International. While only 13% of organizations use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to detect and combat fraud, 25% plan to adopt such technologies in the next two years, representing almost a 200% increase.
Anti-fraud professionals revealed this and other technology trends in a global survey, conducted by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), developed in collaboration with SAS.
The Anti-Fraud Technologies Benchmarking report examines data provided by more than 1,000 ACFE members on the technologies used by their organizations to detect and combat fraud.
The main trends are as follows:
The rise of biometrics: Currently one in four organizations (26%) use biometrics as part of their anti-fraud programs; another 16% foresee the deployment of applications to take advantage of these methods by 2021.
Budgets will increase: More than half of organizations (55%) plan to increase their anti-fraud technology budgets in the next two years.
Techniques for data analysis will continue to evolve: It is estimated that by 2021 nearly three out of four organizations (72%) will use automated monitoring, exception reporting, and anomaly detection. Additionally, half of organizations will have adopted the use of predictive models (52%; 30% more than 2019) and data visualization (47%; 12% more than in 2019).
"As criminals find new ways to exploit technology to exploit vulnerabilities and target victims, anti-fraud professionals must also use cutting-edge technology to combat them," said Bruce Dorris, president of ACFE. "But what technologies are most effective in helping organizations manage the growing risks of fraud? The answer to this question may be crucial to successfully implement new anti-fraud strategies."
Trends by industry
Complementing the report, SAS's online data visualization tool allows you to analyze survey responses by industry, geographic region, and company size. Respondents come from 24 industries, mainly financial services (21%) and public administration (17%).
"Understanding the technologies and strategies of other fraud professionals can help organizations determine where their industry is headed and make better decisions when investing in anti-fraud technologies," said James Ruotolo, senior director of anti-fraud product sales at SAS; "The rapid adoption of artificial intelligence tools, machine learning and the use of predictive modeling reveal that advanced analytics help researchers stay one step ahead of increasingly sophisticated criminals."
The Benchmarking of Anti-Fraud Technologies report was presented at the 30th Annual ACFE Conference, held June 23-28 in Austin, Texas, which this year brought together more than 3,000 fraud professionals.
