At the core of this layered defence are AI models trained on large and complex data sets in real time. By analyzing actual fraud cases, the models learn to identify patterns, assess risk and flag suspicious activity at an early stage.
The need for such advanced capabilities has never been greater. Financial crime is evolving faster than ever, and fraudsters are increasingly using AI to their own advantage. They imitate genuine customer behaviour, automate attacks and conceal digital traces that would previously have been detected.
Since 2018, Tieto Banktech's Financial Crime Prevention (FCP) has actively used artificial intelligence to combat fraud, combining advanced technology with deep domain expertise and close collaboration across the banking sector.
“In fraud prevention, we use AI strategically – where it has the greatest effect. At the same time, people are always in control,” says Nikolay Martyushenko, Head of Data & AI, Financial Crime Prevention at Tieto Banktech.
Knowledge as a line of defence
Stopping a suspicious transaction is only the first step. Equally important is the follow up work: determining whether the decision was correct. This often involves direct contact with the end customer, via phone or SMS.
“This investigative work takes time, but it is absolutely essential. If cases are not classified correctly, the models will learn the wrong things,” says Martyushenko.
The more precisely FCP can determine what was actually fraud – and what was not – the stronger the foundation for continued learning, testing and improvement.
“For us, fraud prevention is not just about algorithms, but about building, understanding and maintaining the right knowledge at all times,” he says.
This knowledge is not developed in isolation. FCP collects and analyses fraud patterns across most Norwegian banks and large parts of the Swedish market.
“When a pattern emerges at one bank, it can offer vital protection to others. By sharing insights across institutions, we create a powerful defence against increasingly coordinated and technologically advanced crime,” says Martyushenko.
"By sharing insights across institutions, we create a powerful defence against increasingly coordinated and technologically advanced crime."
– Nikolay Martyushenko, Head of Data & AI, Financial Crime Prevention at Tieto Banktech
Artificial intelligence strengthening payment fraud detection
With Fraud Explore, FCP is taking a new and significant step in AI driven fraud prevention. Built on the company’s own Large Financial AI Model (LFM), the solution is designed to strengthen real time fraud detection across the Nordics – and eventually internationally.
“Rule based systems continue to serve as a strong foundation, while AI models enhance detection by learning normal transaction behaviour and identifying weak signals that rules alone cannot capture,” Martyushenko explains.
This makes it possible to detect unusual activity at an early stage – even when the fraud does not match any previously documented cases.
AI agents in case handling
On top of the financial model sits a set of LLM based AI agents, together forming the next generation of case handling within FCP.
“This is where the future lies: AI assists – people decide,” says Haakon Dybdahl, Head of AI Transformation in Tieto Banktech.
The agents can structure complex information, suggest assessments, automate routine tasks and provide clear explanations based on vast amounts of data. They closely support case handlers in their daily work, delivering assistance in real time.
“The goal is to remove the most time consuming and repetitive tasks, allowing case handlers to focus on decisions where human judgement truly matters,” he explains.
This agent based approach will be tightly integrated with FCP’s real time AI service layer. As payments and fraud attempts happen ever faster, prevention must occur at the moment of transaction.
“Fraud must be stopped before it happens – not afterwards”, Dybdahl concludes.
“This is where the future lies: AI assists – people decide."
– Haakon Dybdahl, Head of AI Transformation in Tieto Banktech
Layered defence against card fraud
In card fraud prevention, FCP applies a layered defence model. The first line of defence is Token Enrolment Monitoring (TEM), which monitors and controls attempts to add payment cards to digital wallets.
“TEM stops between 70 and 80 per cent of token fraud attempts already at enrolment, before the cards are even used,” says Martyushenko.
The next layer is Card Transaction Monitoring (CTM), which analyses card transactions in real time and learns what constitutes normal card usage for each individual customer.
“Here, AI analyses patterns in purchase behaviour, amounts, timing and location. By detecting deviations early, transactions can be risk assessed and stopped – while reducing the number of false positives,” he says.
AI with a clear direction
Looking ahead, Martyushenko points to three strategic priorities for FCP: expanded use of AI agents, access to broader and richer data sources, and emphasizing FCP as a knowledge-driven organisation.
“FCP doesn’t just build systems. We build, preserve, make accessible and continuously develop knowledge – with the help of AI. Technology is a means, not an end in itself,” says Martyushenko.
For FCP, the AI strategy is therefore not about replacing people, but about empowering them. Technology is applied where it delivers the greatest impact – in pattern recognition, real time assessment and decision support – while people remain responsible for judgement, accountability and context.
True value emerges at the intersection of advanced artificial intelligence, human expertise and shared insight across banks.
By combining these elements, Tieto Banktech's Financial Crime Prevention is not only building solutions, but one of the strongest defences against financial crime in the Nordics – ready to meet both today’s threats and those of tomorrow.
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