Articles Archives

The NPP is starting to realise its potential

Posted on November 6, 2018October 27, 2023 by Marketing Team

We have been thrilled by the reaction to the recent article which broke the news about the New Payments Platform (NPP) collaboration between Cuscal and Assembly Payments. We’ve both been fielding lots of enquiries from companies keen to emulate Carsales and so we thought we’d write this article to tell you a bit more about how the collaboration works and the best way to bring the benefits of real-time payments to your customers.

We think the NPP is a fantastic opportunity for any e-commerce company that is sending large amounts of money around or just needs to move money fast. Whether this is large volumes of transactions (or just large transactions) the benefits are clear – immediate, verified payments with detailed descriptions will enhance customer experience and minimise enquiries.

What is the NPP and how do you connect?
The NPP is the new, decentralised payments infrastructure which allows participating financial institutions (including Cuscal and the RBA) to move money between each other in seconds, 24/7. To become part of the infrastructure (a ‘Participant’) is a lengthy, complex process and you are required to be an Authorised Deposit-taking Institution (as it’s a regulated environment and requires access to RBA settlement facilities). However, most companies don’t need to do this. They can get the same benefits, more cheaply and easily by connecting to one of the Participants.

What levels of connection and capability are there?
The second official level of connection to the NPP is called an ‘Identified Institution’. The collaboration between Cuscal and Assembly Payments is big news because Assembly is the first company that is NOT a financial institution to be officially recognised as an Identified Institution. This means Assembly can register and create PayIDs for others and offer NPP services to its own customers, like Carsales.

Complicated? It doesn’t have to be.
While the background, and some of the terms, are a bit complicated, actually using the NPP is getting easier. Most companies will connect through APIs. The New Payments Platform has recently published its API framework which enables third parties to get a greater understanding of the platform and what it can do, using a sample API Sandbox.

Each NPP Participant will support their own APIs based on the NPP API Framework. Cuscal has already released REST APIs, which is how Assembly accesses NPP and Osko services to move money in real-time between Cuscal and other financial institutions.

Using the NPP is even quicker and easier for those companies that don’t need to become an NPP Identified Institution but want the benefits that come with NPP and Osko payments. For example, Carsales is enabled for NPP services through the Assembly platform.

Which path is right for you?
It depends on what you want to do.

Talk to Cuscal if you want to become an Identified Institution, like Assembly, and offer PayIDs and NPP services to your own customers. This path will suit businesses such as financial institutions and payment service providers.
Talk to Assembly if you would like a full suite of multi-channel payment solutions including real time NPP payments, PayIDs, underwriting, fraud and KYC services. This path will suit many online businesses, especially corporate enterprises, marketplaces and ecommerce platforms.

If you’re confused as to which path is right for you, just get in touch with either one of us and we’ll steer you in the right direction!

By Nathan Churchward, Cuscal and Simon Lee, Assembly Payments

My key takeouts from our Curious Thinkers event

Posted on October 15, 2018February 1, 2024 by Uberbrand

We recently held our inaugural client conference ‘Curious Thinkers’ where local and international experts presented on the topics that are front of mind in the payments space. My key take out from the Conference was that now, more than ever, it is essential for financial services organisations to clearly understand their customers’ expectations. They then need to be able to respond quickly to those expectations while managing an increasingly complex compliance and regulatory environment.

Here are some other learnings which may help navigate the current landscape:

The importance of picking the right partners

Collaboration and partnering are essential to succeed in the current market. Leda Glyptis’s thoughts on partnership resonated with me. Leda highlighted the options available to financial institutions in this age of digital disruption and greater open-ness. I loved Leda’s tips on picking the right partner and which partners to avoid at all costs:

Vampires – companies that fundamentally undermine or steal our business
Cheese sandwiches – companies that add no value (this came from rowing, where you can tell the value of each rower by replacing them with a cheese sandwich and measuring the difference in boat speed)

Fraud prevention for the future

Nuno Sebastiao, the global CEO of our fraud partner Feedzai, outlined the capabilities of the Feedzai platform, including machine learning and AI. Nuno and his team’s presentations during the day reinforced our decision to roll out the Feedzai fraud solution. It is a best-in-class fraud monitoring tool that provides us and our clients with a holistic, and highly granular, view of each end customer. The ability to intimately know someone’s spending patterns, and so detect when something is out of character, will be crucial in preventing future fraud.

