Singapore still hungry for more fraud detectors

The big three banks have already initiated using AI and data analytics to pump up the detection of illicit activities.

Bloomberg reported that the talent pool for Singapore’s skilled data analysts who could work with banks in their fight against money laundering and terrorism financing is still facing a shortage, which could be solved through hiring more foreign workers or by training locals.

Singapore lenders are eyeing to employ data analytics to aid in detecting suspicious transactions as the current systems are still prone to false alerts.

“On a national level, the relevant talent pool in Singapore needs to be grown significantly to meet this demand," a report by a partnership of banks, the financial regulator and police revealed. “This can be achieved through the importing of talent from outside Singapore as well as through the ‘upskilling’ of Singapore’s existing workforce.”

DBS, OCBC, and UOB have all pushed to start using AI and data analytics to aid their operations in detecting illicit flows.

“Whilst we are in early days and making marginal improvements, there is promise,” Lam Chee Kin, DBS’s head of legal, compliance and secretariat said.

Read more here.