PSCU Stops Over $210M in Fraud Through Innovative Fraud-Fighting Tools and Best Practices in 2018

CUSO continues to lead the industry with high fraud prevention rates and the lowest fraud loss-to-sales ratios

St. Petersburg, Fla. — (Jan. 10, 2019) — Through PSCU's continued investment in best-in-class fraud-fighting tools and a focus among staff to ensure best practices, the nation’s premier payments CUSO reports that it stopped more than $210 million in potential fraud for its members in 2018 by blocking fraud at the point-of-sale, in the call center and online, among other channels. PSCU’s proactive fraud prevention technologies, processes and policies yielded an overall industry-leading fraud loss to sales ratio of 4.31 basis points throughout 2018.

“Throughout 2018, PSCU furthered our commitment to investing in the strongest risk management practices and tools available in order to protect our Owners and their members from the potential financial and reputational damage associated with fraudulent activity,” said Jack Lynch, PSCU SVP, Chief Risk Officer. “The millions of dollars PSCU secures on behalf of our Owners’ members is proof that the solutions and methods we are deploying are not only effective at saving money, but also key in keeping member information confidential and safe.”

PSCU’s data scientists are key to the success of PSCU’s fraud-fighting initiatives and solutions. The talented internal team of experts takes data from multiple sources and then connects the dots between product usages to identify potential ways in for fraudsters.

PSCU continues to invest in a number of tools to better protect its Owners and their members from increasingly sophisticated fraudsters. In 2017, PSCU became the first credit union service provider to utilize Pindrop’s proprietary platform to fight call center authentication fraud. In 2018, the CUSO secured an estimated $8 million in savings through this platform and was able to proactively block the attempted call center fraud and move quickly to protect the available credit of those accounts from potential fraud loss.

Since its launch last April, PSCU’s Linked Analysis has helped the CUSO secure more than $7.3 million by preventing fraud before it happens. Linked Analysis, developed by PSCU’s in-house fraud experts, uses cross-network analytics to create a 360° view of a member, enabling PSCU to link events across different platforms, individuals across different institutions, merchants across any card and all of these points to each other. Using these connections, data scientists at PSCU then utilize research and machine learning to proactively take action.

In November 2018, PSCU added another tool in its fraud-fighting arsenal with the addition of First Data’s FirstSense™. By leveraging threat intelligence and analytics garnered from the dark web, FirstSense enables PSCU Owners to identify at-risk payment cards and prevent fraud before it happens. PSCU has helped stop a reported $2 million in fraud at the point-of-sale since November, reflecting the actual transaction amount that PSCU prevented fraudsters from being able to transact.

In addition to these solutions, PSCU partnered with Ondot, the global leader in mobile payments services, in August 2018, to further enhance the credit union member experience through a comprehensive Alerts and Controls solution. PSCU Owner credit unions choosing to implement the solution can expect to see lower fraud losses with card controls and real-time alerts which, on average, reduce the number of fraud attempts before action is taken from 2.87 to 1.05.

“Fraud will continue to be one of the top concerns for credit unions in 2019,” added Lynch. “PSCU is dedicated to delivering fraud-fighting solutions and expertise to our Owners in order to provide their members with the most secure payment options on the market and allow for sound decision-making to keep their information and finances protected and safe.”

About PSCU

PSCU, the nation’s premier payments CUSO, supports the success of over 900 Owner credit unions representing more than 2 billion transactions annually. Committed to service excellence and focused on innovation, PSCU’s payment processing, risk management, data and analytics, loyalty programs, digital banking, marketing, strategic consulting and mobile platforms help deliver possibilities and seamless member experiences. Comprehensive, 24/7/365 member support is provided by contact centers located throughout the United States. The origin of PSCU’s model is collaboration and scale, and the company has leveraged its influence on behalf of credit unions and their members for more than 40 years. Today, PSCU provides an end-to-end, competitive advantage that enables credit unions to securely grow and meet evolving consumer demands. For more information, visit pscu.com.