Looking to reduce fraudulent transactions in local call centres, The South African Fraud Prevention Service (SAFPS) is launching an innovative shared imposter voicebank.
The initiative will be piloted with select participants before rolling out nationally.
SAFPS is partnering on the initiative with leading voice biometric authentication solutions provider, OneVault.
“Voice Biometrics is an authentication solution that is similar to a fingerprint in that it represents an individual’s biological construct and is therefore difficult to emulate,” says Paul Hutton, OneVault CEO.
Methods of authentication have evolved from an item owned (a driver’s licence), to something known (mother’s maiden name), to an individual’s physical makeup or biometric reference point (finger print) and is known as third factor authentication.
“Thus, with a combination of two or all factors — commonly known as multi-factor authentication –it’s more difficult to commit fraud,” Hutton says.
The explosion of online and digital transactions has increased the demand for remote security and, more specifically, remote authentication. “Voice authentication is as accurate as a finger print and eliminates the need for an individual to be physically present to conclude a secure transaction,” Hutton says.
By using voice biometrics to automatically cross-reference each call with the shared imposter voicebank, the agent will be alerted if there is match against the “watch list” and a defined process can be followed. The solution is sophisticated enough that it will trigger liveness detection functionality when artificial voice production or voice manipulation is detected.
“In the case where a legitimate customer is calling, the agent is able to identify the customer quickly and securely through a matched voice print, thus vastly improving the customer experience and overall contact centre efficiency,” says Hutton.
All members of SAFPS are encouraged to participate in order to gain access to the recordings of known imposter calls. Imposter voices will be loaded onto this single shared database, which will then be distributed or used to trigger alerts, realtime.
“SAFPS has identified an innovative application to combat fraud through contact centres,” Hutton says. “Most fraud cases touch a contact centre at least once. The implementation of a shared imposter voicebank will have a substantial impact on combating this type of fraud.
“We will run a pilot for six months to enable us to apply necessary considerations to comply with South African regulations.”
Manie van Schalkwyk of SAFPS says: “We want to see competitors joining hands in fighting fraud. Together we can eradicate fraud in South Africa. We decided to partner with OneVault to assist in the fight against fraud as they bring exciting new technology in voice biometrics.”