Lenders of the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region are to enjoy wider access to the digital economy through the expansion of a partnership between the analytics software provider FICO and Network International.
FICO and the community of digitally-enabling companies are to offer the region’s lenders solutions in fraud protection and credit management.
These solutions, available in hosted mode from Network International, will help financial services providers expand the digital economy across the region.
The two companies have been working together since 2017, when Network International began offering its customers the credit fraud solution FICO Falcon Fraud Manager, which works to protect around 2.6 billion payment cards worldwide.
Following this latest update to their partnership, lenders will now be able to use Falcon at Network International to protect all retail banking accounts.
According to the official announcement, Network International is to also install the decision management system FICO Blaze Advisor in its data centres.
Encompassing decision modelling, decision service design, authoring, testing simulation, deployment and maintenance, its integration will enable the Network to offer a wider array of hosted credit management services to lenders.
Banks and other credit providers can use these services to make real-time approvals on credit applications while controlling risk, and managing their portfolio of accounts with targeted, risk-aware offers and decisions.
Speaking on how “delighted” the Network is to be expanding its partnership with the analytics software provider in this way, its group MD of processing, Hany Fekry, describes how “over the last few years, we have witnessed the accelerated transition to digital payments in the region, making credit controls for real-time decisions more crucial than ever.”
Having taken note of this trend, Fekry emphasises how the Network will “continue to anticipate, adapt, and advance” upon them, implementing a “global gold standard for fraud decisioning and prevention.”
When looking over the long term, Fekry explains that the Network is “confident that FICO’s…technology-led solutions combined with our local expertise will enhance our solutions portfolio.”
Adding to Fekry’s comments, Mark Farmer, who manages partner relationships for FICO in EMEA, explains how the “low entry cost” associated with its decision management services is what will make the solution more accessible to lenders, and will be something that will ultimately pass on benefits to the consumer too.
“We expect our expanded partnership with Network International to result in lower fraud losses, better protection for consumers and ultimately better credit offers,” Farmer adds.
