Where Will CO-OP's Security Roadmap Take Us in 2017?

HIGHLIGHTS
Fighting fraud is one of the biggest challenges credit unions face right now. CO-OP has developed a four-part roadmap for 2017 to help clients mitigate fraud and reduce false positives.

Fighting fraud is one of the biggest challenges credit unions face right now. CO-OP has developed a four-part roadmap for 2017 to help clients mitigate fraud and reduce false positives. 

“Throughout this year, we are introducing new tools in a layered approach,” says Stephanie Pike, senior product manager for CO-OP. Because fraud is such a complex, rapidly-changing threat today, this means using a variety of tools and approaches. “Sometimes clients will ask why there have to be so many mechanisms in place,” Pike says. “Fraud is changing so rapidly, you can’t just rely on one tool or technology.”


It’s equally important to balance security against member experience. While members want greater security, they do not want to sacrifice effortless transactions to achieve it. “Right now, we’re seeing this dynamic at work with fallback transactions. Some issuers are being overzealous and blocking all transactions,” Pike says. “The vast majority of these are legitimate, so issuers have to find a way to balance security against the members’ need to complete transactions successfully.”

Sharper tools and support from CO-OP can help. The four key elements to CO-OP’s security roadmap are:

Expanded, digitized fraud detection and prevention capabilities. Because fraud detection and prevention are at the core of fighting this threat, CO-OP is constantly updating and upgrading. One notable change is the addition of Fraud Navigator, which enables CO-OP to block authorizations more effectively by writing and deploying rules more quickly and specifically. “The existing authorization blocking system used very limited criteria and required manual processes to implement,” Pike explains. “With Fraud Navigator, we have the ability, for example, to rapidly deploy transaction blocks using specific criteria such as velocity limits.”

Later this year, individual clients may be able to write their own rules using Fraud Navigator. “This is not a capability that every credit union will want,” says Pike. “But for those who do, they will be able to do things like instantly address a particular scenario as it happens, pinpointing a specific merchant location.”

Integration of machine learning and AI tools across account and card-based platforms. The addition of STAR Predictive Fraud Score earlier this year gave a machine learning component to CO-OP’s fraud detection efforts.

But the big news on this front is that CO-OP is partnering with Feedzai to develop a machine learning tool with artificial intelligence. Machine learning, which uses predictive analytics to interpret user behavior, is becoming more sophisticated by the minute – and is likely to revolutionize the way we all deal with fraud. This year, CO-OP’s plan is to roll out machine learning for use internally and run it in conjunction with Falcon to significantly boost our fraud mitigation efforts.

Increased control and transparency for credit unions and their members. Look for various enhancements on this front, including:

  • CardNav tokenization alerts and controls
  • CardNav integrated travel notifications
  • New API to enable push notifications about fraud via mobile banking
  • Concierge online banking widget for travel notifications
  • Enhanced fraud reporting that will enable clients to get a clearer picture of their overall fraud situations and specific metrics such as false positive rates.

Continuous strengthening of enterprise enrollment and authentication standards. “This is continuous effort for us,” says Pike, “and many of the enhancements are happening behind the scenes.” Among the initiatives for 2017 is the enhancement of interactive voice recognition (IVR) authentication.

The CO-OP team is also looking to become more consultative with clients. “CO-OP hopes to offer risk management professional services, which would have a fraud-consulting component,” says Pike. “That might include, for example, a detailed consultation with a client on a rule they are trying to write. We want to be here to help, by providing clients with the specific answers they need.”

If CO-OP’s security roadmap has a “destination,” it is to end 2017 with significant advancements in fraud-fighting technology up and running, and new processes in place that enable CO-OP to work with clients and their members combat fraud more effectively. Fraud is an ongoing, never-ending challenge. Our response to it can be equally relentless.

Get the full scoop on CO-OP’s security roadmap in this month’s FraudBuzz webinar, featuring CO-OP’s resident fraud expert John Buzzard, director of product development Michelle Thornton and news from our friends at Feedzai. Learn more and register now.