Financial Crime & Fraud


Mastercard Buys in to AI with Brighterion

Mastercard has entered into an agreement to acquire Brighterion Inc., a software company specializing in artificial intelligence. This acquisition follows Masterdard’s March acquisition of NuData Security and will further expand Mastercard’s capabilities to “deliver an enhanced customer experience and security.”

Blockchain and Bitcoin round-up: 10 July 2017

Reading doesn’t have to be a trial. Our latest blockchain and Bitcoin round-up keeps it ultra-brief. Featuring Mt. Gox, less than smooth criminals, the Council of the European Union and Coinsource. Mark Karpeles, the former CEO of collapsed Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox, will go on trial in Tokyo next week on charges stemming from the […]

People on the Move: W2 Global Data

U.K.-based W2 Global Data, a provider of regulatory, KYC/AML and fraud prevention solutions, has welcomed three new hires, including Alex Lafferty, Richard Evans and Kerry Cleary.

People on the Move: RiskIQ

Digital threat management firm RiskIQ has expanded its management team with three new executive appointments, including Nick Puetz, Jenna Raby and Clarence Cheuk.

SEC Files Fraud Charges in Bitcoin, Office Space Scams

A U.K. citizen living in New York is facing fraud charges brought by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in relation to two bogus investment schemes. Renwick Haddow allegedly reaped millions of dollars from investors in his supposed bitcoin platform Bitcoin Store Inc. and in Bar Works Inc., which offers office space in renovated restaurants and bars.

Money20/20 Europe: let AI negotiate

Are trends eclectic for artificial intelligence (AI)? Perhaps not as the fintech world is getting more imaginative and calling for the machines to negotiate on behalf of less-than-objective humans. At this morning’s (26 June) sessions at Money20/20 in Copenhagen, the themes of AI use cases in financial services and fraud were discussed.

Finastra heads to IBM cloud for digital banking

Fintech titan Finastra is turning to IBM to power its banking operations with cloud and cognitive technologies. As reported yesterday (14 June), Misys and DH Corporation (D+H) joined forces to create Finastra, the third largest financial services technology company in the world. With Finastra now officially alive and kicking, it’s wasted no time in showing […]

Want to Fight Fraud? Join the Team—Literally

All payment providers and merchants grasp the dynamic nature of fraud. But fraud prevention requires more than the latest software and security protections—it requires active collaboration. Here’s why.

Visa Bolsters Transaction Security

Visa is beefing up its Verified by Visa authentication service. The payments network said it’s upgrading its back-end to support 3-D Secure 2.0. The 3-D Secure messaging protocol was invented by the network more than 15 years ago and has become an industry standard for online authentication.

Fintech funding round-up: 30 May 2017

It’s all go for money flow. Our latest fintech funding round-up, featuring NetGuardians, Banco BNI Europa, Raize and Wave. Swiss fraud prevention vendor NetGuardians has reported a Series C investment of CHF 8.5 million ($8.7 million). The investors in this round are Swisscom Ventures and Freemont Management. The financing will be used to fund NetGuardians’ […]

U.S. EMV Hits Milestone: 1 Billion Visa Chip Transactions in March

U.S. EMV use has hit a milestone. Visa said that for the first time, the number of Visa chip card transactions topped 1 billion last month, a 330 percent increase from March 2016. The announcement comes as the payment network reported a 42 percent overall increase in processed transactions in its 2017 fiscal second quarter.

Kid me not fraud with GoHenry digital deal

GoHenry, a UK-based digital banking solution to help young people manage their money, has appointed fraud prevention firm Featurespace to safeguard customers’ accounts. GoHenry was founded by a group of parents to help young people aged six to 18 “learn good money habits”. It is a subscription service, which offers a prepaid debit card and […]

SWIFT Strengthens Security with New Payment Controls

SWIFT has launched a real-time payment controls service to add to its customers’ existing fraud controls. The fraud and cybercrime prevention service permits its customers to screen their payment messages according to their own chosen parameters, “enabling them to immediately detect any unusual message flows before transmission,” according to an April 12 company announcement.

Swift calling time on cybercrime with new payment controls

Swift has unveiled a new real-time payment controls service to add to its customers’ existing fraud controls. The new fraud and cybercrime prevention service will enable its customers to screen their payment messages according to their own chosen parameters, “enabling them to immediately detect any unusual message flows before transmission”. Yawar Shah, chairman of Swift, […]

Are You Protected from Contact Center Fraud?

Payments companies are used to defending themselves against fraud from all sorts of angles, but they would do well to mind the phones. By 2020, 75 percent of omni-channel, customer-facing companies will face a targeted attack, with the contact center as the primary point of compromise, according to Gartner research.

