Falcon Transfer, whose patented profiling technology employs the same mathematical techniques used in missile interception to identify fraudulent activity, can react according to user-defined business rules, in just 200 milliseconds. This solution allows financial institutions to roll out Faster Payments services in real-time without increased risk of being successfully targeted by criminals.

Robert Duque-Ribeiro, VP & Managing Director, EMEA at Fair Isaac explains, "The UK Faster Payments initiative has been endorsed by the top UK banks representing more than 95% of all UK electronic transactions, and consumers are looking forward to same-day electronic funds transfer starting May 2008. So does Faster Payments mean faster fraud? In anticipation of Faster Payments, Fair Isaac has developed a fraud solution to prevent criminals who may try to exploit the real-time speed of Faster Payments for their own profit." He continues, "Fair Isaac has a 50 year track record of success in helping banks to identify and prevent a dizzying array of fraud, so we are ideally positioned to help our customers minimize the risks and maximize the opportunities associated with Faster Payments."

"The introduction of Faster Payments sees a system that moves the UK from laggards to clear leaders in terms of speed," said Gareth Lodge, Senior Analyst, European Banking & Payments, TowerGroup. "With transactions being processed in near-real time, banks will need to ensure that they have the processes and systems in place to ensure that Faster Payments doesn't simply mean Faster Fraud. With Standing Orders up to £100,000 being irrevocably processed, and processing taking place "24/7/365", banks need to be on their guard as the scheme will undoubtedly become the attention of fraudsters looking for weaknesses."

Falcon Transfer was created by expanding on the proven capabilities of Fair Isaac's Falcon Fraud Manager, which monitors more than 1.5 billion active payment cards world-wide. Using analytics, business rules and case management tools, Falcon Transfer is able to offer the real-time fraud protection required for Faster Payments thanks to Fair Isaac's modeling technology which supports rapid data analysis and non-linear modeling of transactions to spot anomalies in behaviour which could point to fraud. Falcon Transfer also reviews both the sender's and receiver's account profile. If it detects signs of fraud, a bank can stop the payment immediately and send it to a fraud analyst for further review.

Fair Isaac also is encouraging a community approach to halting Faster Payments fraud in its tracks. "By working together as an industry to share data on high-risk profiles and establish hot lists for transaction screening, the banking industry will have a much better chance of nipping new potential avenues of fraud in the bud, before they have a chance to develop," concludes Duque-Ribeiro.