How a Loan Provider Uses Link Analysis to Increase Review Efficiency by 5X

Short-term loans can be a lifeline to people who need access to quick cash. One loan provider wanted to prioritize its customers’ sense of urgency. But fast loan application processing was also leaving the company vulnerable to fraudsters taking advantage of easy vetting procedures. And, multiplied across 900+ retail locations throughout the country, better fraud prevention was a must. 

Here’s how the provider leveraged DataVisor to improve its review processes to find and prevent fraud before it occurred.

The Challenge: Thorough Vetting in a Timely Manner

The short-term loan provider prides itself on helping customers with cash when they most need it. But to reflect this level of care in the application process, the company needed a way to shorten the waiting period that was leading to delays in customers receiving much-needed funds as applications were manually reviewed. 

Naturally, this longer processing time also led to high operating costs for the company. With each application undergoing manual scrutiny, reviewing applications was an expensive process. 

What’s more, a lack of holistic data led to poor decision-making. Applications that looked legitimate individually were able to pass through inspection. However, if the company had ways to view applications on a collective scale, they may have found discrepancies or suspicious pieces of information that would have disqualified the loans. 

The Solution: Real-Time Linkage Analysis with DataVisor

For the loan provider to become the customer-centric company it wanted to be, its challenges would need to become its solutions. 

The company chose DataVisor’s fraud solution and linkage analysis to review each application more quickly and compare it to other applications in real time without extensive manual reviews.

The linkage analysis allows the fraud team to uncover connections among various entities and attributes, including driver licenses, bank accounts, mobile phone numbers, addresses and other attributes that aren’t visible reviewing applications one at a time.

Users can review multiple cases at once, as DataVisor groups related cases based on trigger behaviors so teams can take bulk actions against them (e.g. allowlisting, blocklisting, etc.). Context becomes part of the decision-making process so users can move forward with applications with a greater level of confidence and accuracy.

The Results: Improved Fraud Accuracy for Better Customer Experiences

Upon implementing DataVisor solutions, the loan provider realized a 20% uplift in fraud detection, thanks largely to the linkage analysis. 

DataVisor’s Knowledge Graph generates a compelling visual to illustrate connections between data points and show why applications were being flagged as fraudulent. This was an important piece of detecting organized crime rings and supports the relationship between AI and human expertise.

The application loan review process has also seen a 5x increase in efficiency. Because not all applications require manual review, approvals can proceed with confidence. Customers win when there’s less friction to stand between them and their loan, and the loan provider is able to provide the customer experience they always wanted.