OCBC ties up with Police Force to enable automatic data retrieval

Project POET will cut the usual processing time to retrieve information from up to three months to just two days.

Singapore Police Force’s (SPF) Commercial Affairs Department collaborated with the OCBC Bank for an automatic data retrieval project that aims to enhance crime detention.

Under Project Production Operation: Electronic Transmission (POET), critical information from the OCBC Bank can be obtained within one to two working days through the use of artificial intelligence and data analytics. Previously, the largely manual process would take between 10 days to three months.

The faster conveyance of banking information aims to enhance crime detection and enable law enforcement agencies to solve financial crime cases more efficiently.

Project POET will also enhance Singapore’s Anti-Money Laundering Risk management regime with its ability to monitor and identify hidden relations and suspicious activities by specific customers or a group of customers.

The project was first announced by Raja Kumar, deputy secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs, at the opening of the two-day Financial Crime Seminar organised by the Association of Banks in Singapore.

“As financial transactions continue to shift increasingly into the fast-moving digital space, it is crucial for law enforcement authorities to be able to access relevant banking information quickly for their investigations,” Kumar said during the announcement. “We should embrace technology and leverage predictive analytics to allow banks and authorities to work together to connect the dots and do so quickly, to spot suspicious trends and patterns and move in fast and effectively to arrest malicious activities.”