The role of regulators in a time of change

“Change is not new, of course… But what is unsettling for today’s financial institutions is the sheer pace of change.” Wayne Byres provided a timely and useful perspective on the challenges facing regulators and financial services companies today. In particular, he highlighted:

The role APRA plays role in promoting stability, but not protecting regulated entities or standing in the way of change
The necessity for many financial institutions to increase their technology budgets to allow new technologies while maintaining their current systems
APRA’s position on cloud usage, including safety and security

On the way to open banking

Scott Farrell, the Chair of the Australian Government’s Review into Open Banking, reminded us of the principles behind Open Banking: “to give customers more control over their data leading to more choice in banking and more convenience in managing their money.” Whilst many are concentrating on the compliance requirements that sit with open banking, we are really focussed on how we can enable some real growth opportunities for our clients in an open banking environment.

The ‘youthquake’ is coming – we’d better be ready.

Rocky Scopelliti outlined how the millennial generation views work, banking and the digital world. Two points which struck me in particular were:

Millennials are motivated by ‘purpose’ and ‘social equity’ more so than other generations.
Being online, or connected, is “as natural to them as breathing”. A great reminder of how crucial digital and mobile banking is to our future.

Innovation is over-used, but under-utilised.

We all talk about how important ‘innovation’ is, but if we’re honest, most of us don’t back up our words very well with concrete action. Charlotte Rush gave us practical, simple and scientifically validated methods to cultivate innovation. To turn this into action we then had a group ideation session on how to collaborate better to enable a seamless customer experience, from Cuscal to client to customer. We will be taking the best of these ideas forward in the year ahead.

Real-time payments have ramped up.

Now that all the major banks are live we’ve seen a 40% jump in New Payments Platform (NPP) transaction numbers between July and August. Adrian Lovney outlined the NPPA’s priorities for the coming years, including an expansion in reach, volume and capability. The ‘consent and mandate’ service will be particularly exciting. It will make direct debits simpler and more transparent, removing one of the major obstacles to account switching. It will also allow services like Osko’s ‘Request to Pay’ and pave the way for open banking. We will bring these innovations to our clients and their customers as quickly as possible.

How to lead in the digital age.

Stephen Scheeler emphasised how important it is for business leaders to understand the fundamentals of digital. If we fail to understand digital, we open the door to competitors that do (like the way Netflix rapidly overtook Time Warner). The points which stuck with me were:

The importance of data. Most companies only use about 5-10% of the data they hold on their customers, but it holds the keys to solving customer problems.
Be ‘obsessed’ with customer experience. Our customers buy things which solve their problems, if we don’t understand their difficulties we are taking them for granted.

The link between digital identity and open banking

Digital identity is rapidly evolving and there is no consistent global standard. Steven Bankston, from Visa, updated us on Europe’s leadership and outlined Visa’s plans for a global platform to incorporate digital identity into a seamless payments experience. What really struck me was the inextricable link between digital identity and open data. The interplay between the two will create both opportunities and threats in coming years.

As I reflect on the two days I’m hopeful that it has helped us to inspire closer collaboration with our clients and partners for the year ahead. We can only succeed if our clients succeed and I believe that our first conference has started some great conversations.

By Bianca Bates. Chief Client Officer

Curious Thinkers conference wrap-up

Posted on October 4, 2018February 1, 2024 by Uberbrand

Our inaugural Curious Thinkers conference, held on 24 & 25 September 2018, took our clients on a journey through innovation, thought leadership, product solutions and more to inspire thinking about the future of payments.

