Mashreq Bank of the UAE and ThetaRay announced they will collaborate in transaction monitoring. The implementation of ThetaRay’s artificial intelligence-based solution aims to provide safe and secure cross-border payment transfers for correspondent banking with protection from financial crime.
The COVID-19 era has triggered an upsurge in the volume of cross-border payments, a multi-trillion dollar market that’s also a prime target for financial crimes such as money laundering, theft and fraud. ThetaRay’s solution allows banks and fintechs to reduce total cost of ownership (TCO), rapidly expand revenues, improve customer service, and speed ROI from months to only days. The tech is used by tier-1 banks, payment service providers, financial intelligence units and others.
“ThetaRay’s technology, underpinned by advanced machine-learning based models complementing rules, sets the foundation for next-generation transaction monitoring,” said Scott Ramsay, group head of Compliance and Bank MLRO of Mashreq Bank, in a statement. “By combining speed and agility with efficiency, it allows banks to effectively thwart financial crime risks in the increasingly complex space of cross-border payments.”
“Mashreq Bank is our first customer in the UAE,” said Mark Gazit, CEO of ThetaRay, in a statement. “We look forward to accelerating collaboration with additional financial institutions in the UAE and the entire Middle East, as part of the continued expansion of ThetaRay’s global reach.”
“Mashreq seeks to be a leader in building a bank fit for purpose for the future,” said Ellis Wang, group head of Technology, Transformation and Information at Mashreq Bank in a statement. “And at its core are capabilities to keep our customers as well as the banking ecosystem safe. Mashreq will always continue to promote deployment of advanced technologies to achieve this outcome.”