LSEG launches fraud solution to combat supplier fraud in APAC

The London Stock Exchange Group's Risk Intelligence division has launched its Global Account Verification (GAV) solution in the APAC and EMEA regions, which aims to mitigate supplier fraud.

GAV, which was initially launched for US customers in October 2024, is designed to help treasury and finance functions validate payments by ensuring payee and account details align before transactions are authorised. The verification service aims to enhance security by providing real-time checks to confirm bank account ownership across 21 countries.

The service categorises the results as a "match," a "close match," or a "no match" to indicate the accuracy of account details and counter Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud, a common scam in which organisations are deceived into transferring substantial sums to fraudsters posing as legitimate suppliers. Additionally, it addresses the risk of CEO impersonation fraud, which is becoming more sophisticated with advances in deepfake technology.

Dal Sahota, Head of Trusted Payments at LSEG Risk Intelligence, commented, "As digital payments grow at a pace, so does the threat of fraud and unfortunately, corporate treasuries are in the firing line – placing extra demand upon already stretched functions."

Sahota emphasised fraudsters' growing sophistication and scale as they exploit vulnerabilities across client and vendor workflows: "Fraudsters are constantly innovating and operating with greater sophistication and scale than ever before. As bad actors target vulnerabilities across multiple points of the client and vendor workflows, we will continue to invest in robust, data-driven solutions to help our customers strike back and identity risk with greater assurance."

Recent data underscores the prevalence of payment fraud. Trustpair reported that 96% of US companies experienced at least one payment fraud attempt between September 2023 and September 2024, a 71% increase from the previous year. Similarly, research from Ivalua indicated that nearly one-third of UK businesses were victims of invoice fraud from June 2023 to June 2024.

The availability of GAV via an API offers organisations the advantage of integrating real-time account verification directly into their existing systems, allowing for increased processing efficiency.