The bank's new artificial intelligence (AI) solution was developed in collaboration with Singapore-based regulatory technology company Tookitaki, after more than two years of validation and evaluation.
UOB has pioneered an AI solution that is highly accurate in identifying suspicious transactions and connected parties as it combats the increased sophistication in financial crime, it announced on Thursday in a statement.
The bank's use of AI enables it to pinpoint higher-priority cases from the 5,700+ average monthly suspicious transaction alerts flagged and to deploy the necessary resources to investigate potential money laundering attempts. The new solution can spot more sophisticated transaction patterns and is more effective at connecting data points with entities using the financial system, UOB said.
The AI solution, which complements the traditional rules-based method, is being used to screen all customers and transactions involving Singapore-based UOB accounts and will be expanded to cover all UOB accounts globally.
Strengthening AML
«Our AI solution works concurrently on two AML risk dimensions, which is technically more difficult, but also more fruitful as it helps us to pinpoint criminals trying to pose as customers. UOB will continue to invest in advanced technology to strengthen our AML system to deal with emerging risks,» Victor Ngo, UOB's head of group compliance, said.
According to the bank, the new solution has proven an overall true positive prediction rate of 96 percent among high priority cases, which includes transactions and accounts that are deemed most likely to be suspicious and are therefore subject to earlier and more thorough investigations.
Homegrown Partnership
Tookitaki is a graduate of UOB FinLab’s second accelerator program in 2017.
«Going live with UOB is a testament to our ability to develop and to harness the benefits of new-edge technologies such as machine learning to mitigate real-world problems of money laundering,» Abhishek Chatterjee, founder and CEO of Tookitaki, said.
Founded in 2014, Tookitaki's revenue growth has surpassed 300 percent over the last two years. It raised $19.2 million in Series A funding in 2019, which the startup said would be used to grow its presence across the U.S. and Asia-Pacific.
