Thailand Accelerates AI Adoption to Tackle Financial Crime and Improve Compliance

Thailand Accelerates AI Integration to Combat Fraud in Financial Sector

As financial crime continues to evolve, Thailand is investing heavily in artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance fraud detection and risk management across various industries.

The country’s push to integrate AI into its financial systems marks a significant step towards more secure digital transactions and more efficient financial crime prevention.

Robust Regulatory Framework Supports AI Adoption

Thailand’s financial sector is benefiting from strong regulatory frameworks that facilitate the use of AI to detect and prevent fraud.

Collaboration among local banks, along with these regulations, aligns the country with global models for combating financial crime.

This strategic approach, inspired by successful implementations in Australia, Europe, and Hong Kong, is expected to drive the next wave of AI-powered fraud prevention systems in Thailand.

Ian Holmes, SAS’s director and global lead for enterprise fraud solutions, emphasised the role of technology in combating financial crime.

Ian Holmes is the director and global lead for enterprise fraud solutions at SAS Institute, a leader in data and AI. (Source: OpenGov Asia)

He explained that real-time payment protection is just one example of how Thailand is using AI to secure digital transactions and prevent fraud.

New account openings are now subjected to stricter verification processes to reduce the risk of scams.

Addressing Broader Fraud Risks Beyond Banking

Fraud is not limited to the banking sector, as fraudsters increasingly exploit vulnerabilities across industries, especially telecommunications.

Using compromised phone numbers for social engineering attacks has become a rising threat.

A particularly concerning form of fraud is authorised push payment fraud, where customers are deceived into sending money directly to criminals.

This poses significant challenges for banks, as customers often unknowingly participate in the fraudulent transaction.

To address these challenges, AI is being used to strengthen fraud detection systems across various industries, including financial institutions and telecom companies.

Thailand’s digital ID system, powered by AI, plays a crucial role in speeding up identity verification while ensuring secure and fast processing of transactions.

Source: Freepik

AI Enhances Compliance and Reduces Manual Tasks

Beyond fraud detection, AI is being applied to automate compliance processes, which has the potential to significantly reduce the manual workload required for regulatory tasks.

The use of large language models (LLMs) to automate the creation of regulatory reports and case notes is being explored, streamlining operations and improving efficiency in managing financial crime compliance.

AI Integration Requires Effective Governance

The successful integration of AI into fraud detection systems hinges on more than just technological innovation.

Proper governance and a clear understanding of the data inputs that drive AI models are essential to ensure accurate and secure operations.

The effective governance of AI is critical for achieving the desired return on investment, with SAS noting that AI governance accounts for 5-7% of total AI project spending.

Significant Investments in AI-Powered Solutions

SAS has invested US$1 billion in the development of AI-powered fraud detection and financial crime compliance solutions over the past three years.

According to Nutapone Apiluktoyanunt, managing director of SAS Thailand, the company anticipates increased opportunities in fraud detection, particularly from investments in online scam prevention and virtual bank services.

Nutapone Apiluktoyanunt, managing director of SAS Thailand (Source: HR Asia Awards)

SAS is focused on providing solutions that address financial crime, risk management, and customer intelligence in the banking sector.