News from the Wire

PSCU, Pindrop block $1 million in call center fraud in first month deployed

Thursday, February 08, 2018 — 11:57:01 (EST)

St. Petersburg, Fla., Feb. 8, 2018 - Last year, PSCU became the first credit union service provider to utilize Pindrop's proprietary platform to fight call center authentication fraud. The nation's leading credit union service organization is now getting even more aggressive with its fraud prevention efforts by leveraging Pindrop's powerful technology on behalf of all its Owner credit unions, providing an added layer of voice security and deeper caller authentication to its call center fraud detection process.

PSCU began testing Pindrop technology in Q4 of 2017. Within the first month, more than 300 confirmed fraud situations were identified using the technology. PSCU was able to proactively block the attempted fraud and move quickly to protect the available credit of those accounts from potential fraud loss. With an average credit limit between $3,000 and $4,000, this equates to an estimated $1 million in savings in the first month, immediately confirming the immense value of the security solution.

"We are committed to remaining a flexible and collaborative risk management partner, and we will continually fine-tune and add innovative tools to deliver industry-leading fraud prevention and data protection," said Jack Lynch, SVP, Chief Risk Officer at PSCU. "Our addition of Pindrop technology is an essential step toward this goal, as we seek to fulfill our mission to enable growth and provide an unparalleled member experience."

Call center fraud typically involves a fraudster assuming the identity of a cardholder. The fraudster will then attempt to obtain cardholder information in order to do an account takeover, attempt to override a declined transaction, or attempt to put a travel notice on the account.

Pindrop's patented Phoneprinting(tm) technology analyzes calls to identify malicious behavior and verify legitimate members. The technology analyzes nearly 1,380 unique characteristics of a call to create a detailed audio fingerprint, revealing the geographic location of the call origin and whether the call is coming from a landline, a cellphone or from VoIP - the last of which accounts for 53 percent of fraudulent calls.

Benefits of Pindrop technology include:

• Reduced fraud losses - The voice channel accounted for more than $14 billion in fraud last year in the U.S. Roughly 1 in every 937 calls is fraudulent.
• Fewer account takeover attempts - Pindrop adds layers of security that look for risk factors in the information a caller cannot control, instead of relying on what the caller is actually saying.
• Superior member service - Experiencing fraud can be frustrating for the member and can cost the credit union its reputation. Innovative fraud prevention technology is needed to maintain superior member service.

"Over 61 percent of fraud starts with a phone call," said Michael Hughes, Pindrop Vice President, Americas. "PSCU's Owner credit unions already experience below card industry average fraud. With new strains of call center fraud emerging constantly, we will continue working closely with PSCU to implement Pindrop's technology to prevent unauthorized access to member accounts through the voice channel on behalf of Owner credit unions across the country."

About PSCU PSCU, headquartered in St. Petersburg, Fla., is the nation's leading credit union service organization (CUSO). Founded in 1977 as a credit union cooperative, PSCU offers a comprehensive, highly integrated suite of payment solutions for credit unions to optimize their member experience. Today, PSCU supports the success of nearly 900 Owner credit unions representing 20.4 million accounts. Leveraging digital technology, PSCU provides secure, best-in-class solutions including payment processing, risk management, analytics, loyalty programs, marketing, strategic consulting and mobile platforms. Comprehensive, 24/7/365 member support is delivered by contact centers located throughout the United States. For more information, visit pscu.com .

About Pindrop Pindrop(r) solutions are leading the way to the future of voice by establishing the standard for identity, security and trust for every voice interaction. Pindrop solutions protect some of the biggest banks, insurers, and retailers in the world using patented technology that extracts an unrivaled amount of intelligence from every call and voice encountered. Pindrop solutions help detect fraudsters and authenticate callers, reducing fraud and operational costs, while improving customer experience and protecting brand reputation. Pindrop, a privately held company, headquartered in Atlanta, GA, was founded in 2011 and is venture-backed by Andreessen Horowitz, Citi Ventures, Felicis Ventures, CapitalG, GV, and IVP. For more information, please visit pindrop.com .

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Source: Company press release.