A recent survey by global analytics software leader FICO has highlighted a significant gap in scam prevention among Asia Pacific (APAC) banks. More than half of senior banking executives, 51%, expressed a lack of confidence in their ability to detect customer manipulation before funds are transferred. This concern arises as scammers increasingly manipulate customers into authorising payments themselves, bypassing traditional security measures.
The survey, conducted during FICO’s Banking Leaders Forum in Bali, involved 51 senior executives from leading APAC banks. It revealed that 77% of banking leaders support immediate intervention when behavioural warning signs indicate significant risk. However, 54% identified the need for improved behavioural analytics and connected fraud intelligence to enhance scam detection capabilities.
Dattu Kompella, Managing Director in Asia Pacific for FICO, emphasised the importance of early intervention, stating, “Scam prevention requires banks to look earlier in the journey. Changes in where or how a customer sends payments, navigates their account, sets up beneficiaries or behaves digitally can provide important signals that something is wrong.”
The survey also pointed out the challenge of sharing scam intelligence across industries, with 39% of respondents citing this as a major operational weakness. Additionally, 46% of banking leaders identified AI-generated personalised scam messages as the top emerging threat over the next three years.
As banks face increasing sophistication in scams, the need for modernising infrastructure and integrating AI-driven decisioning becomes crucial. The survey underscores the urgency for APAC banks to enhance their scam prevention strategies by leveraging AI-powered behavioural analytics and improving cross-industry intelligence sharing.
