LexisNexis® ThreatMetrix® and LexisNexis® Emailage® help prevent millions of Pounds of potential fraud for one of the UK’s newest banks
Zopa Bank
Launched in 2020, Zopa Bank is the tech unicorn that raised over $500 million from the early investors of Uber, Slack, and Alibaba with a mission to build Britain’s best bank.
As a bank, they were able to launch unsecured personal loans, auto finance, credit card and savings account services which raised new challenges in terms of security and authentication checks for existing customers and applicants.
To date Zopa bank has attracted £3.5 billion in deposits, more than £2 billion of loans on the balance sheet, and issued over 400,000 credit cards.
The challenges of applicant authentication and fraud
With Zopa’s growth came the threat of a sharp increase in identity fraud, a huge and rapidly growing problem for the financial services sector.
In discussion with industrial professionals, the consensus was that new services are at their most vulnerable when they first go live. Media articles and marketing attract positive attention from potential customers, but also negative attention from opportunistic fraudsters ready to test how prepared new service providers are to malicious attacks, especially in their first six months.
Zopa Bank was looking for a KYC authentication partner to provide assurance that applicants are who they say they are. Doing this rapidly and accurately is of the essence when customers are looking for financial services in a highly competitive market.
The business problem in detail
As a reputable provider, Zopa Bank wanted to speed up fraud investigations to resolution, as well as uncover early signs of identity theft. The company was interested in a solution that offers the latest threat intelligence on known fraudsters and compromised devices or credentials, combined with sophisticated software and analytics capable of detecting anomalies and suspicious behaviour, upfront.
Zopa was interested in the capabilities of LexisNexis® ThreatMetrix® and LexisNexis® Emailage® that help discover hidden connections between applications, devices, and email addresses, in order to monitor for complex suspicious behaviour. These tools help identify multiple applications from the same device, applications from unexpected locations, or the use of newly-created email addresses.
All are factors that might indicate a higher risk of potential fraud and require further investigation before the application is accepted.
The solution
Zopa looked at suppliers and chose LexisNexis® Risk Solutions, a provider with a proven track record and two solutions ideal for their requirements – ThreatMetrix® and Emailage®. Both tools leverage vast and unique global databases and can be combined with advanced technologies like behavioural biometrics to deliver fast and accurate authentication results.
Using device identification capabilities within these solutions, Zopa has significantly enhanced its ability to identify potentially fraudulent links and associations that would otherwise have gone unnoticed.
Through its advanced analytics offering, ThreatMetrix and Emailage can help customers like Zopa layer this intelligence with a range of additional identity attributes such as device ID, GPS location data, email addresses and behavioural biometrics, to help identify fraud risk far more effectively, at the point of application.
LexisNexis® Threatmetrix®
LexisNexis® Emailage®
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LexisNexis® Digital Identity Network®
How does LexisNexis Risk Solutions help Zopa Bank?
Identify Trusted Customers
Identify Abnormal Activity
Reduce Fraud Losses
Improve Customer Experience
Share Insight
Reduce third-party fraud
Building a strong relationship
Simplicity of use
The solution is easy to use and capable of ‘plug and play’ integration with Zopa Bank’s existing front and back-end systems. Minimal training is required for day-to-day operations, and it makes pre and post investigations straightforward.Reliability and service
The system is ultra-reliable – in the words of one of the Zopa team: “It doesn’t seem to break, but if there is a problem, it’s fixed quickly.”Value for money
Other solutions on the market offer less for more. Notably few include the powerful, layered insights of pure behavioural biometrics technology, or the breadth of coverage that comes with email intelligence. Conversely, LexisNexis Risk Solutions tools offer more for less by dramatically reducing lost revenue through fraud.Reputation
Zopa’s other partner organisations recognise them as having the best performing customer journey among peers. That’s important strategically and commercially, because if their partners are positive about them, consumers are too.A flexible business partner
For companies wanting a basic level of fraud detection support, LexisNexis Risk Solutions is a reliable, highly experienced source of support where it's needed. For businesses with more complex needs, we can form a close partnership with shared goals. That could well be the next step for Zopa Bank, with tailored services to suit their evolving needs.Conclusion
