Lender employs PwC fraud prevention software

Melbourne-based unsecured personal fintech lender Symple Loans has announced that it has integrated PwC Protect, a cloud-based solution developed by PwC Australia for the prevention of loan application fraud in the banking industry.

The software-as-a-service solution digitally assesses documents such as payslips and bank statements submitted during the loan application process and then detects instances where information may have been falsified or manipulated.

Commenting on the implementation of fraud prevention solution, Symple Loans co-founder and CEO Bob Belan said the solution will enable the automation of fraud risk protection in the loan application process.

“While our fraud losses to date have been very low at around 0.1 per cent, constant vigilance and ongoing investment in innovative solutions like Protect are needed to ensure this is maintained,” Mr Belan said.

“This is one of several technology investments that we’ve fast-tracked during this COVID-19 period as we prepare to ramp up loan origination growth in the month ahead.”

Speaking about their partnership with Symple Loans, PwC consulting financial services partner Thomas Sonderegger said: “We are thrilled to be working with the team at Symple – joining forces with them and our other customers who are using Protect to prevent fraud, reduce costs and ultimately improve customer experiences.”

Lenders have had to increasingly tackle threats of cyber attacks, with a major bank recently admitting that it has been fighting millions of “ferocious” cyber threats and had seen a 78 per cent increase in fraud attempts over recent months.

National Australia Bank (NAB) group chief risk officer Shaun Dooley told the House of Representatives standing committee on economics’ ongoing review of the big four banks and other financial institutions that NAB had also seen a 33 per cent increase in estimated loss in the period May to June.

Volt Bank recently integrated IBM’s Safer Payments solution, delivered in partnership with Australian software company ISW, into its online banking platform to protect its users and identify potential fraud.

[Related: NAB supplies fintech with $57m loan facility]

Malavika Santhebennur is the features editor on the mortgages titles at Momentum Media.

Before joining the team in 2019, Malavika held roles with Money Management and Benchmark Media. She has been writing about financial services for the past six years.