Ping'an Bank's newly announced anti-fraud system can identify fraudulent credit card transactions within 0.2 of a second, making it the fastest of its kind in China, according to the bank.
The system, which was put into use last year, but only formally announced last month, allows the bank to stop credit card fraud the instant it occurs, while many of their competitors react only after the transaction has been made, said Zhang Shen from Ping'an's risk management department.
"Once a card has been stolen it's very difficult to prevent the first fraudulent transaction, because a real-time response requires the bank's anti-fraud system to make precise decisions very quickly," he said.
Statistics from the Ministry of Public Security showed that credit card crime has surged in China, with more than 63,000 cases filed in 2016, accounting for one-third of the country's total financial crime.
Hu Yuefei, president of Ping'an Bank, said the company's system conducts round-the-clock surveillance of credit card accounts and identifies abnormal user behavior based on big data analysis within an average response time of no more than 0.2 of a second.
"We can ensure no money is lost from a stolen account," Hu said.
Since the system was activated in January 2016, more than 800 million transactions have been monitored, with 65 million yuan in both direct and indirect losses avoided.
The technology is a part of the bank's moves to develop smart banking, Hu said, adding that financial technology has become all the more important in improving operation efficiency and service quality as competition between banks gets fiercer.
Ping'an Bank has invested 1.2 billion yuan into research and development of financial technology during the first half of the year, up 20 percent year on year. Its technical team has increased from 200 to more than 1,800 staff members
In late September, Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) announced that customers no longer need to insert their bank cards to withdraw money from ATMS at three branches in Jinan, Shandong Province. ATMs will scan the account holders face to access their account.
The technology will help eliminate the risk of copied or fake bank cards, and lower the possibility of cards being damaged or confiscated by ATMs, according to Zhang Baojing from ABC.
"It will enhance the customer experience," he said.
Other banks, such as China Merchants Bank and Construction Bank of China, have also introduced similar technology in their ATMs.
From 2018, ATMs installed in ABC branches in Tianjin Municipality,Shaanxi, Hunan and Hubei provinces will be paper-free. Customers will be able to scan the screen with their mobile phone to receive an electronic receipt of the transaction.
