Solving the Velocity of Risk in Payments

At the Money20/20 Asia event, the conversation surrounding the speed of financial innovation was often shadowed by a critical reality: as payments move faster, risk moves faster. Eddie Low, who looks after Eastnets in the Asia-Pacific region, joined the discussion to explain how the 40-year-old compliance and payments specialist is currently supporting approximately 800 banks. As a specialist in fraud management, KYC, and sanction screening, Low is positioned at the intersection of rapid regional growth and increasingly complex security requirements.

As Asian banks strive to innovate at an accelerated pace, the shift toward faster payment rails has introduced significant operational hurdles. Low highlighted that as transaction volumes increase, banks face a mounting level of operational risk. This often results in a high volume of false positives, which can create a massive bottleneck for institutions trying to maintain efficiency while meeting strict regulatory pressures across different jurisdictions. With every cross-border transaction, banks must navigate a landscape of varying sanctions and regulatory demands that can be difficult to manage manually.

To combat these challenges, Low is championing an integrated compliance model. This involves embedding compliance and regulatory solutions directly within payment orchestration systems. By leveraging AI-driven data analytics, Low explained how banks can better process large amounts of data to proactively reduce false positives and automate real-time transaction screening. This strategy is designed to provide compliance upfront, helping banks secure regulatory approvals correctly while significantly improving overall operational efficiency.

Key Highlights from Eddie Low:

• The Innovation Paradox: Low explains why the move toward faster payments in the APAC region requires banks to innovate even more quickly in their approach to risk.

• Embedded Compliance Systems: The strategic advantage of integrating sanction and transaction screening directly into the heart of payment systems to improve efficiency.

• Tackling the Data Surge: How AI and data analytics are utilized to help banks manage massive datasets and slash the rate of false positives.

• Navigating Regional Complexity: Addressing the specific regulatory pressures and cross-border risks that Asian banks face in today’s global market