CFIT Teams With Tech/Banking Giants to Fight Financial Crime

The Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology (CFIT) has formed an anti-financial crime group.

The U.K.-based group announced the effort Monday (Sept. 2), noting it had recruited several tech and finance giants to its cause, including Amazon Web Services, Mastercard, Lloyds Bank, Revolut and Santander.

Also joining the group are regulators such as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR), with the goal of finding new ways to protect businesses and consumers from fraud.

“Digital verification is considered a key step in mitigating economic crime,” CFIT said in a news release provided to PYMNTS. “An enhanced digital identity for businesses that can be shared and understood across institutions and sectors would help thwart fraudsters and create a more secure economy.”

The group aims to offer standardized, verified information about a business “that is interoperable with other financial systems for data cross-referencing, enhanced authenticity checks and additional fraud detection tools,” the release added. 

Meanwhile, Lloyds Bank, NatWest Bank and Monzo will work together on a proof of concept that tests the impact of a digital corporate ID, “including a reduced scope for accounts to be offered to potential criminals,” CFIT said. A report with recommendations on how British institutions could implement a digital verification solution is expected in March of next year.

In other fraud prevention news, PYMNTS spoke recently with Max Spivakovsky, senior director of strategy and operations, global payments risk management and onboarding at Galileo, about the tightrope banks walk as they provide digital services and payments choices to their end customers while protecting against scammers and cybercriminals.

He said this balancing act requires financial institutions (FIs) to take both proactive and reactive approaches, while also employing technological tools, as they defend themselves while creating a personalized, convenient customer experience.

“The legacy solutions just don’t work anymore,” he told PYMNTS. “Leveraging a single tool used to be the ‘paramount’ strategy of fraud mitigation years ago, but now it’s just not applicable. … The FIs must think about fighting fraud with a holistic perspective.”

The holistic approach can pay dividends while protecting banks from financial losses and harm to their reputation, he said.

“The client experience drives the engagement, and utilization of [banking] apps and programs,” Spivakovsky added.