When Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers hands down the budget on 14 May, the pressing need for fiscal responsibility is likely to trump spending programs.
In an era of fake news, it’s getting more difficult to separate fact from fiction. Yet it’s imperative we do so because the consequences for being deceived can be enormous.
CBA steps up its game using artificial intelligence to catch fraudsters
Across the Asia-Pacific region, fraudsters are costing organisations 10 per cent to 16 per cent above pre-pandemic (2019) levels, according to the LexisNexis Fraud Multiplierâ„¢. The tool determined that for every US$1 lost to fraud, it cost an organisation an average of $3.99, compared to $3.50 in 2019. The report said, “The cost of fraud per transaction was higher than average, costing digital banks and alternative lenders $6.33. Other new payment channels, such as buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) and digital wallets, cost businesses $4.75 for every dollar lost to fraud.”
Fraudsters are using new and evolved tactics to target a change in consumer behaviour brought on by the pandemic. Consumers conducting mobile transactions, which account for 75 per cent of all transactions, were exposing themselves to fraudsters. Within the mobile channel, 34 per cent of fraud occurred through mobile web browsers, according to the same report.
One Australian bank has taken up the challenge to catch fraudsters at their own game. Commonwealth Bank recently announced it has formed an exclusive partnership with (and taken a minority stake in) H2O.ai, a global-leader in artificial intelligence (AI). According to the company announcement, H2O.ai, headquartered in Silicon Valley, operates the cloud-based machine learning platform H2O AI Cloud, and employs a significant number of the world’s top data scientists.”
In a bid to prevent its customers falling victim to scams and fraudsters, CBA will deploy AI technology to detect suspicious and unusual behaviour on its digital banking platform, keeping more customers safe by alerting them to potential scams.
How does it work?
According to CBA, “The new AI technology uses machine-learning techniques to track unusual changes to the way a customer normally interacts with their devices, and is an extension to the bank’s comprehensive scam and fraud protection strategy. Customers develop habits and patterns of behaviour in relation to the banking they do; when, and on what devices; their keystrokes, and the way they use a mouse. Deviations from these patterns could be a sign their accounts have been compromised or that someone else is using their devices.”
The new AI system will “protect, detect, and resolve” any fraudulent activity not authorised by the customer. But as well as protect against criminals, the AI system will also better predict bills and forecast cash flows for both retail and business customers, so they can plan ahead. This will help deliver products and services in the moment to manage unexpected expenses or irregular incomes.
It’s a win-win for clients of CBA.
