Belgazprombank has implemented a system to screen financial transactions and customers to help prevent crime. But which security issues need addressing? And how will working with FICO resolve them? Patrick Brusnahan investigates

Belarus-based Belgazprombank has taken the initiative with security – and given its place in the market, to do otherwise would be irresponsible.

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Founded in 1990, Belgazprombank is controlled by the Gazprom Group and serves retail banking customers.

According to executive director Irina Kalechits, Belgazprombank is “one of the backbone banks of our country”. In 2017, its assets increased by 36.5% and the bank ranks third in the country in terms of assets.

Its market share in the year grew from 5% to 6.7%. Total assets amounted to BYN4,303m ($1.97bn) while profit totalled BYN104.3m. With such a sum of money in its assets, security is obviously an utmost priority; this is where FICO and Tonbeller come into play.

Security options

Speaking to RBI, Kalechits says: “The need to adopt new financial crime solutions was dictated, firstly, by the requirements of the legislation of Belarus in the field of AML and counter-terrorism financing, and secondly, by the requirements of international banking practice.

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“Belarusian legislation requires automated detection of participants in financial transactions who are involved in terrorist activities, in order to apply further appropriate measures such as blocking a financial transaction or freezing funds. Also, the Belarusian legislator requires programmatic verification of information about customers and their beneficial owners in order to classify them as public officials.

“In terms of international banking practice, we needed to take into account the factor of international economic sanctions. Highquality automation of these processes was laid in the basis of the requirements of the bank.”

To meet these requirements, the Belarusian lender turned to FICO, but it was not the only option on the table. In the end, two solutions were selected: Siron@Embrago and Siron@KYC, which perform both online checks and retrospective analysis. Both parts are built on a single database and share access to downloaded or external and internal lists, such as National Bank lists and the Dow Jones database. Information about high-risk customers is also available to identify and analyse transactions more accurately.

“Our process for choosing FICO Tonbeller was complex,” Kalecits explains. “It should be noted that the software was chosen on a competitive basis. What worked in favour of FICO Tonbeller were the quality of its solutions, how those solutions matched our requirements, the company’s reputation and its considerable experience in working with AML solutions.”

Torsten Mayer, vice-president for compliance solutions at FICO, says: “Regulators worldwide are focused on preventing the financing of financial crime. We help Belgazprombank and other banks worldwide to keep up with new lists of highrisk persons, and screen every transaction.”

He continues: “Regulators worldwide are focused on preventing the financing of financial crime.” The partnership was agreed in October 2018, and so far “the solution has had very positive results, and meets the requirements of the bank”.

Innovation

Belgazprombank prides itself on innovation, with security falling into that category. As part of its educational and innovation activities, it organises an annual international conference New Reality: Challenge for Belarus; the bank considers this to be a landmark for the country.

With an aim to identify and strengthen the potential of Belarus, the future is discussed with regards to technology, banking, finance, IT and entrepreneurship.

The list of topics has also recently expanded to include blockchain, fintech, artificial intelligence and machine learning. The business also implemented a number of innovations in 2018. These include:

  • Belgazprombank is the only bank in the country to provide customers with the Samsung Pay service for both Visa and Mastercard cards;
  • It has one of the most modern and advanced mobile applications for individuals, which has been repeatedly noted as a leader not only in its home country, but also in regional ratings;
  • The bank is one of the few that has implemented sending a PIN-code for cards via SMS;
  • It has a unique procedure for car loans to individuals in car dealerships, and
  • The bank is one of the few in the country to allow users to bind cards from other Belarusian banks into its mobile app.