Holvi deploys AI-driven risk detection to fight financial crime more effectively and efficiently

Holvi offers business bank accounts for small businesses, sole traders, and freelancers. It aims to eliminate the financial distractions for its customers, so they can focus on the work they’re passionate about. 

“Digital banks want to help their customers have a seamless and fast banking experience,” explains Valentina Butera, Head of AML and AFC Operations. “But the challenge is these things benefit customers and criminals alike. Technology is developing fast, but criminals are developing their ways fast too.” 

For every fraudulent customer it onboards, Holvi experiences high rates of payment recall, police requests, and seizures. The digital bank looked to AI-driven solutions to improve its efficiency and accuracy in detecting high-risk customers without disrupting legitimate customers. 

Holvi uses ComplyAdvantage to onboard and screen its customers against adverse media, sanctions, and politically exposed persons (PEP) lists. It also uses ComplyAdvantage’s transaction screening, monitoring, and fraud detection products. Holvi also recently deployed Smart Alerts to optimize the efficiency of its transaction monitoring using AI. “We needed a dynamic way of fighting financial crime,” says Butera.

Fighting fast-changing fraud typologies

Butera’s team chose ComplyAdvantage’s Fraud Detection solution for its AI-based capabilities. “It was an easy decision for us, we immediately saw it had the latest technology, and the AI capabilities were something we were really interested in trying,” she explains. “We also knew the implementation would be extremely smooth.” 

AI-driven alert optimization

Holvi also recently deployed Smart Alerts, an AI-driven tool that helps analysts prioritize the transaction monitoring alerts that pose the greatest risk to the organization. “It is the latest AML technology,” Butera says. The digital bank sought a holistic approach, finding that static rules often used by legacy financial institutions were ineffective at keeping pace with criminals. 

“The implementation of Smart Alerts was the smoothest implementation of tech that we have ever experienced. We did not experience any downtime or any interruption of business operations – not even for a second,” says Butera. 

Butera’s team quickly saw efficiency benefits as a result. Forty percent of Holvi’s high-priority alerts are true positives, compared to less than one percent of low-priority alerts. This automation has made Butera’s day-to-day work more productive. “As a Head of AML Operations, I know what alerts to prioritize and what my team needs to focus on.”

A deepening partnership

Through its deployment of ComplyAdvantage’s suite of products across onboarding and monitoring, Holvi is able to onboard customers speedily without compromising on its compliance obligations. “We know we can serve our legitimate customers while at the same time keeping a solid risk-based approach.”

Holvi has partnered with ComplyAdvantage for several years. “We believe our partnership with ComplyAdvantage will definitely continue to grow. We have grown together, and this is very nice to have in a partnership. Our needs have always been met, even though they are ever-changing,” says Butera.