Data analytics and automation part of the tool kit for a safer banking environment

THE banking industry has had its share of money-laundering and fraud schemes over the last five years. These issues have become significant enough for banks to start investing heavily in some form of defence.

Yes, there are strict Know Your Customer (KYC) processes in place to verify the identity of customers and curtail some of the risks, and regulators have stepped up their requirements to ensure the country risk elements are dealt with efficiently - but these methods are not able to detect all financial crime, which evolves on a day-to-day basis.

Incidents of client data (financial and personal) being hacked and held for ransom are commonplace now. Money laundering activities revolving around the sale of drugs, weapons and terrorist financing have also picked up over the years. Financial fraud, which has always been the mainstay of technology-savvy criminals, has also increased markedly across geographies. There are numerous cases of online scammers and swindlers in the news every day.