Experian has launched a new version of Hunter, its data-sharing fraud prevention software. The upgrade – available from the end of February 2012 – has more than 30 new and enhanced features. These include integration with Google Maps, automated completion of fraud submissions to CIFAS and greater sharing of fraud intelligence and investigatory capabilities across multiple business units within an organisation.
The integration of Google Maps into Hunter allows fraud investigators to see how the addresses on a number of connected applications relate to each other geographically, through the use of its Street View, Satellite and Standard map views. This will, for example, enable investigators to spot geographic connections that are not obvious from the data, such as potential fraud collaboration between residents of neighbouring properties located on different streets, and to ensure that commercial properties are not passed off as domestic residences.
Experian’s new CIFAS Autofile functionality will enable Hunter users to automatically populate fraud submissions to CIFAS with the required information. This minimises the time spent keying duplicated data and can reduce filing time by 80 per cent, it is claimed, improving efficiency and reducing the margin for human error.
The credit checking firm says that large organisations running Hunter across disparate business units will also be able to benefit from new collaboration capabilities and take advantage of opportunities to centralise fraud investigation operations internally. Investigators are now it’s claimed able to pull together a greater level of fraud intelligence from other parts of the same organisation and investigate cases across all business units, increasing productivity across the group and providing richer data through sharing of information between departments and offices.
Nick Mothershaw, UK director of Identity & Fraud at Experian, says: “Fraud continues to represent a clear and present danger to the bottom lines of banks, insurance companies and other financial services and credit granting organisations. The enhancements Experian has made to Hunter will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of anti-fraud capabilities with additional tools for investigation and even greater collaboration. We have enabled users to better understand the location of potentially fraudulent applications with a single click within the Hunter environment and to share fraud intelligence far more easily.”
Experian’s Hunter software has been used across the UK’s banking, financial services and insurance sectors for more than 20 years to detect, investigate and record fraud at the point of application.
