Singapore – In a bid to combat financial crimes in the region, Mastercard has recently announced the introduction of an AI-powered solution designed to detect and protect money laundering and financial crime.
Titled TRACE (Trace Financial Crime), this network-level solution offers holistic intelligence allowing better detection and prevention beyond isolated bank-level insights.
It also uses advanced data science techniques to trace potentially fraudulent transaction patterns across a payments network and provide proactive alerts to banks about suspicious accounts. This approach enables financial institutions with a broader, network-wide perspective.
As a first network-level solution for RTP systems, TRACE was developed to identify money mules and trace the dispersion of funds. Its network-agnostic design further allows seamless integration across payment networks, enhancing fraud prevention and regulatory compliance.
Matthew Driver, executive vice president, Services, Asia Pacific at Mastercard, said, “The launch of TRACE in Asia Pacific marks a transformative step toward safeguarding the integrity of Real-Time Payments while combatting the corrosive effects of financial crime. By ensuring that transactions remain secure and compliant, TRACE helps to protect consumers and financial institutions, while also fostering trust in the digital economy—which will be critical for the region’s economic growth.”
“Mastercard is proud to have collaborated with BancNet on its pilot rollout in the Philippines and is ready to collaborate with other stakeholders across the region to implement TRACE to create a stronger, more resilient global financial system,” he further explained.
Also speaking about the initiative, Emmie Reyes, chief executive officer at BancNet, stated, “As scams grow more sophisticated, advanced tech-powered prevention and monitoring capabilities are critical. Our partnership with Mastercard and leveraging TRACE gives us and the network participants the intelligence to help detect fraud faster, making scam prevention sharper and more effective.”
Mastercard launched TRACE in the Philippines through a partnership with BancNet, linking it to the InstaPay RTP system. With 36 domestic banks already onboarded, TRACE enhances financial institutions’ ability to analyze transaction data, detect illicit fund flows, and proactively flag high-risk accounts to align with AFASA regulations.
