Credit card and payments giant Mastercard has launched a new “network-level solution” in the APAC region that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to track and prevent money laundering and financial crime within payments systems.

Dubbed ‘TRACE’ (Trace Financial Crime), the technology enables participating financial institutions to track potentially fraudulent transaction patterns (including money mule activity) across a real-time payments network. The solution also sends participating banks proactive alerts on suspected money laundering accounts.

“TRACE incorporates critical data points across an entire domestic network to identify money mules involved in financial crime (such as frauds, scams, etc.), giving financial institutions a network-level perspective they wouldn’t otherwise have,” Mastercard said.

TRACE, which leverages up-to-date payments data from multiple financial institutions, promises users a “holistic intelligence beyond an individual financial institution’s siloed view”, which Mastercard said enables the tracing of financial crime across a payments network.

TRACE, it adds, is the first network-level solution for real-time payments systems developed to proactively identify money mules and trace the dispersion of funds.

The UK was the first country to adopt TRACE after it was debuted in 2018. Today, 21 UK FSIs and tier-one banks have implemented the solution so far, covering 90 per cent of the country’s Faster Payments Service network.

The Philippines becomes the first country in Asia-Pacific to deploy TRACE.

The technology was implemented in collaboration with the Philippines interbank network BancNet (the switch operator of local real-time payments service InstaPay). According to Mastercard, BancNet has onboarded 36 domestic banks to TRACE during its pilot rollout, supporting their adherence to the country’s new Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (AFASA).

Mastercard executive vice president of services for Asia Pacific Matthew Driver said the APAC debut of TRACE “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 said it is also ready to collaborate with other stakeholders across the region to progress the rollout of the anti-AML tech.