Mastercard buys NuData Security for IoT spree

Mastercard will acquire Vancouver-based biometrics firm NuData Security as it looks to make something out of the internet of things (IoT). NuData provides online and mobile anti-fraud solutions using session and biometric indicators. Mastercard will integrate NuData to its suite of fraud management and security products. Ajay Bhalla, president of enterprise risk and security for […]

A vaccination for financial crime

ransaction monitoring is emerging as one of the top priorities for banks and other financial institutions. Some now employ up to three per cent of their workforce to track financial crime. But, as leadership teams look to increase the effectiveness of their processes in the face of regulatory scrutiny and reduce costs, are there lessons to be learnt from health industry and its battle against infectious diseases?

Criminals turn their attention to online fraud in the US

Criminals have deepened their focus on U.S. online transactions since the country’s October 2015 EMV liability shift, with card-not-present fraud expected to hit $6.4 billion in 2018, according to a new report from the U.S. Payments Forum. The expected total would represent a 23 percent increase from fraud losses in 2017, and a 68 percent increase from 2016.

Wells Fargo Faces New Pressure from Top Democrat over Fake Accounts

The top Democrat on the U.S. House Financial Services Committee wants to interview executives from Wells Fargo over a scandal about fake accounts its employees set up for customers. Last year, the CFPB announced a $100 million fine against Wells Fargo for what the agency called “widespread unlawful sales practices.” The agency said the fine was the largest such penalty it has ever issued.

White paper: break filter bubbles in banking enterprise fraud management

Synthesise holistic wisdom from core systems and not just from channel silos. From depth of analysis, ease of configuration/implementation and cross-channel fraud detection to insider fraud detection and real-time high availability, a synchronised enterprise fraud risk management approach delivers five compelling advantages over a delivery channel silos only approach.

Verifone Investigates Breach that Targeted U.S. Merchants

Terminal maker Verifone says it’s investigating a breach that involved an attempt to get into its corporate network and targeted U.S. merchants. The company, which sells point-of-sale technology, says the Jan. 17 incident has not resulted in any misuse of data.

Cybersecurity: computers or humans – where does the threat lie?

Digitalisation plays a key role in the fight against payment fraud. Yet Commerzbank’s cybercrime specialists in cash services show that even in this technologically advanced environment, security threats persist. Companies must take steps to ensure that human beings – as well as computers – are protected against crime.

Global ATM Hacker Sentenced to 8 Years in Prison

The ringleader of three highly organized, global cyberattacks on ATMs resulting in $55 million in losses was sentenced Feb. 10 to eight years in prison and ordered to pay more than $55 million in restitution.

Trend Watch 2017: Payments Year in Review

Paybefore’s first-ever payments year-in-review report, sponsored by The Bancorp, is available now. Offering an in-depth look at key trends and the Top 10 payments stories from 2016 that will continue to shape the industry in 2017 and beyond, this must-have resource examines everything influencing the industry from the CFPB and Uber to Brexit and Trump and much more.

Cyren sounds siren over Bitcoin siphon scam

US-based internet security firm Cyren has discovered an outbreak of malware which is stealing passwords as well as Bitcoin from cryptocurrency wallets on PCs. Avi Turiel, director of threat research at Cyren, says in a blog post this “versatile” keylogger malware is being delivered as an attachment to phony bank transfer emails, which inform the […]

Money rolls

Our new series of thrillers – produced and directed by CustomerXPs and Banking Technology – narrate the tales of the fight between the forces of good (the Clari5 analytics and anti-fraud software) and the forces of evil. Based on real events and guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat!

Industry views: ushering in a New Year

To kick off 2017, we asked industry leaders to tell us what happened in 2016 that will most affect their businesses and where they will be investing in 2017 and why.

Inside job

Our new series of thrillers – produced and directed by CustomerXPs and Banking Technology – narrate the tales of the fight between the forces of good (the Clari5 analytics and anti-fraud software) and the forces of evil. Based on real events and guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat!

Blacklisted

Our new series of thrillers – produced and directed by CustomerXPs and Banking Technology – narrate the tales of the fight between the forces of good (the Clari5 analytics and anti-fraud software) and the forces of evil. Based on real events and guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat!

Top fintech stories this week – 21 October 2016

Catch up on Banking Technology’s top five fintech stories of the week – all in one place! Bank of Ireland in major tech revamp EXCLUSIVE. Accenture and Capgemini working on Project Omega. Trouble in the R3 paradise? Thinking about time and money. Millions at risk from India ATM hack Debit cards in danger due to […]

Blockchain.info gets hacked

Bitcoin wallet provider Blockchain.info has been the victim of a hack attack on its DNS servers. It experienced an outage for several hours while under attack, and Peter Smith, the CEO and co-founder, says its internal systems “alerted our infrastructure team who immediately began to assess the attack” but it “became clear the attackers gained […]