Over the course of the two days we covered a wide range of current and future-focused topics – from what’s happening globally in payments and how that impacts us here in Australia, to open banking, real-time payments, customer experience and how to drive innovation within organisations.

An exceptional line up of international and local thought leaders shared their expertise and insights, including: Dr Leda Glyptis (Chief of Staff, 11:FS), Nuno Sebastiao (CEO, Feedzai), Steven Bankston (Senior Director, Product Development Visa), Stephen Scheeler (The Digital CEO), Charlotte Rush (Innovation Consultant, Inventium), Rocky Scopelliti (Futurologist & Author), Scott Farrell (Partner, KWM) and many more.

Read the Conference highlights from our Chief Client Officer, Bianca Bates.

View video content from Curious Thinkers via the links below:

Curious Thinkers 2018 Showreel
Day 1 Playlist featuring Charlotte Rush , Rocky Scopelliti, Steven Bankston, Stephen Scheeler, Adrian Lovney (NPPA), Bianca Bates (Cuscal), Wayne Byres (APRA), Panel Discussion: Unlocking the potential of real-time payments, and Global Innovation Insights in partnership with PYMNTS.com presented by Bianca Bates and Sarah Whiteway (Cuscal)
Day 2 Playlist featuring Leda Glyptis, Nuno Sebastiao , Scott Farrell, Andrew Twaits (Bendigo Bank) and Panel Discussions: Open Banking Deep Dive, and Unlocking new tech to drive business growth.

P&N Bank launches instant digital cards

Posted on August 14, 2018February 1, 2024 by Uberbrand

P&N Bank is Cuscal’s first client to launch instant digital cards, using the Cuscal Virtual Card API set. The APIs allow companies to provide their customers with new or replacement digital cards into their mobile wallet within seconds. Without a digital version of the card, customers can be without access to their money for days or even weeks.

Cuscal’s Virtual Card APIs are the most comprehensive instant card issuance solution in Australia. No other financial institution in Australia currently provides instant card issuance for new and replacement cards and gives its customers access to the full virtual card to allow online payments.

Instant access to the full card number is particularly useful as it not only allows customers to pay for things in person, but also buy things online. This is particularly useful for customers who are travelling and their cards are lost or stolen. They can simply log into their mobile banking application or internet banking, order a new card and continue their holiday uninterrupted.

Cuscal Head of EFT, Acquiring and Digital Lauren McCormack said Cuscal was thrilled to have been able to help P&N Bank deliver this great advancement to its mobile and digital banking capability.

“We see it as a real win-win for both P&N and its customers, saving time and money for everyone involved. We also hope that it will help P&N Bank customers get access to their money more quickly and easily in those awful, stressful situations we all find ourselves in when our cards are lost or stolen,” she said.

Not only does instant card issuance have great customer benefits, it is also very useful for financial institutions and other companies that issue cards. They can save money by not needing to physically mail out PINs to their customers and also start earning revenue sooner by giving customers quicker access to their money. In the future, companies may decide to save even more money by not issuing physical cards at all.

Financial institutions and their customers can realise even greater benefits if they combine Cuscal’s Virtual Card API with the Card Control API. Financial institutions can decide to enable controls on a card (eg restricting spend for instore/contactless payments) until the physical card has arrived with the customer. This reduces the chance of someone intercepting a card while in the mail and then being able to make fraudulent payments.

Cuscal’s solution currently works for Visa and eftpos credit, debit and prepaid cards. Cards can be ‘provisioned’ (enabled in a mobile wallet) to Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay. The solution also works for any cards making payments via eftpos and Visa, companies do not need to be current clients of Cuscal to make use of the API’s capabilities.

Everyone wins when you enhance a banking app

Posted on July 13, 2018February 1, 2024 by Uberbrand

Times have changed. It’s now normal for consumers to buy their groceries, clothes and travel, read news, socialise and research major purchases via their phones. Even essential government services like Centrelink and Medicare are encouraging their customers to use their digital channels rather than face-to-face contact. Financial institutions must also provide opportunities for customers to complete more of their banking via digital channels.

