From music and movies to steaks and pet toys, subscription services are everywhere. In the U.S. alone, 69 percent of the population are subscribed to multiple services and 28 percent have at least four. Why the hype now around subscription plans? In part, it’s the ability for these services to adapt to consumers’ needs for a flat fee, but the benefits of subscription-based services have meant steady growth in business-to-business (B2B) too.
Fraud management for financial services is no exception, with fraud management subscription plans that offer the fraud protection that financial institutions are looking for, while adapting to emerging fraud threats. I spoke with Marc Trepanier, principal fraud consultant, to find out more about this trend, and how ACI’s own fraud management solution is evolving to suit the changing needs of customers.
Blanca: Let’s start from the beginning – why are financial services adopting subscription-based models that are more commonly associated with consumer goods and services?
Marc: We identify two clear reasons for financial services moving into the subscription trend, including fraud management solution providers. First, as you mentioned above, consumers use subscription-based services daily because of the benefits, the affordability and convenience. So, why wouldn’t fraud and risk managers, or a bank’s CTO, want the same for their fraud operations?
We also see a need for financial institutions (FIs) to move from capital expenses (CAPEX) to operational expenses (OPEX). By this, I mean when a bank is developing its fraud strategy, it must work out its business case, which can be tedious and time consuming. We want to relieve banks of the pressures of these business cases as well as the initial disbarment involved. Moving to an OPEX model means that FIs don’t have to pay anything upfront; they simply pay monthly.
Blanca: Looking specifically at the plans that ACI has developed, how can customers leverage these plans and benefit from them?
Marc: When we developed our own subscription-based fraud plans, we were looking to provide options that every bank could choose from and that would enable them to meet their goals. We all know that goals can change over time; that’s why these plans are designed to “grow as you grow.” For example, if a bank initially selects a platinum plan, then decides to enter a new market or launch a new product, it can easily move from platinum to the diamond plan. This gives FIs the ability to enter a new market and try new things with low risk, in addition to saving on the initial monetary investment.
Blanca: In addition to those benefits outlined, does the subscription-based model free the bank from some of the effort of managing the IT?
Marc: Exactly – software management is handled by ACI and our partner, Microsoft, so that banks are in control of their fraud strategies without having to worry about the IT side. This approach also means that features can be added to scale up when needed, including machine learning or communication tools, for example.
If you want to know more specifics of each subscription plan, please download our Subscription Plan Details.
ACI Fraud Management for Banking 
