In todays digital landscape is it possible to always be one step ahead of the fraudsters? This episode on the Payments Podcast focuses on the benefits of cloud-based flexible case management systems for todays fraud professionals. Debunking common myths associated with cloud fraud solutions, and highlighting what professionals should be on the lookout for in new systems.

 

Podcast Transcript

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[0:00:18]

Female: The Payments Podcast from Bottomline Technologies.

Olivia Armstrong: In today's digital landscape, is it possible to be one step ahead in the fight against fraud, without the expensive cost of skilled personnel? There has never been a more critical time for financial institutions to re-evaluate their approach to financial crime. With an increase in financial crime due to the pandemic, and many financial institutions working with outdated case management tools, often working in silo.

Hello, I'm Olivia Armstrong, today's host of the Payments Podcast, and today I'm joined by Mohammad Zraiqat, global senior product manager at Bottomline Technologies, to discuss the importance of cloud-based flexible case management in today's IT environment. Hello, Mohammad.

Mohammad: Yeah, hi, Olivia, thank you for having me today, here.

Olivia Armstrong: I mentioned in the introduction, the effect of outdated case management tools. Would we not assume that as long as they have a working solution, it's doing an effective job, outdated or not?

Mohammad: Yeah, that is really an initial assumption, and effective? Yes, it is, but it is not really efficient, and this is where we need both efficiency and effectiveness in the fight against fraud and financial crime. And most importantly, effective only, is really not a practical approach because usually, organisations are always looking for a complete solution that works for across departments, across multiple teams, and all of that.

So, most importantly, with today's age, we are really seeing the whole convergence between fraud and financial crime. So, it's very important to have a tailored solution that supports all the types of fraud and financial crime. And ideally, really, what we are looking for is a system of record that comprehends all the information of compliance for different purposes, and, as a single point of all the data, to facilitate internal and external audits, as well as examination, and also, the law enforcement investigation, and what have you.

And unfortunately, what we have today, it is not working. Yes, it is effective, but it's really not- it's not working. We are looking for, as I mentioned, is the system that is comprehensive, and that complete all the silo systems, put them all together. Just imagine you have different teams working on the same subject across the organisation, and each one of them has a different case, and they're working- handling the case differently.

Olivia Armstrong: Okay. Thanks for that. So, can you elaborate? What would be the benefit of all departments working on one single case?

Mohammad: Yeah. So, as I mentioned, just imagine you have different teams working on the same case, and they are just disconnected. What we are looking for, as a major benefit, is really the comprehensiveness, from, for example, take it from an executive management perspective, it is way more beneficial to have a comprehensive system that really supports the enterprise, whether it's cloud-based, or if it's- the cost efficiencies they're looking for, and also, the operational efficiency.

This is quite important for the executive management, and on top of all of that, it has to be compliance proven. So, these are the major elements that the executives or the management are looking for, when it comes to what's enterprise case management that works for different teams in one place. And it is about the data, really. We have the data, you all need to think about different things. Is the data available?

That's the first question you ask yourself, and if the data is available, is it accurate? And is it up to date? This is quite important to know, if the data is up to date. And the last important thing is, how quickly you can access this data? When you have the comprehensive system that covers all different teams, across different teams, it's always easy to have all data in one spot. You can have it in one place, and on top of that, you see the collaboration between the team and that is where the outcome of the desired solution that they are looking for.

Olivia Armstrong: With everything being compiled into one place, what benefits would this have? What would this mean for the financial institutions that are using an enterprise case manager in this way?

0:05:06

Mohammad: I'm really glad that you raised that point, Olivia. So, according to the IT report of the case management that has been issued last year, 60 to 80% of the case analysts' day is spent on data research, data gathering, with little room for them to make- on the decision making which is a vital process for the outcome that's required out of their all. So, with that in mind, ultimately, the benefit that they get out of this is really, that the increase of efficiency. So, it's, for example, you have the users that are using the system, there are multiple lists, multi logins, you're going to need to go to different systems.

You're going to have to navigate through the internet, for example, since all the data is being compiled in one place. And another aspect to that is really the holistic risk view. Once you have all the data compiled in one place, it is very important to see any hidden relationships which is rediscovery, and ultimately, that leads to the team into reducing risk of the financial- for financial crime. And most importantly, that they really need a system that fits across departments.

It's not all- or even actually across different lines of businesses, and it's quite important to think like- I will take an example as a dispute or complaints management. Nowadays, you can use your mobile app to dispute a transaction on a credit card. So, that leads you to a fraud case. So, from disputing complaint, to a fraud, and also, the fraud is a particular offence for money laundering, so all of these really funnelling into one case, and that's where the importance of compiling all the data in one place, to make it very easy and accessible and- for decision making, for the team.