A recent McKinsey and Company report ^[i] shows that customers across Asia – including Australia – have made a clear shift to digital banking in line with smartphone usage.

Mobile banking is now the preferred option for standard banking transactions such as checking account balances and paying bills. The report highlighted that deep digital engagement with customers can generate considerable value for banks: digitally active customers are stickier – they purchase 1.6 products per year, compared to 0.5 on average for non-digital customers; and active digital customers also own 1.5 times more banking products than their non-digital peers.

Enabling digital engagement at the front-end, where consumers interact with their bank’s services, is a crucial part of developing digitally active customers. Banking apps that are easy to navigate and rich in features provide a myriad of benefits to customers – and ultimately to financial institutions too.

Driving engagement with card and PIN controls

You can improve the richness of your existing digital channels, like banking apps, by introducing new functionality. This can increase your customers’ ability to self-service, encouraging ongoing, regular use of your banking services and improving their loyalty to your brand.

For a customer managing their banking, the ability to manage their card PIN through their banking app – rather than having to make time to visit the branch – is a perfect example of how a banking app which is rich in functionality can better meet customers’ needs. Indeed, for a customer with a crisis out of hours where they need money and have forgotten their PIN, the ability to take control and solve the problem themselves, using their banking app, can be an instant stress reliever.

Implementing enhanced card controls within a banking app is another great way to engage customers by giving them the tangible benefit of real-time management of their cards. Allowing customers to turn certain transaction types on and off with a swipe of their finger, or activate limit-based transaction blocks, creates both financially savvy and digitally engaged customers.

Enabling or disabling contactless payments, switching online or card not present transactions on and off, activating or de-activating ATM transactions (for domestic or overseas transactions) are all examples of everyday interactions banks can create for customers within their banking app. Some customers are asking for further controls, such as setting blocks on merchant categories and being notified when transactions are approved or declined.

Benefits for financial institutions

There is benefit for banks in moving functionality into online or digital channels.

Empowering customers to self-serve helps to lower cost-to-service metrics and enables customer service staff to focus on other priorities and higher value transactions.

Using a banking app as a delivery channel can help solve pain points for both customers and financial institutions. A good example of this is the emergence of virtual card capabilities, to support instant card issuance. This technology allows a financial institution to digitally issue a card to a customer via their banking app or internet banking platform. The customer receives their digital card almost immediately after the order is processed. They can set their PIN, activate the card and use it online straight away. The card can also be provisioned to a digital wallet such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay or a wearable like Fitbit Pay or Garmin Pay, and be used straight away, anywhere contactless transactions are accepted. No more waiting for several days for the plastic card to arrive before you can start spending.

Instant card issuance is a win for both institutions and customers. The financial institution earns transaction revenue sooner than with the traditional card and PIN ordering process, and saves money because plastic cards and PINs don’t need to be created or sent to customers. Cardholders benefit as they no longer need to worry about their PIN falling into the wrong hands, or wait for their card to arrive before spending in stores or online.

Your best friend when disaster strikes

Digitally issued cards also go a long way to solving the lost card problem – because there isn’t a card to lose! And a virtual card on the phone, even if it is lost, is protected by the phone’s security.

And finally, if a customer loses their physical card – especially if they are travelling – being able to issue a virtual card instantly means that the customer isn’t stranded. It’s conceivable that they could lose their plastic card at breakfast on their last day, login to the app, cancel the old card and set up a new virtual card on their phone in time to check out of their hotel and go to the airport.

Without instant card issuance, the customer could have been stranded for days, or even a week.

At Cuscal, we are collaborating with our clients to help them offer engaging and innovative banking experiences to their customers. Our current suite of products is designed to promote efficiencies in banking operations and create self-service opportunities for cardholders. Our API suite includes enhanced card control APIs, PIN management APIs (including PIN change and PIN set functionality) and a virtual card set to facilitate instant card issuance.

