KUALA LUMPUR: Al Rajhi Banking and Investment Corp (Malaysia) Bhd (Al Rajhi Bank) is set to roll out the country's first Artificial Intelligence (AI) programme for Anti-Money Laundering (AML) customer due diligence and transactions monitoring in the first quarter next year.
Speaking to journalists at the 9th International Conference on Financial Crime and Terrorism Financing (IFCTF2017) today, its chief compliance officer V. Maslamani said AlRajhi Bank is at advance stages of developing this programme, with the help of an international third party technology-centric company.
“AI is the future and we believe that we can become the first bank in the country to roll out an AI programme for AML, customer due diligence and transactions monitoring because of our smaller size, which allow us to be more nimble in technology development,” he said.
“With the implementation of this AI programme, we can save as much as 50 per cent in the cost of handling all these three areas.”
Maslamani did not reveal the international company the bank is working with in this project but said it is a reputable one.
“As for cost, there's no hard number yet given that it is still very much a work in progress.”He also stressed that given the fact that the financial sector and the world is in the throes of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, banks cannot shy away from implementing and utilising AI to their own benefits.
“I expect to see more implementations of AI in banks 2018 and 2019, as AI can help to reduce cost, take away possible errors and speed up efficiency.”
Themed “Future proofing compliance: Responsibility and response-ability’, the two-day conference explored emerging trends in financial crime and the next generation of detection and technological capabilities required to meet regulatory expectations.
It is jointly organised by Asian Institute of Finance and the Compliance Officers’ Networking Group (CONG).
It is fully supported by Bank Negara Malaysia and the Securities Commission.