Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea, and Spain were among the countries expressing interest in using Interpol’s Global Rapid Intervention of Payments (I-GRIP) system, as noted by Sungyong Kang, a criminal intelligence officer at Interpol, during a panel discussion at Sibos.
Kang did not provide specific statistics on I-GRIP’s utilization during the session focused on collaboration in combating financial crime but expressed hope for future updates. Launched in 2022, I-GRIP enables nations to halt cross-border payments.
Kang emphasized the importance of informing local police in member countries about the I-GRIP system, stating, “In the end, the ones making the request will be the police of the requesting country where the victim is residing. Unless they know about its existence, they are not going to use it.”
Moderator Avalon Ingram, head of FCC experts for APAC and MEA at Swift, shifted the conversation to Nitin Chugh, deputy managing director of the State Bank of India (SBI), to explore India’s initiatives against financial crime. Chugh highlighted the Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System launched in 2022, which allows for reporting fraud through a centralized portal.
Chugh noted, “We report our frauds on this portal, we share our data, and we hope to utilize this coordinated effort to enhance our intelligence collectively over time.”
When discussing India’s real-time payment system, Unified Payments Interface (UPI), Chugh pointed out the primary fraud issue: “It is very unlikely that an account takeover happens because somebody is hacked into your device or account. People are willingly giving away money due to threats or intimidation. This is not something that a rule engine can solve, so scenario planning is essential.”
Ingram then turned to Carl Wocke, CEO of Merlynn Partner, a company specializing in creating digital solutions. Wocke explained the compliance challenges banks face regarding transaction management: “While we wait for big data and AI engines to simplify processes, we need accessible expertise. We’ve developed a digital workforce of experts to address alerts in real time.”
Wocke cited their collaboration with intelligence agencies in tackling financial crime, stating, “We’re enabling law enforcement agents to operate digitally within other agencies, allowing for the sharing of expert models to assist.”
In closing, Kang offered advice to member countries to enhance the effectiveness of the I-GRIP system: “Many of our member countries struggle to determine whom to contact when they receive an I-GRIP request. It would be beneficial if financial institutions could create a general account to receive I-GRIP requests.”