Fraud poses a serious threat to banking and financial institutions globally. With the finances of consumers and corporations at stake, many organisations are investing in ground-breaking technology to help prevent fraud. One area of technological innovation that these institutions are exploring is artificial intelligence (AI).

For example, MasterCard has recently announced the launch of Decision Intelligence. The new solution—which is being rolled out across its network—aims to improve the accuracy of real-time approvals, enabling legitimate transactions to take place whilst rooting out fraudulent activity.

The launch of this new system marks the first deployment of AI on a global scale across the MasterCard network. The system goes further than traditional decision-scoring products, taking a broader approach to assessing and scoring each transaction and learning from previous activity.

Al Pascual, senior vice-president, research director and head of fraud and security at Javelin Strategy & Research, said: “We estimate that in the US alone, the value of false declines is more than 13 times the total amount lost to actual card fraud. Applying machine learning to decision-scoring is a new way of creating a positive consumer experience, while also minimising fraud.”

As machine learning and AI technology continues to evolve, it provides new opportunities for organisations of all types and size to invest in fraud prevention and detection solutions. The telecommunications industry for instance has long been a target for criminals and artificial intelligence has the potential to deliver new, intelligent and dynamic protection against threats such as cyber-crime and mobile fraud.