Advanced analytics fuels virtual banking with data-driven decisions

Airstar Bank relies on SAS for risk-based customer due diligence, money laundering detection and comprehensive credit risk management 

While the banking and financial services industry in Hong Kong accelerated digital transformation and reimagined its business model during the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, the “new normal” has also accelerated the growth of the virtual banking model for end-to-end, customer-centric and data-driven digitalization.

Airstar Bank, a pioneer in virtual banking in Hong Kong, uses SAS solutions for risk-based customer due diligence, money laundering detection and comprehensive credit risk management throughout the customer life cycle.

“In building a full-featured virtual bank from scratch, it is encouraging that Airstar Bank has become fully operational in just 13 months,” says Mr. KF Lam, Chief Compliance Officer at Airstar Bank. “SAS solutions empower the bank in the entire customer onboarding journey to conduct transaction monitoring and transparent customer intelligence for suspicious fraud and money laundering activities, as well as credit scoring. We're making smart decisions based on available data. With SAS as our reliable partner, we are resolute in delivering a VIP experience to every customer using emerging financial technologies and innovative solutions.”

Integrated credit scoring expedites customer onboarding with Know Your Customer compliance

Powered by integrated data extraction, mapping and loading capabilities, SAS enables Airstar Bank to create data sets, derive variables and manage differentiated scorecards for all lending products. Now the bank has a complete understanding of each customer for better service personalization and to help facilitate product upselling.

Additionally, SAS fraud, anti-money laundering and security intelligence solutions perform continuous transaction monitoring for comprehensive coverage of suspicious activities and generate regulatory reports to the Hong Kong Monetary Authority when illicit activities and security threats are detected.

With all banking services being virtual, customer due diligence is vital for Know Your Customer compliance to eliminate potential fraud and money laundering crimes. SAS streamlines due diligence investigations, rates the bank’s new customers and updates customer scoring based on key events that could affect the overall risk of the relationship.

Close collaboration, better protection

The timely response of SAS helps guard against potential risks and enhance the customer experience.

“The close collaboration and open communication between Airstar Bank and the SAS project team was one of the contributing factors leading to the successful launch of the bank’s pilot scheme and the smooth delivery of full operations,” Lam says. “We appreciate the timely advice and prompt response of SAS along the way."

Next-generation virtual banking with intelligent decisioning

With increasing competition between virtual banks in the market, a holistic digital customer experience is gaining greater significance. It is foreseeable that virtual banks will progressively place more emphasis on innovative technologies, like artificial intelligence and advanced analytics, to help maximize their digital capacity for providing a seamless customer experience.

“We can see tremendous opportunities ahead in virtual banking,” says Mr. Steve Shum, Alternate Chief Executive and Chief Information Officer at Airstar Bank. “Making intelligent decisions based on trusted technologies, domain expertise and immediate data will keep us moving forward.”