Finastra has announced its partnership with Swiss fintech NetGuardians, which sees the two companies launching an AI-powered fraud detection solution for financial messaging. Tailored for Finastra’s SWIFT Service Bureau, the tool uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to identify fraudulent payments in real-time, stopping them before money leaves the bank or corporate organisation.

“Fraud is a growing problem around the world and a big challenge for banks; and unfortunately the SWIFT network has found itself a target in recent years," said Joel Winteregg, co-founder and CEO at NetGuardians. "With regulators urging banks to be more vigilant to this threat, we have built a tool that empowers banks to proactively prevent fraudulent activity before it can occur and keeps them one step ahead in the fight against financial crime." 

NetGuardians says that, since January 2019, its customers have stopped more than US$1m in fraudulent payments. Unlike other rules-based solutions, the software uses a combination of AI and machine learning to proactively monitor for anomalies. It captures all network traffic and SWIFT MT 101, 103 and 202COV payments, analysing unusual user activity to ultimately suspend suspected fraudulent transactions.

The tool’s algorithms continuously learn about the bank’s payment instruction patterns, allowing it to identify high-risk message anomalies without needing to configure any rules. As a result, customers can benefit from rapid implementation, improved detection and prevention rates, as well as a decrease in false positives and time spent on fraud investigation. The solution helps banks conform to SWIFT’s mandatory Customer Security Program.

“The launch of our AI and machine learning based fraud detection solution marks an important step forward in helping banks tackle the challenge of financial crime," commented Riteesh Singh, senior vice president, Financial Messaging and Services at Finastra. "Integrated with Fusion Total Messaging, the solution enables banks and corporate organisations to protect their customer’s wealth and their own reputation, with fast and cost-effective implementation in Finastra’s Service Bureaus.”