Content by Suparna Goswami

FedNow's First Year: Mixed Bag of Achievements, Challenges

Suparna Goswami  •  July 12, 2024

In July 2023, the U.S. payments industry marked a major milestone with the launch of FedNow, the Federal Reserve's instant payment service for depository institutions. This long-anticipated development promises to revolutionize real-time payments across the country.

What Will Drive the Use of Faster Payments in the US?

Suparna Goswami  •  July 9, 2024

Awareness of instant payments has grown significantly in the U.S. payments ecosystem since the launch of FedNow last July. Many banks have signed up for FedNow, but transaction volumes remain low because only the receive mode was activated, said Reed Luhtanen of the U.S. Faster Payments Council.

How PAM Can Help Businesses Achieve Their Goals

Suparna Goswami  •  June 28, 2024

Implementing PAM helps businesses avoid costs, increase efficiency, enhance client satisfaction, enable sales and ensure compliance, said Brent Deterding, CISO at global contact center firm Afni. "Security needs to enable the business," he said.

Ever Tried to Report a Scam on Facebook? Good Luck!

Suparna Goswami  •  June 19, 2024

From account takeover threats to fake investment schemes, it doesn't take much time on social media to stumble upon a scam. But if you try to report these bad actors to social platforms such as Facebook, you may have a hard time doing so. On Facebook, "scam" or "fraud" aren't reporting options.

UK Sides With APP Fraud Victims - Despite Industry Pressure

Suparna Goswami  •  June 11, 2024

The U.K. Payments Systems Regulator has denied The Payment Association's request to delay the contentious APP fraud reimbursement plan by a year. The association, the largest community in payments, had warned that failing to delay the plan would permanently damage the payments industry.

New Privacy Risks for FIs in Age of Emerging Tech

Suparna Goswami  •  June 10, 2024

Maintaining regulatory reporting requirements and implementing new AI technology are creating new challenges for U.S. financial institutions. Patrick Keating of Sterling Bank and David Anderson of Woodruff Sawyer discuss complexities banks of meeting privacy requirements in this evolving landscape.

Financial Sector Embraces Identity-Centric Authentication

Suparna Goswami  •  June 3, 2024

As account opening fraud and mule accounts rise, financial institutions are embracing identity-centric authentication. Two fraud experts, Ken Nolen of Golden 1 Credit Union and Tim Chambers of Mission Omega, said banks can no longer rely on transaction-based authentication alone.

First-Party Fraud's Big Comeback in Banking and Lending

Suparna Goswami  •  May 31, 2024

Banks lose tens of billions of dollars every year to credit card fraud, bad checks and intentional loan defaults, but the main culprits are not third-party scammers. Most of these crimes are being committed by the bank's customers, making detection and prevention a formidable challenge.

AI vs AI: Fighting Deepfakes With Biometric Authentication

Suparna Goswami , Rashmi Ramesh  •  May 29, 2024

While AI has spurred the growth of authentication controls, it has also enabled voice cloning and video deepfakes to become much more convincing. Fraud fighters are looking at adopting a multifactor authentication system using multimodal biometrics to fight against deepfakes.

SMBs Face Growing Threat of Triangulation Fraud

Suparna Goswami  •  May 15, 2024

As digital transformation grows, small and medium businesses increasingly face threats from triangulation fraud, in which fraudulent merchants appear and act as real merchants. Offers made by these fake merchants are often too good to miss, said Visa's Mike Lemberger.

What Are the Barriers to Fraud and Cyber Team Integration?

Suparna Goswami  •  May 14, 2024

Financial institutions are promoting fusion centers to unify fraud and cyber teams, yet these centers have not been adopted on a widespread basis. Jonathan Frost, board member at the Stop Scams Alliance, says the main reason for this is the lack of interaction between the two teams.

Synthetic ID Fraud Rises 98% in Auto Lending Industry

Suparna Goswami  •  May 10, 2024

Synthetic identity fraudsters target the auto lending industry the most, leading to a 98% increase in attempts and a staggering $7.9 billion in losses for the industry in 2023, according to a new study of 180 million loan applications by fraud solution vendor Point Predictive.

New Payment Rails to Rely on RFP for More Security

Suparna Goswami  •  April 30, 2024

As ACH continues to dominate U.S. transactions, newer payment rails, including FedNow, are working to make their platforms more secure. One of the ways they are doing this is by implementing a request for payment or RFP. Ani Narayan at Modern Treasury discussed the implications of this move.

AI Voice Cloning Pushes 91% of Banks to Rethink Verification

Suparna Goswami  •  April 24, 2024

Banks are concerned about advancements in voice-cloning technology and the threat it poses to authentication. The failure of identity-centric solutions to combat synthetic identity fraud has convinced 91% of U.S. banks to reconsider their use of voice verification for major customers.

7 Tips for Complying With Healthcare Fraud Regulations

Suparna Goswami  •  April 22, 2024

The federal government is cracking down on healthcare fraud in all forms including kickbacks, lapses in cybersecurity and privacy, lack of fairness in Medicare Advantage policies, and inflated pharmacy claims. Regulatory attorney Rachel Rose outlines seven key tips for meeting compliance mandates.