Nikolaus D. Bayer, IRIS Analytics: "Comdata`s integration of the single IRIS cluster is a true multi-channel, multi-portfolio application"

The scope

Company: Comdata is the 9th biggest commercial card issuer in the US
Channels: credit, prepaid debit and private label cards, online vouchers
Territories/markets: US, Canada
Customer numbers: 5.1 million MasterCard and proprietary cards
Transaction volumes: USD 17.29 billion p.a.
Time to implementation: long-term relationship with phased implementation including continued additions and adaptations

The Challenge

In 2007, Comdata was looking for a fraud prevention system able to detect and intercept suspicious transactions in real-time, 24/7. Comdata required technology that was versatile and easily configurable, yet providing robust fraud management capabilities.

The Solution

Comdata deployed IRIS, the company’s real-time fraud and risk control solution, a holistic multi-channel, multi-tenancy solution which today covers all types of electronic payments.

The Implementation

• Dec 2007: First IRIS implementation on Comdata’s MasterCard portfolio
• 2009 – 2011: Scope extended to all prepaid debit and private label cards
• Jan 2011: Fraud prevention on ComCheck, Comdata’s convenience cheque
• May 2012: Anti-money laundering functionality added to existing IRIS system, without reinvestment required

In addition to the above, Comdata uses IRIS to prevent first-party fraud and enforce business policies in one single IRIS cluster – this is a true multi-channel, multi-portfolio application.

The Results

• Comdata experienced significant reduction in fraud losses.
• IRIS enabled Comdata to comply with anti-money laundering and card scheme regulations.
• Comdata’s customers have the flexibility to implement additional transaction controls in a more efficient manner. • Examples include product, geographical and merchant restrictions.
• Because IRIS is reliable, stable and easy to use, IRIS Analytics has been able to provide Comdata with first-class remote support from Germany to Tennessee, USA, for more than 7 years.

The Benefits

• Operates 100% in real time
• PCI PA-DSS approved
• Does not need extensive maintenance procedures, e.g. lengthy model re-training to be conducted by the software vendor
• Respects the wish of its user base to fully control and manage its fraud fighting domain expertise autonomously, without needing to revert to the software vendor (or service provider) for regular assistance
• Delivers exceptionally accurate results at high fraud detection rates

About Nikolaus D. Bayer

Nikolaus D. Bayer is co-founder and joint Managing Director of IRIS Analytics GmbH. In this role, he concentrates on sales, product management, delivery and professional services. Prior to founding IRIS Analytics in 2007, he served as Business Development Director Security Systems at Germany‘s leading card processor GZS and, when First Data acquired GZS in 2006, at First Data in Germany.

About IRIS Analytics

IRIS Analytics provides technology and consultancy services to the payments industry to beat electronic payment fraud. It develops and markets the IRIS off-the-shelf fraud prevention platform which powers real-time fraud scoring across the full range of electronic payment channels, including credit, debit, prepaid, online and mobile. IRIS enables payment processors, switches, payment service providers and issuers across the world to analyse and respond to complex fraud patterns in real time, staying one step ahead of evolving, unanticipated fraud threats.

What were Comdata’s challenges before choosing the IRIS fraud prevention solution?

Established processes were not efficient. Comdata was experiencing high growth in their card products. Fraud monitoring was a manual process based on exception reports. We needed to implement an authorizations-based fraud monitoring solution that could provide the ability to make real-time decisions. IRIS was the answer.

What has impressed you most about the solution?

We needed to implement an efficient, real-time fraud monitoring tool. Most industry offerings were consumer centric and based on a “black box” – hard to implement and maintain. IRIS has proven to be quite flexible, very accommodating to our business. Also, implementation was relatively fast. Model maintenance requires no vendor intervention, enabling us to update models on a daily basis.