Dunfermline Building Society, Scotland's second largest
mutual lender, has deployed a web-basedfraud detectiontool to help it
identify risks quickly and support the expansion of the business
outside Scotland.
"As the methods criminals use to try to commit these offences
improve, we are upgrading our defences to stay ahead," said
Crawford McCaughie, senior manger lending at Dunfermline Building
Society.
The building society chose to implement Experian's Hunter system
based on research and positive feedback from other lending
organisations. According to McCaughie, Hunter was used to detect
fraud worth more than £800m in 2005.
"We were also attracted by the relatively short time it took to
roll out the system, and with the average mortgage worth £115,000,
we expect to see a return on investment within a year," said
McCaughie.
The Hunter system checks new applications for financial products
against previous applications, claims and fraud cases held in a
national database across 90 lenders, making potentially fraudulent
applications easier to identify and refer for investigation.
"Having a robust fraud detection tool will enable us to expand
into new markets outside our immediate geographical area with
confidence, because it will eliminate the risk normally associated
with a lack of local knowledge," said McCaughie.