Experian Debuts Network to Flag Fraud Risk Using FinTech Data

Experian has launched a FinTech-centric version of its fraud prevention network in the U.S.

Announced Wednesday (May 10), this new iteration of the company’s Experian Hunter data network is being rolled out in response to a rise in fraud in the FinTech sector.

The company said in a news release that the network gives users “a line of sight” into borrower activity throughout the FinTech sector to identify potential fraud risks. Participants can share fraudulent activity in real time by contributing data that’s linked across the network.

“As FinTechs establish new customer relationships or verify existing ones, they can inquire against the network and are alerted to suspicious information when matched to other observed fraud events,” the release said. “FinTechs can then take appropriate action based on the type of fraud risk identified.”

Experian contends its customers have seen — on average — their fraud detection improve by 35% when using the Hunter network. FinTechs will be able to spot fraud, reduce false-positive referrals and improve their customer experience, the company said.

The launch comes at a moment when fraud is growing and growing faster, as noted here last week, foreign companies to up their defenses.

“Today’s digitized payments landscape has given bad actors an increasingly sophisticated array of tools and tactics to defraud both businesses and individuals, making it mission-critical for organizations to defend their exposure points with a potent mix of future-fit technology, best practices, and both consumer and employee education,” PYMNTS wrote.

Research in the PYMNTS/Clearing House report “Real-Time Payments Tracker: Fighting Fraud in Real-Time Payments” found that the number of attempted fraud transactions surged by 92% between 2021 and 2022, while attempted fraud dollar amounts spiked by a massive 142%.

Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission says the amount of money lost to fraud last year was $.8.8 billion, a 30% increase from 2021. That figure was just for consumers. Businesses had to contend with their own variety and scale of fraud.

The PYMNTS report “The State of Fraud and Financial Crime in the U.S.,” a collaboration with Featurespace, found that the total financial cost of fraud is projected to climb in the coming years, coinciding with an increase in scams and other fraudulent crimes.

“It’s a continuous spectrum,” Michael Jabbara, global head of fraud services at Visa, said in an interview in March. “[Businesses need to] think about every interaction across multiple dimensions and think strategically about the appropriate safeguards to put in place to reduce potential incidents of fraud.”