ACI Worldwide: The importance of flexibility for combating fraud

The rapid rise of the digital economy has brought added risks, such as organised fraud and ‘friendly fraud’, requiring a more diverse and flexible security approach. 

Whilst attending ICE London 2022 last month, Darren Wood, SR Solutions Consultant, ACI Worldwide, spoke to SBC Media’s Joe Streeter about the firm’s anti-fraud strategy and operations. 

The evolution of fraud as an organised criminal activity, as well as tactics such as friendly fraud – the risk of which Wood noted is understated by some – underscores the need for flexibility, the Consultant asserted. 

“You have to be flexible and that’s what ACI thrives on, by having a flexible solution which you can customise to the merchants needs, or from the enterprise customer,” he said. 

“It’s about having flexibility. It’s the key with being an acquirer agnostic, and we can help merchants go through and work with them to build that flexibility in their design as to what’s required from that.”

Noting that igaming is a high risk industry, with thousands of transactions conducted on a daily basis using various currencies and stakes, Streeter probed Wood on the importance of a flexible approach in the sector. 

“You’ve got to make it simple and have that inside information which companies like ACI will through, because this is what we do day in, day out,” Wood continued. “We have all that data and we’re using that data to help the merchants.”

Efficient anti-fraud and AML checks are needed in the contemporary online betting and gaming space, but there is also a danger of these measures interfering with the customer journey. 

In order to avoid this ‘friction’, Wood again underscored the use of a flexible strategy, whilst also pointing to the use of an ‘intelligent profile’.

He added: “I think that’s key to the consumer journey and having that flexibility. it’s really about your profiling engine, and making sure you’ve got all that data in there.

“That data is vital for going through and making a smoother journey from that point.”