The integration of ARIC Risk Hub demonstrates remarkable results with Norwegian banking alliance, achieving 90% reduction in phishing losses.
The platform comes from Featurespace, a recent Visa acquisition, and has already demonstrated significant practical benefits. A partnership with Eika Gruppen, an alliance of 46 local banks in Norway, showcases the potential of this AI technology to substantially reduce financial losses due to fraud and scams. After implementing ARIC Risk Hub, Eika Gruppen reported a 90% reduction in phishing losses in 2024 compared to 2023.
Enhancing payment security through technological innovation
Antony Cahill, President of Value-Added Services at Visa, highlighted that accepting payments efficiently and securely can differentiate businesses in the increasingly digital marketplace. “Accepting a payment is a fundamental need of any business,” Cahill stated. “Leveraging new technology to accept payments more efficiently and securely can be what sets a business apart in today’s rapidly digitalising world.”
The company aims to assist businesses with data-driven insights, simplified checkout experiences, and enhanced fraud prevention capabilities through these new services. This approach aligns with Visa’s long-standing commitment to payment security and innovation.
Tareq Muhmood, Head of Value-Added Services, Europe at Visa, noted that the organisation has utilised AI for fraud prevention for over three decades. The integration of behavioural data with ARIC’s technology represents the next step in helping clients counter emerging threats. “We are thrilled to be integrating ARIC Risk Hub into our offer to businesses and financial institutions,” Muhmood said.
Advanced technology with academic foundations
ARIC Risk Hub has strong academic roots, having originated from Cambridge University 15 years ago. Tim Vanderham, Chief Operating Officer at Featurespace, explained that the company’s mission centres on making transactions safer worldwide.
“We enable our customers to access the latest technology in fraud prevention through the ARIC Risk Hub, adapting in real-time to accurately identify abnormal behaviour at speed,” Vanderham remarked. The combination of Featurespace’s technological depth with Visa’s global reach creates significant potential for customer benefits.
The platform is currently available globally, offering businesses a robust tool to combat fraud and protect their customers from financial crimes. As digital payments continue to expand, such protective measures become increasingly vital for financial security.
Real-world application: The Eika Gruppen case study
The partnership with Eika Gruppen provides valuable insights into how AI technology can address specific challenges in fraud prevention. The banking alliance faced three primary obstacles: increasing fraud rates, particularly phishing attacks targeting elderly customers; complex fraud patterns that proved difficult to identify with existing systems; and limitations of manual reviews that were becoming unsustainable given the growing volume of payments.
These challenges necessitated a fraud solution that could effectively detect threats while improving operational efficiency and reducing manual workload. ARIC Risk Hub was implemented to learn the behaviour patterns of Eika’s customers and establish a baseline of normal activity.
When operational, the system assessed the risk of every payment initiated via online or mobile banking services in real time. If a payment was flagged as suspicious, ARIC would instruct the bank to halt the transaction for further investigation. This automated approach significantly reduced the need for manual intervention while improving fraud detection rates.
Adaptability as a key feature
A significant advantage of the ARIC Risk Hub lies in its adaptability. Jon Hagen, Chief Architect at Eika Gruppen, praised this aspect of the technology, noting: “Featurespace’s unique AI-powered technology learns and adapts in real-time, and profiles normal user behaviour in an efficient manner.”
The system’s flexibility allows for adjustments as fraud patterns evolve. Hagen emphasised that modifying rules within the system is straightforward due to Featurespace’s powerful support framework. This adaptability ensures the solution remains effective against new and emerging fraud techniques.
The integration of ARIC Risk Hub into Visa’s portfolio represents a strategic enhancement of the company’s fraud prevention capabilities. With digital payments continuing to grow globally, robust security measures that can adapt to evolving threats remain essential for financial institutions and businesses alike.
