Match Score

The matchScoreConfidence is an aggregation of scored field-level comparisons between your input parameters to the possible matches in the Creditsafe Global Database of company records, it is returned on each result of a Confidence Match search.

It is advised to provide as many of the fields as possible to get the higher matchScoreConfidence value (and more accurate matches). 

We look for companies with various combinations of the input parameters optimized to find possible company matches. The parameter combinations are not joined using an AND statement, so that if one field value is wrong, it will not stop results returning - the score of that field will not contribute value to the overall score.   

The following parameters are recommended to be used in one single confidence match search:

Country

Name

Registration Number or  VAT Number

Address (combined) or  House Number + City + Street + Postcode

Phone Number

Website
Registration Type

Status

A higher score can be obtained using more unique-match parameters.

Interpreting the matchScore

Anything over the matchScoreConfidence of 900 is considered a potential "match", with increasing confidence in each result up to a maximum of 999. 

A matchScoreConfidence of lower 900 values (say 903) isn't necessarily incorrect but implies the match has been found on a combination of less unique criteria, such as one address field and a loosely related name.

It is generally always advised to take the top result, and in conjunction with the ordering of results, to use the matchExplainPlan object (according to your own personal risk appetite) to get additional insight into the match. 

i.e I may take the top result of all confidenceMatches > 910, and if the matchScoreConfidence is < 910 but the top result has a matchScoreName rank of > B, and a matchScoreRegNo rank of A then that may satisfy my own risk criteria. See below for more information:

Field level Scores in the matchExplainPlan

The following matrix explains the field grading system returned on each potential match in the matchExplainPlan object:

For example:

means that the name of the company is an Exact Match between the found company, and the provided parameter.

whereas 

means that the name of the company is similar in essence to the result, when common Industry Keywords are not considered. (such as Engineering, Manufacturing etc.)

Example Call

Here is an example postman collection demonstrating a call returning a 999 match - https://www.getpostman.com/collections/8794dd8abef886a3c831