Crown Agents Bank, a UK-based financial institution specialising in FX and cross-border payments for emerging markets, has deployed an AI agent from WorkFusion to automate its transaction screening processes. The bank will use WorkFusion’s AI agent, named Tara, to manage the growing volume of payment alerts and enhance its financial crime compliance operations.
The move is designed to create a scalable platform that can support the bank’s expansion into emerging markets while maintaining cost efficiency. As the bank’s payment volumes have increased, it required a solution to handle the corresponding rise in sanctions and anti-money laundering (AML) alerts without proportionally increasing its operational headcount.
WorkFusion’s AI agents are pre-built to augment financial crime compliance teams, specifically targeting Level 1 analyst functions. According to the company, the agents review alerts using the same reasoning and procedures as human analysts and can reduce manual work by up to 70 per cent.
Automating alert reviews and reducing false positives
The AI agent, Tara, enhances the transaction screening process by automating real-time payment screening for sanctions compliance and AML. A key function is managing the high volume of false positive alerts that are common in payment screening systems.
According to the announcement, Tara is currently auto-adjudicating 30 per cent of false positives, with a target of reaching 60 per cent in the near future. By handling these routine alerts, the system frees up human analysts to focus on more complex and higher-risk investigations.
Shyam Kakad, senior vice president and head of AFC operations for Crown Agents Bank, commented: “Because our business is growing rapidly and our payment alert volumes are increasing, we needed a solution that could help us scale exponentially without added costs. By integrating WorkFusion’s AI Agent, Tara, into our transaction screening processes, we are reducing the false positive burden on our team, streamlining operations, and enhancing the speed and accuracy of payment processing. This is another example of our dedication to leveraging technology and AI to better serve our clients and navigate the complexities of global financial compliance.”
Adam Famularo, chief executive officer of WorkFusion, added: “Our AI Agents are helping customers around the world increase the capacity of their financial crime compliance teams and optimise their operations. They’re like cloning your best AML analyst. Crown Agents Bank is a brilliant example of an organisation that truly understands the value that AI can bring to modernising a function like financial crime compliance and setting themselves up for exponential growth with the ability to scale seamlessly.”
WorkFusion’s AI solutions are also used by four of the top five US banks for functions including adverse media monitoring, know your customer (KYC) processes, and transaction monitoring investigations.
