PSCU, FICO Partner To Bring Fraud Alert Tool To Credit Unions 

PSCU, the credit union service organization (CUSO), is teaming up with FICO Customer Communications Services (CCS) to develop a fraud alert tool for credit unions (CUs), PSCU said in a statement on Wednesday (Oct. 28).

In the event of possible fraud, members are alerted quickly and securely using their preferred method of communication.

Transactions processed when a card is not present (CNP) have become commonplace since the coronavirus took hold in March. These types of transactions can attract fraudulent activity that is fast and sophisticated. To address the issue, PSCU’s credit unions are seeking additional solutions to quickly contact members while also allowing for an increased measure of security.

“PSCU is committed to providing our credit unions and their members with state-of-the-art technology and seamless experiences that meet their evolving needs and expectations,” said Jack Lynch, senior vice president and chief risk officer at PSCU and president of CU Recovery. 

Lynch added that by collaborating with FICO CCS, PSCU can “continue providing innovative fraud detection services” in a manner that makes sense for individual CUs’ needs.

PSCU said some of the perks of working with FICO CCS include in-checkout message delivery, alert customization and increased security.

“Today’s consumers expect things at the speed of now, and credit union members are no exception. When it comes to fraud alerts, they expect to be notified in real time, wherever they are, on their preferred device – and credit unions must deliver on those expectations or risk losing their members to competitors,” said Michael Magaard, vice president of CCS at FICO. “Adopting FICO CCS will enable PSCU’s credit unions to not only exceed member expectations in the present, but also provide them with a foundation to compete with larger FIs well into the future.”

In the firm’s contribution to PYMNTS’ “What Did You Change?” report, Glynn Frechette, senior vice president of Advisors Plus Consulting, said that PSCU recognized an opportunity when the pandemic hit. PSCU started tracking data on digital shifts and trends and shared the results with its CUs and the market.

In a June interview with PYMNTS, Chuck Fagan, president and CEO of PSCU, said the credit union model can help people navigate the “new normal” amid the pandemic. Data and predictive analytics can offer new insights that can help CUs engage members.

There haven’t been too many upsides to the COVID-19 pandemic, but one big positive has been the uptick in consumer credit scores, which are at record highs. The average FICO credit score in July was 711, up from 708 in April 2020 and 706 in July 2019. FICO scores range from 300-850.