Credit risk solutions leader Experian has tightened its net around South African fraudsters by adding the powerful SSA-Name3 search and match engine from Bateleur Software to its arsenal.
Mike Malan, Senior Sales Specialist: Fraud Solutions at Experian, says the company is using SSA-Name3 together with Detect II, its own online solution aimed at the identification and prevention of fraud.
"Detect II highlights potentially fraudulent applications within seconds, empowering credit lenders to quickly stop fraudulent applications and significantly reduce fraud losses at the time of credit application," Malan explains. "We chose SSA-Name3 because it is the strongest piece of fuzzy matching software on the market."
An information solutions company based in the UK and the US, Experian established its South African office in 1995. Bateleur Software Solutions is the South African distributor for Identity Solutions (formerly Search Software America), which develops and markets international software products, including SSA Name3, that significantly enhance organisations` ability to search, find, match and group identity data within their computer systems and network databases.
Credit application fraud, where fraudsters gain access to credit they have no intention of repaying, is on the increase worldwide and SA is no exception. Detect II compares credit applications against other historical applications looking for inconsistencies that may highlight potential fraud.
According to Malan, Detect II uses SSA-Name3 to perform fuzzy matches in cases where people may present inconsistent information - for example, salaries, identity numbers, names and addresses used differently by the same person across several applications.
"Fraudsters change information to prevent detection. One of the unique strengths of Detect II is to identify changing information and present all the information to the fraud investigator in a simple and efficient manner. SSA Names is an incredible tool that can see through the maze of deliberate data manipulation, and bring all the information back as one picture," he says.
SSA-Name3 also recognises discreet discrepancies in data, such as when multiple applications are received from different people with the same types of information. This is often an indication of syndicate fraud. With SSA-Name3, identity data can be matched whether it is formatted or unformatted, scrubbed or in its raw form, sourced locally or from another organisation, region or country.
"Detect II also maintains a database of suspicious people and organisations, and our clients subscribe to that information and share the data. When any of our clients find someone whom they believe is involved in fraud, the information is shared on the database," Malan says.
"Our clients are constantly looking to identify inconsistencies across previous applications by the same customer, or to highlight anomalies when the data is being used repetitively by different people in their efforts to reduce fraud losses. SSA-Name3 is critical to our ability to identify potential fraud and match the data accurately at the time of making the decision, which is, of course, prior to incurring the risk."
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Experian is a global leader in providing information solutions to organisations and consumers. It helps organisations find, develop and manage profitable customer relationships by providing information, decision-making solutions and processing services.
It empowers consumers to understand, manage and protect their personal information and assets. Experian works with more than 50 000 clients across diverse industries, including financial services, telecommunications, healthcare, insurance, retail and catalogue, automotive, manufacturing, leisure, utilities, e-commerce, property and government.
Experian is a subsidiary of GUS plc and has headquarters in Nottingham, UK, and Costa Mesa, California. Its 12 000 people in 27 countries support clients in more than 60 countries. Annual sales exceed lb1.3 billion.
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