Fighting Human Trafficking With Fraud And AML Detection Systems

Banks are uniquely positioned to help end human trafficking if they search for the right transaction patterns

What portions of the multi-billions of dollars that are channeled through a range of bank card products are linked to human trafficking transactions? While we aren’t really sure of the answer, there is one thing of which we are certain. And that is financial institutions should focus their anti-money laundering and fraud detection systems on transaction patterns that indicate human trafficking activity if we are going ever going to help eradicate the problem.

Financial institutions are in a privileged position in a market economy. With that privilege, just like the responsibility to prevent money laundering, fraud, and terrorist financing, comes the responsibility to help combat human trafficking. The combination of prototypical AML and fraud detection rules will work to do this. It is encouraging, and strikingly convenient, that the systems designed to detect money laundering and fraud can easily be refocused to detect human trafficking. Read the rest of Wes’ blog post on Bank Systems & Technology.