These are dynamic times for financial institutions and we are excited to be assisting our clients to develop solutions that support a more digital way of banking.

By Lauren McCormack, Head of EFT, Acquiring and Digital

[i] Sonia Barquin, Viniyak, HV, Duhita Shrikhande, Asia’s digital banking race: giving customers what they want, McKinsey & Company, Global Banking Practice, April 2018

Cuscal hits female leadership targets

Posted on July 11, 2018October 27, 2023 by Uberbrand

A gradual increase in the number of senior female appointments in recent years has helped Cuscal to hit its target of 40% of senior leadership roles to be held by women.

In May this year Helen Mediati, Cuscal’s General Counsel and Company Secretary was appointed to Cuscal’s Leadership Team. This followed the appointment of Bianca Bates to the role of Chief Client Officer, earlier the same month. Cuscal’s Managing Director, Craig Kennedy, says it has been a deliberate part of Cuscal’s long-term strategy:

“Cuscal is a payments company which straddles the worlds of technology and banking, both industries which struggle with gender diversity and female leadership.

We knew that having greater gender balance in our leadership would help make us a stronger, fairer, better company, so we have been working towards a goal of greater senior female leadership for a few years now. Three out of seven of my Leadership Team are now women (43%) and this ratio is consistent throughout leadership positions at Cuscal.

We know there’s still some way to go, for example our diversity at Board level isn’t what we would like it to be, but we’re pleased to hit this target and now need to maintain or improve it.”

Cuscal has employed a range of initiatives to improve diversity, female employment and leadership at Cuscal which include:

Creating a Women’s Initiative Network three years ago and then a Diversity and Inclusion Council
Mandating that recruiters include at least one suitably qualified female applicant for each role
Trialling blind resumes in the project and technology division
Reviewing our flexibility policies to ensure consistency in application
Extending paid paternity leave from one week to four weeks.

As of May 2018, Cuscal’s ratio of male/female employees was:

Board: 13% female, 87% male
Leadership Team: 43% female, 57% male
All employees: 40% female, 60% male

Pictured L to R: Bianca Bates, Craig Kennedy, Helen Mediati, Christie Welsh

Cuscal appoints Bianca Bates as Chief Client Officer

Posted on May 14, 2018October 27, 2023 by Rachael Shupe

Cuscal has appointed Bianca Bates to the role of Chief Client Officer, as part of Cuscal’s Leadership Team. This role replaces the role of General Manager, Product & Service, which Bianca has been acting in since February 2018.

Commenting on the appointment, Cuscal Managing Director Craig Kennedy said:

The Cuscal Board has confirmed Bianca’s appointment after an extensive search for the right candidate. I’m delighted that Bianca was successful and will continue her career at Cuscal after her success in previous roles over the past four years.

The change in title reflects our commitment to partnering with our clients and delivering a great client experience. Bianca brings significant experience in financial services and our business to this role, including, crucially, a great understanding of the needs of our clients.

Bianca has held a number of senior roles at Cuscal since she joined, including Acting General Manager, Product & Service, General Counsel & Company Secretary, Acting General Manager Shared Services and Head of Client Services. She has over 20 years’ experience in financial services with large and complex US and Australian companies, both public and private. Prior to Cuscal she worked in senior legal and compliance company secretariat roles with Genworth, GE Capital and DLA Phillips Fox.

Aussies want to pay with their phones

Posted on February 21, 2018October 27, 2023 by Uberbrand

In the highly competitive environment of consumer banking, finding comparative advantage over major players is a rare opportunity. However, recent research by Telsyte shows clearly that the reluctance of major banks to adopt digital wallets such as Apple Pay, Google Pay (formerly Android Pay) and Samsung Pay has created an opportunity for those institutions who have led the way in offering their customers more choice in the way they pay.

Aussies will move banks to pay with their phones or wearables
Recent research shows that mobile and wearable payment solutions like Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay are increasingly influencing consumers’ choice of financial institutions.

