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Overview

Synctera continuously computes a Customer Risk Rating (CRR) for every customer and business. The rating is driven by a set of platform conditions, each contributing a weighted score. In most cases these built-in conditions capture the risk signals you need — but banks and FinTechs often maintain their own risk data outside of Synctera that should influence the rating. External scores give you a controlled way to feed that data in. An external score tells the platform: “for this customer (or business), apply this externally sourced risk score as an input to the CRR calculation.” The score is used directly as a condition weight, so it flows through the same rating machinery as Synctera’s native conditions. Key characteristics:
  • Scoped — each external score is tied to a resource_id (a customer_id or business_id) and a resource_type (CUSTOMER or BUSINESS).
  • Weighted — the score (an integer from 0–100) is used directly as a condition weight in the CRR calculation.
  • Overridable — set high_risk_override to true to force the resource’s computed CRR rating to high regardless of the numeric score.
  • Auditable — an optional description and free-form metadata object let you record why the score was applied and where it came from.

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When to use external scores

Common scenarios include:
  • Risk / rules engine integration — A FinTech runs its own transaction-monitoring or rules engine and pushes the resulting risk scores into Synctera so they factor into the managed CRR rating.
  • Compliance-driven high-risk indicators — Operational staff flag a customer during an ongoing compliance investigation. Creating an external score with high_risk_override set to true forces the customer’s rating to high while the review is underway.
  • Third-party risk data — Scores sourced from an external vendor (fraud, sanctions, credit) are injected so they contribute to the overall rating alongside Synctera’s built-in conditions.

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Prerequisites

This guide assumes you have: You should also be familiar with:

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The external score object

An external score contains the following key fields:
See the API reference for the full request and response schemas.

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Managing external scores

1

Create an external score

Use POST /v0/crr/external_scores. At minimum you must provide a resource_id, a resource_type, and a score.Example: Score from a rules engineA FinTech’s rules engine produces a risk score for a customer and pushes it into Synctera so it contributes to the managed CRR rating:
Example: Compliance-driven high-risk indicatorDuring an ongoing investigation, operational staff force the customer’s rating to high regardless of the numeric score:
The response includes the system-generated id, creation_time, and last_updated_time:
2

List and review external scores

Use GET /v0/crr/external_scores to list scores. You can filter by resource_id and resource_type.
To retrieve a single external score by ID, use GET /v0/crr/external_scores/{external_score_id}:
3

Update an external score

Use PATCH /v0/crr/external_scores/{external_score_id} to modify an existing score. You can update the score, high_risk_override, description, and metadata fields.For example, to raise a customer’s score after a fresh evaluation from the rules engine:
4

Delete an external score

When an external score is no longer relevant — for example, once a compliance investigation is closed — remove it with DELETE /v0/crr/external_scores/{external_score_id}. The score stops contributing to the CRR calculation.

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Best practices

External scores directly influence a customer’s managed risk rating, and high_risk_override bypasses the numeric calculation entirely. Use them deliberately and always with a clear, documented rationale.
  • Record the source — Use description and metadata to capture where the score came from (rules engine, vendor, manual escalation) so a compliance reviewer can trace it later.
  • Keep scores fresh — When your external system re-evaluates a resource, PATCH the existing score rather than accumulating stale records.
  • Reserve high_risk_override for genuine escalations — Because it forces a high rating regardless of the numeric score, limit it to situations like active investigations, and remove it once the underlying condition clears.
  • Clean up when no longer relevant — Delete scores tied to time-bounded events (e.g., a closed case) so they don’t keep affecting the rating after the fact.
  • Review regularly — Use the list endpoint with filters to audit the external scores currently applied to a customer or business.

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API reference

See the full External Scores API reference for request/response schemas and all available parameters: