Mastercard has rolled out an AI- powered anti-money laundering service to help tackle financial crime in the Asia Pacific region.

'Trace’ is a network-wide solution powered by real-time, large-scale payment data from multiple financial institutions, with the goal of providing holistic intelligence to track financial crimes along the payment chain.

The AI service, currently implemented in the Philippines in collaboration with local interbank network BancNet – the switch operator of the local InstaPay real-time payment (RTP) service – enables financial institutions to track illicit funds dispersed in the RTP system, identify money courier activity, and highlight suspicious money laundering activities.

Mastercard has been deploying the technology in the UK since 2018, with the service used by 21 top-tier financial institutions and banks, covering 90 per cent of the UK's Faster Payments Service network.

The move comes at a time when RTPs have seen a rapid increase in use by individuals and businesses across Asia Pacific, enabling faster transactions while also making the region a target for money launderers and mules who seek to evade detection by quickly moving funds between multiple accounts using a number of different methods, including romance and investment scams.

Mastercard said the service, which has already been implemented by 36 national banks, differs from existing semi-manual methods or artificial intelligence solutions that rely on their own data and are not holistic, with investigations often taking weeks to complete.

Matthew Driver, executive vice president, services, Asia Pacific, at Mastercard, said: "By ensuring that transactions remain secure and compliant, Trace helps to protect consumers and financial institutions, while also fostering trust in the digital economy, which will be critical for the region's economic growth.”

Emmie Reyes, chief executive officer, BancNet said that as scams grow more sophisticated, advanced tech-powered prevention and monitoring capabilities are “critical.”

“Our partnership with Mastercard and leveraging Trace gives us and the network participants the intelligence to help detect fraud faster,” she continued.

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