CASE STUDY

Cut Fraud Loss By 70% By Cracking Down on ATOs & Moving Off a Rigid Legacy Vendor

Case Management Screenshot

Reduce Fraud Loss

Prevent over $1M in fraud losses quarterly

Faster Response

Detects 50% of fraud cases first

Boost Efficiency

Automation saves 2-3 FTEs manual work
UNIT21 PRODUCTS USED
Transaction
Monitoring
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Case
Management
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Fraud
Consortium
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“Just because it’s a ‘best-in-class’ tool does not mean it’s doing the job right. We could no longer rely on our vendor to protect us. We had to take charge.” 
‍
Tyler Pihl
VP of Enterprise Risk, Service Credit Union

Company Facts

Assets
$5.4 billion
Members
354,000
Locations
50 Branches in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, North Dakota, & Germany
THE PROBLEM
A Rigid System With Nightly Batching Led to Significant Losses Via Account Takeovers
Service Credit Union was facing a year-over-year increase in fraud loss, with a specific concern about the ongoing sophistication of account takeovers. 

Tyler Pihl, VP of Enterprise Risk, reflected, “While fraud losses were our biggest concern at the time, it came down to the limitations of our system. Two main factors of our tool were holding us back. The timeliness of the data we received and the timeliness of the alerts–meaning the ability to influence how and when alerts were generated.” 

The legacy system was only able to provide alerts in nightly batches and lacked customization. "Frequent account takeovers–as much as 10-20 successful ATOs daily–were leading to major fraud losses, in the upwards of millions per quarter. These fraudulent ATOs were done through internal transfers, but our previous system saw internal transfers as non-threatening activities and with a rigid system in place there was no rule or model I could deploy to flag this fraud. Fraudsters would take the money in just under 5 minutes–our legacy system just couldn’t compete.” 

TLDR: The Problems

  • Experienced 10-20 successful account takeovers, daily
  • 24-hour batch alerting was inadequate to sufficiently detect fraud
  • One-size-fits-all alerts were unable to detect fraudulent internal transfer transactions
  • Frustrated by the inability to influence how alerts were generated
“It was clear that the one-size-fits-all alerts system we had was no longer effective against sophisticated fraudsters. We needed a more powerful, adaptable solution.” The institution sought a system that could be tailored to its complex environment, with more control over the data and alert customization.
WHY UNIT21
One Flexible & Customizable Platform For Transaction Monitoring & Case Management
“I realized our vendor’s core capability of alerting on transactions–they essentially could not deliver promptly or be customized to the type of fraud we were experiencing. I then knew it was time to look elsewhere.”

Tyler and his team outlined business requirements seeking an integrated system that provided flexible transaction monitoring and case management. He wanted to avoid layering multiple systems together due to the cost of the tools, data, and people that would manage it.

“It’s important to me that we have a single place for transaction monitoring and case management–that we replaced that legacy system altogether. To properly fight fraud, I knew we had to influence what data we were looking at and what rules we use around that data.”

Service Credit Union chose Unit21 for its flexible data integration, customizable rule sets, ease of data mapping, API capabilities, and lastly, access to real-time data. Tyler and his team were able to fully replace the legacy system and manage transaction monitoring and case management in one agile, flexible, and fully customizable platform.

TLDR: Why Unit21

  • Custom fraud detection rules enhance precision
  • Real-time data intake via APIs improved response rates
  • Advanced data mapping refined alerts
  • A flexible system enabled the integration of diverse data sources
  • Tailored fraud prevention strategies for better security
"We chose Unit21 for its flexibility in custom rules, data mapping, and integration, addressing both fraud and AML concerns with the control we desperately needed."
Tyler Pihl, VP of Enterprise Risk, Service Credit Union
THE RESULTS
70% Reduction in Fraud Losses & Near Real-Time Data Automates Manual Effort of 2-3 FTEs
“With Unit21, we have full control over configuration. We have control over the data and alerts and while this puts an onus on the team, I expect that we are up-to-date on fraud trends and looking to adjust the system as we see fit.”

“We knew our previous system was quite terrible at flagging fraud but once we spun up alerts in Unit21 we saw it even flag money laundering that the legacy AML system didn’t alert us on! There’s a difference in understanding how to work an alert and understanding AML and we must not be complacent, even if it’s relying on a system that regulators like and trust.”

The ease of implementation led to a better case management process, a reduction in manual tasks, and improved accuracy of fraud alerts. “One of the key metrics I look at is where are cases originating from–meaning are the alerts we're setting in Unit21 being productive. Excited to report that Unit21 detects 50% of fraud cases first ensuring fast and accurate response.”

Service Credit Union improved its fraud detection process using Unit21, resulting in earlier alerts on account takeovers and other fraudulent activities.  For example, before Unit21 they faced challenges detecting fraud in instant payments, as the legacy system misclassified them as standard ACH transactions. By identifying a unique data element in their Core and integrating it with Unit21, Service Credit Union was now able to build targeted rules to generate faster alerts. What was previously manual daily reporting, now, with 20-minute data intervals, fraud detection is more accurate and responsive.

“We used to do daily manual reports to get around the time delays in our immensely time-consuming legacy system. Now with Unit21 alerts, we’ve eliminated that daily tedious work, automating the work of 2-3 FTEs!”

TLDR: Results with Unit21

  • Cut fraud losses by 70%, enhancing detection and risk tracking
  • From chaos to control, preventing over $1M in fraud losses quarterly
  • Unit21 detects 50% of fraud cases first, ensuring faster response
  • Automation saved 2-3 FTEs, boosting efficiency and cutting manual work
  • Shifted to a proactive mindset, strengthening fraud prevention efforts
"Unit21 has revolutionized our fraud management—cutting losses by over $1M quarterly, detecting 50% of cases first, automating reports to save 2-3 FTEs, and transforming our team into a proactive defense force."
Tyler Pihl, VP of Enterprise Risk, Service Credit Union
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