While responses to the recent CBA financial services fraud scandal are mixed, a report by international research powerhouse Ovum says banks needs to continuously invest in analytics to improve their ability to catch fraudsters in the act.

CBA is facing the possibility of a senate inquiry into alleged misconduct of financial advisors, according to several media reports.  

Daniel Mayo, Chief Analyst for Financial Services Technology at Ovum in the UK, told FST Media that continuous development of management information systems should be in place to control these type of events from taking place. “Banks should be using analytics to improve processes over time,” he said.

Patterns to recognise include correlating individual file cash checks for each contract sold by bank and also evaluating patterns across whole bank. For example, “Is one advisor selling a disproportionate amount of one kind of product that might flag potential issues," according to May’s report, entited: Managing UK Retail Investment Compliance in the Post Retail Distribution Review Landscape.

However, his Australian counterpart, Gilles Ubaghs, Senior Analyst, Financial Services Technology at Ovum cautioned that automation around processes and management would only begin to solve the problem. He said: “people turning a blind eye cannot be fixed with technology, and that even the best system in the world will always be weakened by human interaction.”