The Telsyte study found that around one in five (22 per cent) iPhone users claim they are more likely to bank with a provider if it supports Apple Pay. This figure increases to 32 per cent for those who are also using an Apple Watch. This research shows a clear opportunity for financial institutions to differentiate from the major banks to acquire new customers – particularly those using Apple devices.

Mobile payments are growing in Australia
Although the number of payments made by mobile devices is still comparatively small, the use of mobile payments is growing quickly year on year. The RBA reported in its 2017 Consumer Report that only 2% of consumers had used a smartphone, watch or band to make a payment. This figure has grown exponentially to 14%, according to Telsyte’s study in 2018. This could be due to increasing understanding amongst consumers that mobile payments are more secure than Tap & Pay cards, which I discussed in my recent article on digital wallet security.

Other key takeaways from Telsyte’s research that have implications for financial institutions that are considering offering mobile payments to their customers include:

Smartphone sales were up 11% year on year, 9.2 million units sold in 2017
There are 19.3 million smartphones in circulation in Australia
Android/Google based smartphones made up 55% market share, Apple with 45%
Growing price is being driven by need for greater internal storage (supporting greater capabilities and use)
85% of consumers replace an Apple iPhone with another iPhone, Samsung at 70%
For the first time, more smartwatches were sold than smart bands in 2017 (58% v 42%)
Apple watches lead the smart wrist wearables market in Australia, with now over 1 million Apple smartwatches in the country. FitBit were the leader in smart band devices

We were an early partner and adopter of mobile payment solutions, offering Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay to our clients. At Cuscal we support over 41 financial institutions offering Apple Pay, Google Pay and/or Samsung Pay to their customers.

By Trent Gunthorpe, Head of EFT, Acquiring and Digital

Smartphones – high security digital wallets

Posted on February 6, 2018October 27, 2023 by Uberbrand

When it comes to purchase convenience and security, Tap & Pay cards are the current leaders. But it is becoming clear that digital wallets are in the running to replace them. It is no longer a matter of “if” but “when”, with today’s announcement that eftpos cardholders can now use Apple Pay, adding to the suite of card schemes available on digital wallets. In addition to the convenience and ease-of-use benefits of digital wallets, it’s their cutting-edge, multi-layer security that makes them the better and safer option for payments.

However, surveys consistently show that customers are concerned about the safety of digital wallets. This concern arises in part from poor communication on how digital wallets are implemented and how they work. Digital wallets were designed to address the security flaws in cards and create a more secure payment method. They are safer than cards, by design, and their security starts with the smartphone.

The multi-layer security of the digital wallet
The security advantage digital wallets have over cards begins with their access to the computing power and features of the smartphone, including specialised security hardware for protecting personal information. This gives the digital wallet app secure storage for payment information where other apps or malware cannot access it.

The first layer of security in a digital wallet comes into play when cards are added to the digital wallet app. Cards can be added using the phone’s camera, typing them in, or transferring them directly from some financial institutions’ apps. The app requires that the person adding the cards is verified as the owner of the cards before they can make payments. This may involve a one-time password sent via SMS to the phone or via email, or even a quick chat with customer service.
The second security layer is the customer and how they control access to their phone. That control can be a PIN or pattern passcode, and, on more recent smartphones, biometric verification using their fingerprint, face or eyes. If the phone is lost, no one can use its digital wallet to make purchases without passing verification. However, for ease of use, some digital wallets do allow the customer to make small purchases without unlocking their phone.
The third layer of security is called tokenisation. To increase transaction security, digital wallets do not store card details or share them when a payment is made. Instead, a token is generated when a card is added. This token is transmitted instead of the card details when a payment is made.

The token is a unique number that links the card to the customer’s device and digital wallet. This allows a customer to register the same card on multiple devices and with multiple digital wallet providers. It is generated by the payment infrastructure provider used by the digital wallet. The payment infrastructure provider stores the original account information on a heavily secured system called a Token Vault.

