CU*Answers expanded on its robust fraud mitigation software in its fall release of new tools that went in its flagship core data processing system CU*BASE. “This is the third of five investments the CUSO is making to help credit unions control fraud. In the fall release we introduced 9 new block lists to manage problematic accounts. The functionality is based upon two concepts the first blocking members from a particular service such as bill pay and the second is to actually blocking a type of transaction from occurring, said Jim Vilker, VP and leader of the compliance and audit arm AuditLink. “Most fraud monitoring systems are reactive and revolve around case management systems. This is a new proactive approach that stops the account in its tracks” Vilker went on to say.

This represents an investment strategy at CU*Answers to drive down the cost of fraud without draining internal resources. The first two were the analytical functionality to uncover high risk and anomalous account activity, the second was the release of a dashboard which allowed fraud management teams to enter the types and amounts of losses. Vilker went on to say, “This was the next natural progression in the investment curve as it was necessary to create the optics and knowledge of fraudulent activity prior to the final two investments. In the spring of 2021 CU*Answers will release additional analytical pattern recognition tool sets to uncover anomalous activity in a near time environment. The final investment will be to use all the knowledge gained and inject the most effective patterns into authorization and posting programs in a real time environment.” What we have observed with other fraud management platforms that they become a drain on internal resources relating to the case management systems. The end result will contain case management dashboards but the goal is to have fraudulent activity stopped in its tracts through configurable proven patterns, Vilker went on to say.