Swift has planned to launch an AI-powered fraud defence to enhance cross-border payments.
Takeaway Points
- Swift Plans to Launch AI-Powered Fraud Defence to Enhance Cross-Border Payments.
- It will be available from January 2025.
Swift AI-powered Fraud Defence
Swift said on Wednesday that it is rolling out new AI-enhanced fraud detection to help the global payments industry step up its defence as bad actors grow increasingly sophisticated. This will be available from January 2025. The service is the result of extensive collaboration with banks from around the world and a successful pilot earlier this year.
The rollout is part of Swift’s broader collaboration with its global community of more than 11,500 banks and financial institutions to test how AI can solve cross-industry challenges, the company said.
Jerome Piens, Chief Product Officer at Swift, said, “Bad actors are using increasingly sophisticated tactics to commit financial crime, and the global financial industry needs to raise its defences higher to ensure their customers can continue to transact globally with confidence. Swift has a long track record of supporting our community by staying one step ahead to maintain the security and resilience that our network is known for – and now we’re doing so again by harnessing the latest technology.”
When did the journey begin?
Swift said that since February, it has been working with leading global financial institutions to explore how federated learning, combined with privacy-enhancing technologies, could enable market participants to share information without revealing their proprietary data. The group has so far developed a number of fraud detection use cases that are set to be tested in a sandbox environment.
Other Comment
John McHugh, Head Operations Control, CIB at Standard Bank, said, “Standard Bank Group, Africa’s biggest bank by assets, has participated in Swift’s initiative for AI fraud detection capability to enhance the security of its customers’ transactions. The technology will identify suspicious patterns in real-time, reducing fraud-risk and ensuring a safer banking experience for clients. By leveraging the power of AI, Standard Bank Group reaffirms its commitment to innovation and safeguarding the financial assets of its clients – who are our main asset.”
About Swift
Swift is a global member owned cooperative and the world’s leading provider of secure financial messaging services. We provide our community with a platform for messaging and standards for communicating, and we offer products and services to facilitate access and integration, identification, analysis and regulatory compliance.
Our messaging platform, products and services connect more than 11,500 banking and securities organisations, market infrastructures and corporate customers in more than 200 countries and territories. While Swift does not hold funds or manage accounts on behalf of customers, we enable our global community of users to communicate securely, exchanging standardised financial messages in a reliable way, thereby supporting global and local financial flows, as well as trade and commerce all around the world.
As their trusted provider, we relentlessly pursue operational excellence; we support our community in addressing cyber threats; and we continually seek ways to lower costs, reduce risks and eliminate operational inefficiencies. Our products and services support our community’s access and integration, business intelligence, reference data and financial crime compliance needs. Swift also brings the financial community together – at global, regional and local levels – to shape market practice, define standards and debate issues of mutual interest or concern.
Headquartered in Belgium, Swift’s international governance and oversight reinforces the globally inclusive character of its cooperative structure. Swift’s global office network ensures an active presence in all the major financial centres.
