The FT reviews the evolution of "crimtech" and the spreading phenomenon of online money launderers who are quickly replacing their brick-and-mortar. These "front" businesses are incredibly hard for banks, acquirers, and third-party processors to detect.
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Innovative criminals embrace online opportunities
The fintech sector, predictably, is adamant the industry will be able to offer the solutions to many of these problems. But as Lisa Osofsky, a global regulatory and financial crime compliance consultant at Exiger, explained to me, the challenge remains one of trade-offs. More compliance by and large comes along with additional cost and inconvenience to customers. That in turn puts a heavy burden on those in financial services responsible for policing transactions, especially when they don’t consider themselves police officers. “It’s very expensive to be the gatekeeper,” Ms Osofsky said. “Think of aeroplane travel, it’s the same sort of thing. There are always trade-offs with more security.”
