Israeli cyber technology company, ThetaRay, has licensed a financial fraud detection tool that analyzes correspondent banking transactions to Emirati bank Mashreq, the company announced on Monday.
It is ThetaRay’s first direct license arrangement with a UAE bank for undisclosed terms and price.
The collaboration between the UAE bank and ThetaRay was made possible by the Abraham Accords, which were signed in September 2020 to normalize relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco.
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ThetaRay’s technology, powered by artificial intelligence, enables safe and secure cross-border payment transfers for correspondent banking, while also protecting against financial crime.
The COVID-19 era has triggered an upsurge in the volume of cross-border payments, a market that is expected to grow from $37.15 trillion in 2020 to $39.9 trillion by 2026. This market is a prime target for financial crimes such as money laundering, theft, and fraud.
The UAE, the Middle East’s financial and commercial hub, has tightened banking and financial rules in recent years – and asked banks to step up anti-money laundering measures – in an effort to combat the notion that it is a hotspot for illegal money.
ThetaRay’s anti-money laundering (AML) solution is in line with the trend to establish UAE as a global financial center that connects the Middle East and Africa to the rest of the world.
Mashreq Bank, being one of the leaders in this space, will use ThetaRay’s solution to facilitate its growth safely and provide services to more countries and customers.
ThetaRay has raised $31 million last year to bring its total funding to $90 million. The company claims its technology enables banks and fintech to lower the total cost of ownership (TCO), rapidly expand revenue, improve customer experience, and accelerate return on investment (ROI) from months to days.
“ThetaRay’s technology, underpinned by advanced machine-learning-based models complementing rules, sets the foundation for next-generation transaction monitoring,” said Scott Ramsay, Group Head of Compliance and Bank MLRO of Mashreq Bank. “By combining speed and agility with efficiency, it allows banks to effectively thwart financial crime risks in the increasingly complex space of cross-border payments.”
“Mashreq Bank is our first customer in the UAE,” ThetaRay CEO Mark Gazit remarked. “We look forward to expanding our relationship with additional financial institutions in the UAE and throughout the Middle East as part of ThetaRay’s continuous worldwide expansion.”
