The most common tactics used by financial institutions to detect illicit activity are rules-based detection scenarios applied by transaction monitoring systems. These rules are straightforward and not complex in nature, with some being necessitated by OCC regulations. When a transaction triggers one or multiple rules, an alert is created and passed to an investigator who must decide if it is a false positive, worth investigating, or escalating to the authorities. Since rules are simplistic in nature, they tend to create ..read more

A cryptocurrency is a digital currency that can be used to buy goods online. Cryptocurrencies work using blockchain, a decentralized technology spread across many computers that manage and record transactions. Part of the appeal of this technology and it’s growing usage is its security.   There are more than 14,500 cryptocurrencies according to coinmarketcap.com and nearly impossible to regulate because of the decentralized infrastructure of Blockchain. Cryptocurrency eliminates centralized control of money by governments and off ..read more

There is a nice piece out in Tech Republic that recounts a conversation between reporter Nick Heath and Google Deepmind co-founder Demis Hassabis. What struck us in the conversation are two things that we have talking and writing about for awhile – the applicability of deep learning and the need for AI to power major scientific breakthroughs. Let’s take them in turn. First off, deep learning is a boon to the field. Powered by algorithmic progress by academics and systems innovations from the likes of Nvidia, storage from the cloud providers and broad, open-source libraries of algorithms the pe ..read more

The team at Chartis Research is about as well regarded in financial services as you get. Their flagship report on the RiskTech100 is the bible for the industry and their ability to go deep on the issues AND the technology set them apart. They have recognized Ayasdi consistently. We won their top spot in for AI in 2016 and 2017 and took the runner-up slot in 2018 (a three-peat would have been unprecedented). The team over there continues to dial it up – and the 2019 Artificial Intelligence in Financial Services Market and Vendor Landscape is a superb example. Over 24 pages, they detail the best ..read more

Habits of a lifetime were changed over the past 18 months whether it was working remotely, limited contact and travel restrictions, and the list goes on. Communication across all realms moved online during the pandemic which created a perfect storm for cybercriminals to up their game and deploy much more sophisticated and targeted attacks.   However, despite the advances in technology, humans remain the weakest link in the chain whether it be in the analogue or digital world. They are complex creatures of habit with a web of ..read more

As economies slowly bounce back after months of lockdowns and social distancing, consumers are looking to resume their daily lives. Moving house, booking a trip, buying a new car or a big-ticket item delayed due to Covid-19 are now firmly back on the agenda.  This renewed enthusiasm for spending and borrowing though comes with a warning – fraud is on the rise and financial institutions need to ensure their defences are watertight. This is no surprise because during the past 15 months, sophisticated fraudsters have capitalised on every opportunity the pandemic has given them as consumers m ..read more

Governance Risk and Compliance leaders recognize that making a shift from a rules-based to models-based approach is necessary to keep up and respond to the developing reality that financial crime is increasingly complex. Financial firms continue to expand their digital footprint across all products and channels, making the risk to their ecosystems and customers exponentially more complex, diverse, and risky. The mindset must change too if a financial crime is attempted and to consider how the financial industry will respond.  Will it continue to be reactive or invest in technologies to be ..read more

2020 shaped up to be a year no one will ever forget or one that anyone could have seen coming. Within a few short months, the global landscape of how society lives and works changed completely, and a different way of life was forced upon us. This was exceptionally difficult for the financial industry that has existed for centuries and is one of society’s essential businesses. Compliance staff transitioned to remote working, which slowed down major internal functions such as conducting KYC, customer risk profiling, transaction monitoring alerts and watchlist screening. Stimulus relief was rapi ..read more

Despite more stringent anti-money laundering (AML) regulation over the past decade, combating financial crime continues to be a major problem for financial institutions. Natwest is the latest bank to be under regulatory scrutiny but there have been a multitude of incidents during the past year as the pandemic accelerated the pace of digitalization which in turn opened the door even wider for fraud and money laundering. In fact, regulators issued more than $10 billion in AML fines to global financial institutions in 2020, a 26% hike from 2019 figures, according to research from Fenergo. Breakin ..read more

In 2015 machines could “see” better than humans and in 2016 AlphaGo learned to play Go and beat Lee Sedol. By 2018 Waymo launched the world’s first self-driving taxi service, and in 2020 GPT-3 learned the internet. It is clear that the pace of AI innovation is accelerating exponentially, and this is only a glimpse of things to come.   The question we are asking ourselves at AyasdiAI is “can we build the self-driving car of financial crime detection?” It’s a bold aim, yes. But is it impossible – absolutely not!   Illicit money flows in ever grea ..read more