Olivia Armstrong: Okay, thanks for that Mohammad. There are definitely some huge benefits there and I can understand why the financial institutions would want to use an enterprise case manager this way. Would there be any implications of this enterprise case management tool being hosted on the cloud? Would that potentially increase risks for financial institutions?

Mohammad: Oh, not at all, actually. In fact, there are so many benefits that the cloud is bringing onto the table. Despite all I mentioned about the data gullibility, the accessibility, all of this- the outcome of the maturity of the cloud technology these days, take, for example, some of the benefits I can think of. Lowered total cost of ownership. Now, you can see all the systems are being hosted somewhere, and the institutions have accessibility of how to tune the system, how to play the system configurations, and this is cost.

If it is on-premise, they have to go to the vendor. For example, they have to bring more teams to in-house to fix the systems, and all this stuff. And the other benefit is to reduce the hardware. So, all these technologies is being hosted and really costly. And when we talk about the data, that means we are expanding the hardware, and the more data you need for the financial crime, the more hardware you need. And that is cost, at the end of the day, for institutions.

That is another benefit that cloud is providing. And in the end of the day, you are having the enhanced customer experience with all of the APIs, and all of these connectivity, you can create the mobile app that serves your customers, and all of this- the accessibility of the data, all of this leads to the benefits of the cloud to the enterprise case management. That is one hand, on the other hand, though, there is the cloud community sharing, and this is where you get more insights, and ultimately, as an institution, you reduce the risks drastically, because of that.

Olivia Armstrong: I definitely think in today's payments landscape, that cloud is definitely becoming the new normal, especially when it helps reduce the costs. But could you talk about some of the benefits to organisations should be on the lookout for, when looking at a cloud enterprise case management solution?

Mohammad: Yeah. So, in today's age, really the technology of the cloud is absolutely mature enough to provide the needed benefits. When I say the needed benefits, there are certain elements of compliance and all this cost that has to be met, that institution would like to meet, and on top of that, you will have the higher performance, and the tighter security, just in the least. These are attributes comes out of the box with any cloud technology that the institution will look for.

0:10:24 And most importantly, this is where it gets to the exact same vendor, which makes the differentiator between different vendors, which is the non-code configuration. Institutions, they do not need to have- create codes because, in order for them to get configuration out of the system, once they have it on the cloud, and all of this data is available, they can access the cloud environment, they can configure the system with a user-friendly interface. They do not need to have the vendor over their shoulders, asking what do you need for that? And the code technicalities required.

And, as I mentioned earlier, also the data benefits is very quite important, especially the- every cloud technology today is providing the APIs accessibility, in which you don't need to have the data physically within your premise, you can access the data to wherever it is, using this kind of technology. And on top of that, it is the easiest technology to deploy and operate. And actually, in fact, according to IT report, any new case management platform deployment could take, on-premise, could take up to 12 months of deployment process.

That requires project management, resources, to deploy the products or the service into the premise. Once it's on cloud, that is completely eliminated because it's already hosted, you just need to get boarded onto the technology, and makes it easier for the institution to quickly get to the service. And lastly, is upgrades. As long as this technology is on cloud, it's always up to date. You didn't need to upgrade from version to version, it's all up to date, and always you get the latest technology and the latest service out of your supplier.

Olivia Armstrong: A really interesting topic today, Mohammad. If I can end with one final question. You've mentioned the importance of data a lot throughout the podcast today, specifically how data sites are an important part of good enterprise case management solution. How can data help financial institutions when it comes to fraud prevention and detection?

Mohammad: Yeah. The way I see it really is the insights out of the sharing within the community, and there is, on the cloud, once you're on the cloud, you have other peers with the institution, they are sharing the same cloud environment, and that's what we call the community. And the community, the easiest way really, to describe this, is to think of the child risk alert notifications for the amber alerts for those across the pond, which alerts the organisation when a new threat, fraud, or financial crime, in general, has occurred within the community.

So, once it happens in one organisation within the community, it has been notified to all the members of the community, saying, this is the insight that we got out of this fraud case within our institution. It is quite important, I want to be clear here, we are not talking about sharing the data of the suspects of the financial institutions, we are talking about sharing the insights, sharing the threats. If there is a new typology of fraud is happening within the community, wouldn't it be nice for all members of that community to be aware of this?

And they get the benefit out of this. It's really a quite impressive development in the technology when it comes to the insight sharing within the community.

Olivia Armstrong: Thank you so much, Mohammad. This has been hugely enlightening when it comes to learning more about how cloud enterprise case management solutions are the next step in transforming technologies and operations, to fight fraud with the strategic approach, as opposed to an expensive approach. Unfortunately, that's all we have time for today, but, in the meantime, you can listen to more episodes on all things payments at the touch of a button using your preferred provider. See you next time.

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Female: The Payments Podcast from Bottomline Technologies.

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