Unit21 Customer Year in Review: 2023

As financial misconduct surges globally, Unit21 stands as a critical line of defense in this challenging landscape. A report by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners shows a staggering $4.7 trillion lost to organization fraud in 2022. Additionally, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime estimates $2 trillion is laundered annually. These statistics underscore Unit21’s role in safeguarding the integrity of financial transactions. 

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Now, let’s take a look into the key metrics that highlight the impact of our risk and compliance teams. Their efforts in detecting, investigating, and reporting bad actors throughout the customer lifecycle have been instrumental in thwarting financial crime. 

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2023 Customer Highlights

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Total Value of Transactions: $2.77 Trillion 

This metric measures the total value of transactions monitored on the Unit21 platform by our customers in 2023.

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Total Number of Events Monitored: 4.05 Billion 

This includes both transactions and actions. What constitutes an action within the Unit21 platform is determined by each of our customers on an individual level. 

Imagine every time you log into your bank account, change your password for security, or add a new credit card to your digital wallet. Each of these actions, though seemingly routine, carries a risk of financial crime. Monitoring these billions of events means that behind every financial decision or action you take, there is a system working to identify and prevent any unusual or suspicious activity that could lead to personal loss or identify theft. 

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‍Suspicious Activity Detected 

In the rapidly evolving financial landscape, transaction methods have diversified significantly. They span from real-time payments and traditional ATM withdrawals to digital methods like smartphone-based contactless payments and online shopping with digital wallets. Analyzing these transactions requires more than just examining individual data points. Isolated data points like IP addresses, user behavior, or risk scores offer limited insights on their own. But when combined, they can provide a stronger signal of suspicious activity.  

Unit21 addresses these challenges with a two-pronged approach. First, our unified platform effortlessly consolidates and ingests a variety of data types. Second, our no-code infrastructure allows for continuous adaptation and refinement of rules. Together, these elements create a dynamic defense that detects smarter and with more precision and foresight. We have used three key metrics that showcase our customer’s ability to detect more suspicious activity:

• Total SARs filed
• Total Amount of Laundered Money Reported
• Total Amount of Fraud Detected

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In 2023:

• The total number of SARs filed was 28,000 (up 42% from 2022)
• The total amount of laundered money reported was $21.7 billion (up 59% from 2022)
• The total amount of fraud detected was $4.3 billion (up 82% from 2022)

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The $4.3 billion is more than a number; it represents countless instances where individuals or businesses could have faced financial losses, identity theft, or breaches in personal security. The jump from $224 million signifies the growing trend in deceptive practices that touch the lives of ordinary people. It’s the difference between a secure transaction at your favorite store and a compromised one that puts your financial data at risk. 

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Agents + Alert Efficiency

In the fast-paced world of financial crime, the role of the agent is pivotal. As the volume of transactions skyrockets, the challenge for agents intensifies - more transactions to monitor, more potential for alerts, yet the same number of hours in a day. This is where the story of Unit21’s transformative impact on alert efficiency begins. We have used three key metrics that showcase our customer’s efficiency in alert disposition, case investigation, and remediation:

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• The average number of alerts dispositioned per agent per year 
• The average number of total transactions associated per agent and
• The average number of alerts dispositioned per agent per day 

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In 2023:

• The average number of alerts an agent dispositioned for the entire year decreased to 2,431 (down 36% from 2022)
• The average alerts dispositioned by agents per day was 6.66 (down 83% from 2022), meaning that agents using Unit21 are more efficient
• The total transactions associated per agent was 65,599 (up 5% from 2022)
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Unit21’s platform enables our clients to test and validate rules to fine-tune the criteria that triggers alerts. This capability, along with rule optimization, means that the system could be calibrated to detect anomalies more accurately, thereby reducing unnecessary alerts. 

This story of alert efficiency is not just about handling more with less, it’s about a strategic transformation in tackling financial crime. This means agents can spend more time on investigating truly suspicious activity and less time disposing of false-positive alerts. 

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Closing Reflections: Transforming Data into Financial Security

Unit21’s Year in Review is one of transformation - transforming data into insights, insights into actions, and actions into security. By enhancing alert efficiency and refining our detection capabilities, we continue to innovate and adapt in this ever-evolving battle against financial crime. 

A heartfelt thank you to all our valued customers who have made 2023 a year of significant impact and success! Thinking about getting started with Unit21? You are in good company as OKX, Directions Credit Union, Relay, ICE and FirstBank all joined us in 2023.

Curious about the top features Unit21 rolled out in 2023? Check out our Product Update video dropping tomorrow.

Discover how Unit21 can empower your organization - Book a demo today!