After a two-year project with Tookitaki, UOB rolls out AML solution based on AI

UOB’s new AI solution was developed in collaboration with Singapore-based regulatory technology (regtech) company, Tookitaki, after more than two years of rigorous validation and evaluation.

UOB is the first Singapore bank to apply AI concurrently to two anti-money laundering (AML) risk dimensions – transaction monitoring and name screening, according to the official press release. The Bank’s use of AI enables it to pinpoint higher-priority cases from the more-than-5,700 average monthly suspicious transaction alerts flagged and to deploy the necessary resources swiftly to investigate potential money laundering attempts.

The tests, carried out in a real banking environment using Tookitaki’s Anti-Money Laundering Suite on sample transactions, verified that the AI processes were effective and were applied responsibly and ethically. UOB also ensured that the AI solution met the Bank’s governance frameworks, the Singapore Government’s Model AI Framework, and the AI RegTech Model Management Framework  developed collaboratively by UOB and Deloitte.

Tookitaki is a graduate of The FinLab’s second accelerator programme in 2017. Through The FinLab, UOB provides guidance, resources and mentorship to start-ups and small-, and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to help them grow their businesses and expand into new markets. The Bank also explores collaborations with these startups and SMEs for the Bank’s innovation drive.