Anti-fraud team-up for SAS and IFB
Data analytics provider SAS has announced a new partnership with the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB) in the UK; the organisations have launched a new fraud prevention platform that will help insurers and other institutions, including legal authorities, to quickly and efficiently share information and consequently clamp down on the actions of fraudsters.
SAS developed the platform after IFB pinpointed a need for an intelligence database of a much larger, industry-encompassing scale, which could rapidly take note of fraudulent activities across the broadest possible spectrum.
The IFB warned that the threat posed to the insurance industry by fraudsters is growing at a frightening rate, as those undertaking these activities become more sophisticated and organised. At the same time, increased regulation surrounding data creates many obstacles for insurers. As a result of these various threats converging, insurers need a faster, sharper method of detecting fraud. “There was a clear lack of a joined-up process,” said the IFB, “meaning that information was shared imperfectly, leaving many firms unaware of and vulnerable to known threats.”
The new platform will, hopes the IFB, act as a broker between organisations so that they can view one another’s data and intelligence information anonymously, ensuring compliance and skirting around the potential problem of data misuse.
“Many people believe that fraud is a relatively small and victimless crime,” said the IFB’s Director Ben Fletcher. “However, the truth is far more serious. Insurance fraud ensnares thousands every year, ruining lives and plunging many desperate people into criminality. It is vital that the industry pulls together to challenge this common enemy. It’s in everyone’s interest that fraud is effectively tackled and reduced in scale. We decided to work with SAS as it had a proven track record of helping tackle fraud, with many of the functionalities that the IFB needed off-the-shelf. However, SAS also helped create bespoke features, including two-factor authentication, visualised results and search functionalities specially for the IFB platform.”