When a transaction is made the token is used by the payment processor to retrieve and verify the original card information from the Token Vault and complete the transfer of funds. The merchant never sees the actual card details and the account information never travels outside of secure networks. An additional benefit of tokenization is if the user loses their phone they do not need to cancel their card, but they do need to lock or remove the card from their digital wallet. Digital wallet providers have online services to do this in the event of a lost phone.

Finally, digital wallets are protected by the same 24/7 computer-based fraud monitoring and zero liability protections as Tap & Pay cards.

More than POS payments
Digital wallet providers are actively expanding the functionality of their apps. Digital wallets can be used to make purchases within apps and for online purchases. Some digital wallets can automatically provide your delivery address as part of an online transaction. The digital wallet may also store loyalty cards, event tickets and boarding passes that can be scanned from the screen of the phone.

As more transaction types are handled by digital wallets their use will continue to grow. With that growth will come a demand for financial institutions to offer their customers access to the digital wallet provider of their choice. Banks that won’t or can’t will lose customers.

Transitioning to digital wallets
Customers are already choosing financial institutions that are compatible with their phone and digital wallet provider. This is a clear signal that the technology is proven and spreading from early adopters to the mainstream. At the same time, the back office technology has been tried and tested. Deploying digital wallet services is now easier than ever.

Today or tomorrow, your customers are going digital. Be there for them. Find out more about our digital solutions.

By Trent Gunthorpe, Head of EFT, Acquiring and Digital

Fraud and AI: what you need to know

Posted on November 27, 2017February 1, 2024 by Uberbrand

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already having a significant impact on the way we do business today. From helpful chat bots guiding us through complex purchase journeys to detecting potentially fraudulent payments, AI has the potential to create seamless customer experiences while simultaneously processing large amounts of information.

Machine learning frees humans from the grunt work of data tracking and pattern analysis – it’s faster, more scalable and learns from past information. No wonder Gartner predicts that more than 40% of data science tasks will be automated by 2020.

So when it comes to balancing customer demand for real-time payments with secure fraud-mitigating authentication, AI is an effective enabling tool for fraud teams to focus their investigation skills in the best place to securely ensure the speed and rigour required for a real-time payment. And that’s why more organisations are exploring the use of AI, especially in the area of fraud.

What role could AI play in fraud prevention and detection?

Through machine learning, the complexity of big data really becomes useful. At Cuscal, we have partnered with Feedzai to provide an advanced risk management platform that will be core to protecting Cuscal clients from the evolving threat of fraud.

“When using Feedzai, banks have significantly improved fraud detection, reduced false positives and overall a better customer experience – outperforming leading non-AI solutions – that’s why banks like Citi and Capital One have backed Feedzai’s technology.” said Richard Harris, SVP Sales International from Feedzai.”

With so many more payment channels available – online, mobile, P2P – there are more points of vulnerability. More than ever, we need a complete view of customer activity across products, an integration of channels to improve the customer experience, and to make more data-backed business decisions.

How will AI strengthen existing fraud protection systems?

With AI’s ability to analyse complex data in real time, fraud teams are better equipped to predict fraud before it occurs and so minimise losses. AI reduces some of the noise of large amounts of data to focus on the real threats. As we prepare to launch the New Payments Platform (NPP) in Australia, we can expect to see digital transaction processing converge with analytics providing better insights. Machine learning will enable organisations to look at more data, from more sources, and make better predictions with less uncertainty.

Of course, bots could be working on both sides – and the next generation of AI-enabled fraud systems will also need to be prepared to tackle new and increasingly sophisticated fraud attempts and scams.

Every Australian financial institution connecting to the New Payments Platform (NPP) needs to consider their real-time fraud monitoring and ensure effective controls are in place. AI is likely to underpin best practice – checking every transaction in real time for anomalies and flagging suspicious activity for action by experienced fraud investigation teams.

Learn more about preventing fraud in a real-time world.

Fraud prevention: then and now

Learn more about preventing fraud in a real-time world.

By Michelle Trundle, Senior Manager, Fraud