A new intelligence division is being established within the Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit - which was set up by UK payments association Apacs and the Home Office to fight card crime - that will address all types of banking fraud.
Apacs says the new Payment Industry and Police Joint Intelligence Unit (PIPJIU) is the result of the amalgamation of the banking industry's Fraud Intelligence Bureau (FIB) - the body that formerly distributed information between the banking industry and law enforcement throughout the UK - and the intelligence section of the DCPCU.
In addition to providing a more efficient approach to the collation and dissemination of fraud intelligence to police forces throughout the country, the new unit will have wider reaching responsibilities to address all types of banking fraud - not just cheque and plastic card fraud.
The unit will be operational immediately and staffed by 15 City of London and Metropolitan Police officers alongside five fraud specialists from the banking industry.
DCI John Folan, head, DCPCU, says the combined investment by the banking industry in the DCPCU, the enhanced joint intelligence unit and the new data sharing system now totals almost £5 million per year.
"With this increased funding and a wider remit, our primary objective is to build on the already successful work undertaken by the banking industry and the DCPCU in combating fraud," says Folan. "We are confident that the merging of Apacs's Fraud Intelligence Bureau and the DCPCU's intelligence unit will aid efficiency and help in the ongoing fight to combat all types of banking fraud."
Apacs has also unveiled a fraud intelligence sharing system (FISS) that will enable the banking industry to share information on all confirmed, attempted and suspected fraud in a central, shared database.