How a Major European Bank is using Videris to Transform its Financial Investigations

The following case study explains how one of Blackdot’s customers has used Videris to transform their financial investigations. Although the company has opted to remain anonymous, this case study reflects their real journey with using Videris. Read more below to find out how Videris has helped this financial institution achieve faster, more effective and more efficient investigations.

About the Company

Company A is a large European financial institution, with tens of millions of customers. The organisation needed a solution to support the introduction of a new, intelligence-led approach to complex investigations in its Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) team and Financial Investigations Unit (FIU) that would allow them to analyse data from multiple external and internal data sources. 

The Challenge

Company A’s SAR team conducts investigations when there are suspected cases of fraud, money laundering, or other suspicious and illicit behaviours. Historically, investigators were required to follow standardised procedures for every investigation, which limited their effectiveness when investigating complex cases as much of the information was siloed across multiple external – or open-source – data sources. Furthermore, a substantial backlog of cases had built up, putting teams and managers under pressure to make changes to avoid regulatory action.  

After putting their methods under scrutiny, Company A found that what they were doing was no longer sustainable: it did not facilitate effective complex investigations or the timely completion of cases.

The Solution

To improve the quality of investigations, Company A decided to implement an intelligence-led approach, which is modelled on frameworks used by government intelligence and security agencies. This approach places investigators at the centre of the process and allows them to pursue relevant avenues of enquiry as required, rather than following set requirements that might not allow for full investigation.

To maximise the effectiveness of this new strategy, the company identified the need for an investigations platform to effectively leverage open source intelligence within their investigations. Blackdot Solutions’ Videris platform was identified as an end-to-end solution that met many of the organisation’s requirements, including:

• Single pane of glass: Videris allows investigators to collect and analyse data across multiple open source data sets within a single interface. This includes adverse media, PEPs and sanctions lists, corporate records, social media, and live internet data, which can be fused with internal data for a single subject view.
• Inbuilt visualisation and analysis: automating filtering, categorisation and charting make it easier to identify key information, find connections between entities and unlock hidden insights.
• Ongoing customer support and training: Blackdot’s world-leading customer support ensured their team could always use the platform to its fullest potential and guarantee ROI from day one.

When selecting a solution, Company A also had to consider their pre-existing internal systems and processes. Videris offers a high level of flexibility and could be deployed to complement Company A’s pre-existing systems.

The Outcome

Company A’s SAR team saw immediate benefits from adopting Videris and with it an intelligence-led, investigator-centric approach to AFC investigations, including:

An effective and efficient intelligence-led approach

Due to Videris’ fast time to value, the team was able to adopt it very quickly and begin reaping the benefits of automating tasks that had previously been manual, such as data collection and translation. Complex investigations can now be undertaken more easily and in much less time, drastically increasing efficiency.

At the same time, the Company A has seen substantial improvements in effectiveness. As Videris actively supports a more in-depth, intelligence-led approach, the quality and accuracy of investigations has increased. The automation of manual processes has also meant that investigators have more time to conduct more in-depth investigations where required.

Overall, Videris played a vital role in allowing the SAR team to harness the power of an intelligence-led approach, and it quickly became a must-have technology solution for Company A.

All the relevant resources, in one place

One of the most tangible benefits of Videris was that it allowed Company A’s SAR team to access all the external data sources they needed in a single platform, including global search engines, PEPs and sanctions lists, social media, and global corporate records. Previously, the team had to switch from one platform to another to consult the required resources: a time-consuming practice which left significant margin for human error.

Videris transformed this practice, streamlining investigations by cutting out the need to switch between different platforms and save or cross-reference information manually. The team is now able to access all the resources they need on one platform and pertinent information is automatically saved with full sourcing. Furthermore, Videris’ visualisation tools flag any potential links between entities or matches across different data sets. Again, this has led to significant increases in effectiveness by reducing manual cross-referencing and eliminating the ‘swivel chair approach’.

Ongoing support, customisation, and optimisation

As Videris is intuitive to use, Company A was able to begin using it effectively with just a few hours of training. Blackdot provides unlimited additional training and support to ensure that the SAR team continues to get maximum value from the company’s investment. By developing an understanding of each customer’s needs, Blackdot has allowed Company A to customise, and thus optimise, their use of Videris – and in turn optimise their complex investigations.