the AI FinTech Index: Sardine reads the device, the session and payments, and Heka reads whether the identity behind them is consistent across outside sources.
How do Heka and Sardine spot account takeover?
Sardine reads device intelligence and behavior biometrics during the session. Heka flags changed contact details, such as a new phone first seen days ago or a new email found in breach data, and checks them against the customer's long standing footprint. Graded by AI FinTech Index against the same capability axes from each vendor's own published materials, verified October 12, 2026. No vendor pays for placement.
What does each product do once an account is open?
Sardine stays with the account through payments, with transaction monitoring and agents working alert queues. Heka checks existing accounts when details change and settles accounts that sit in a gray area: a payment processor got a high confidence answer on 75 percent of accounts its own scam warnings could not classify. Graded by AI FinTech Index against the same capability axes from each vendor's own published materials, verified October 12, 2026. No vendor pays for placement.
What outcomes do Heka and Sardine report?
Sardine cites Prezzee, a digital gift card company, with more than 90 percent higher approvals while card fraud fell. Heka cites unnamed lenders, including a digital lender that found 48 percent more fraud in a backtest against its existing controls. Graded by AI FinTech Index against the same capability axes from each vendor's own published materials, verified October 12, 2026. No vendor pays for placement.
Related comparisons
Other published head to head assessments involving these vendors or their closest peers. The full set for this category is on the Fraud Detection & Transaction Risk page.
Sardine names an affiliate, SardineAI Payments, Inc., without describing its role. Heka trades as Heka Global Inc. and Heka Solutions Ltd., and its Series A was led by Windare Ventures.