Fraudsters are exploiting weaknesses in call center and help desk user authentication processes. Common caller authentication methods are creating inconvenience for legitimate users. Current authentication methods fail in three ways. They are: 1. knowledge-based authentication (KBA) - KBA's are used to authenticate users.2. PINs. 3. Caller ID. The other two ways include PINs and Caller ID to authenticate users- all of which are accessible by criminal. The best security is always layered security. This principle holds true when securing telephony channel. Voice biometrics can catch fraudster voices and put them on a blacklist for future voice comparisons and verifications of callers. Phone printing combined with voice biometrics provides the strongest method for detecting fraudsters. To know more, read Avivah Litan's (vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner) article at: http://www.itworldcanada.com/blog/preventing-fraud-in-the-call-center-use-voice-biometrics-phone-printing/97217#ixzz3D51sGlc6

Research shows that fraud against bank deposit accounts cost the industry $1.744 billion in losses in 2012. Debit card fraud accounted for more than half of 2012 losses (54 percent), followed by check fraud (37 percent). According to Prakash Santhana, a director in the Advanced Analytics practice for Deloitte Transactions and Business Analytics LLP, there has been a significant increase in the number of cyber-criminal groups who are trying to get their hands on customer lists, personal identification data, and anything else that could be of economic value. Some strategies for fighting fraud are listed below: Continuous tracking of online and face-to-face transactions to avoid any unauthorized ones. Development of “chip and PIN” technologies. The implementation of additional controls within ERP platforms that require dual approval on all payments to vendors. Read more at: http://deloitte.wsj.com/cio/2014/07/30/fraud-trends-in-the-banking-industry

Though applying cutting edge technologies are on unprecedented rise in banking industry, security issues are cropping up more and more. Banks are becoming vulnerable to increased frauds and cyber-attacks.  This can negatively hamper the image of the bank in the minds of its customers.

To counteract this, banks have developed various analytics tools. But, they are rule based that depend on arbitrary thresholds to trigger alerts for potential frauds. The flip side here is that it may generate false positives. These can cause deep frustrations among honest customers who are falsely blocked for fraud or are constantly asked to undergo strict security procedures.

 A new type of analytics tool has been developed to solve this problem. The new tool is called Adaptive Behavioral Analytics. It produces an accurate result that reduces false positives. Unlike rule based analytics, Adaptive Behavioral Analytics combine customer information to create a behavioral profile at an individual level. This gives a clear picture about the customer and generates an alert if there is any deviation from typical behavior spotted in real time. Interested to know more?

Read at http://www.bobsguide.com/guide/news/2014/May/16/and-now-for-some-good-banking-news.html  for more details on how this new Analytics tool is helping banks to detect and fight fraud.