Credit unions and community banks are looking to digital communications platform Eltropy to strengthen call center authentication and ultimately reduce fraud as voice-cloning tools and advanced AI present more opportunities for fraudsters within financial services.

In the third quarter of 2022, email scams increased 217% year over year, especially following digitization that skyrocketed amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Tim Pranger, vice president of product and strategy at Eltropy, said during the company’s “How CFIs Can Fight Back Against Fraud” webinar in January.

For example, Huntsville, Texas-based Community Service Credit Union selected Eltropy to reduce both fraud and call center costs as inflation ticked up and a recession loomed last year, according to an Eltropy release. “Our call center costs have decreased by 64% in just one year,” Jennifer Goodall, chief operations officer at CSCU, said in the release.

The credit union is using Milpitas, Calif.-based Eltropy’s digital banking services including texting and video capabilities, according to the release.

Fraud tactics

Fibre Federal Credit Union implemented Eltropy in its call center to address holes in its system that had been allowing opportunities for fraudsters to take advantage of member accounts, Shelly Butler, chief operations officer at Longview, Wash.-based Fibre, told Bank Automation News.

“We started having instances of individuals, not members, contacting us and impersonating members, and these individuals had enough information that would allow a staff member to feel reasonably comfortable that they were talking to a member,” Butler said.

“When these situations came to our attention, we realized that how fraud is being perpetrated is changing,” she said, noting, Eltropy’s automated one-time passcode (OTP), real-time authentication, video capabilities and live chat features gave the credit union more confidence they were speaking to a member.

With the one-time passcode in place, call center staff still must be aware of “red flags,” a Fibre spokesperson told BAN.

A layered approach

Eltropy’s solution only allows for three OTP attempts, seamless chat-to-video switching for verification purposes, and secure links for document sharing to avoid false documentation, Pranger said during the webinar.

Eltropy also uses Lexis Nexis to authenticate identification in real time — while a client is on the phone during a transaction, he said, noting the security is “a layered approach.”

2023 communication enhancements

Following the addition of 300 credit unions and community banks to its platform and the acquisition of two fintechs in 2022, Eltropy announced last week a partnership with texting communications platform AKUVO, which is expected to improve its texting capabilities, according to an Eltropy release.

Texting is a way to quickly reach members, Fibre Federal Credit Union’s Butler said, noting people don’t always have the time to answer the phone or check their email but a “text message, you’re going to see more readily.”

 Bank Automation Summit US 2023, taking place March 2-3 in Charlotte, is a crucial event on automation and automation technology in banking. Learn more and register for Bank Automation Summit US 2023.