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Interview with Claudia Fah, Fraud Analytics Manager, BankservAfrica

Written by Gert Botes

Interview with Claudia Fah, Fraud Analytics Manager at BankservAfrica

Written by Corinium on Feb 7, 2019 8:23:16 AM

Datacon Africa DataCon Government 2020 Data and Analytics

Corinium’s data analytics events are designed to provide deep value to senior leaders and decision makers who are responsible for driving the strategic growth of data analytics within their organisations.

 

Gert BotesData Analytics Portfolio Director - MEA conducted a brief interview with Claudia Fah, Fraud Analytics Manager at BankservAfrica, who will also be presenting at DataCon Africa (13 – 14 March 2019, Cape Town)

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Claudia, please tell us a little bit about your role as Fraud Analytics Manager at BankservAfrica?

 My role involves managing the analytics and detection performance of the fraud service we provide to the banks. Our team of data scientists and application specialists maintain and enhance fraud detection capabilities for our clients.

 

What are some of the biggest challenges you face in your role?

I think one of our biggest challenges in fraud is data quality. Our team can spend quite a bit of time capturing and cleaning data. We also translate the outcomes and consequences of inconsistent fraud data. That introduces additional uncertainty and decreases accuracy of prediction. A nice challenge we have is that of selecting what to master! With technology changing rapidly, tools and techniques used are continuously evolving. Ensuring that our team is both learning new skills and mastering current skills is always a balancing act.

 

You most probably find very interesting cases of fraud; can you share some info with us on the most unique case you uncovered?

All I can say is that there are some very creative fraudsters out there!

 

What is the best part of being in the data & analytics industry for you?

The best part is the people. We get to work with some really intelligent people from all areas of business. This really brings a lot of insights and exposure to the problems we are trying to solve. It makes for a great dynamic and we never stop learning.

 

What do you wish you had known when you started in this industry and what advice do you have for anyone interested in getting into the data analytics industry?

 I wish I’d known how important it was to understand the bigger picture of the area of data analytics I wanted to work in. When I was younger, I focussed a lot on what skills and what technology I was exposed to. Personally, it took me a while to find an area of analytics that I was really passionate about. I think it’s important to work for a cause or company that you feel passionate about. The best analysts have a passion for what they do and why they do it.

 

DataCon Africa has the theme of “Moving Towards a Data-Driven & Data-Centric Future” Would you say that BankservAfrica is a data driven enterprise? And what is your team doing currently to move towards the data-centric future?

 Absolutely. I think that we are fortunate to work for a company that provides so much freedom in the analytical work we do and tools that we use. Our team has a strategic focus to use advanced analytics to mitigate against fraud, so we spend a lot of time using different techniques to process and analyse data for ease of investigation. We are fortunate enough to have a support team that understands the urgency of data availability and this is key to our success. The core focus for the team is using the data to enhance the decision-making capabilities of fraud investigators in real-time.

 

At DataCon Africa you will be presenting on the mutual data pool and fraud detection, can you elaborate on this a bit for us please?

 I will be sharing insights on how the banking industry uses controlled data pooling and analytics to mitigate fraud. My presentation will unpack the factors that make the solution mutually viable, the analytical techniques we use and the challenges we face.

 

How would you describe the maturity of data analytics within South African companies? Do you feel like the profession is maturing and what’s driving this?

I think we have a great deal of talent in South Africa with a lot of companies rapidly investing in the skill. I definitely think the profession is maturing, and there are an increasing number of learning and development structures in place. The availability of learning material is an important driver. I think there are core drivers, like profit maximisation and compliance that never really go away, but companies that understand the culture of exploration and innovation really drive analytics.

 

 

 

Learn more from Claudia during her presention at DataCon:

Mutual Data Pools & Fraud Detection

 

 

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 Claudia Fah, Fraud Analytics Manager, BankservAfrica

Claudia’s years of experience in strategic credit and card fraud mitigation provides her with the unique understanding and skill set to head up the design and development of BankservAfrica’s predictive fraud detection model. Claudia is instrumental in defining the rules engine, profiling and tuning with her immediate focus being on providing industry with advanced analytical solutions.

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