Skip to main content
Financial Services Case Study

Real-Time Fraud Detection Saves $3.2M Annually

How a Digital Payment Platform with 15M+ users in the UK deployed ensemble ML models for real-time transaction scoring, slashing fraud losses by 76% and dramatically reducing false positives.

KEY RESULT
$3.2M/Year Net Savings
ROI achieved in just 7 months
Transaction Security
Real-Time Scoring
Ensemble ML
Adaptive Learning
Technology
XGBoost • Kafka • Spark • SageMaker
Client
Digital Payment Platform
Industry
Financial Services / Fintech
Timeline
20 Weeks
Team Size
7 Engineers
ROI
7 Months

The Challenge

A fast-growing payment platform hemorrhaging millions to sophisticated fraud

A leading Digital Payment Platform serving over 15 million active users across the UK was losing $4.2 million annually to increasingly sophisticated fraud attacks. Their legacy rule-based system was unable to keep pace with evolving fraud tactics, from account takeovers and synthetic identity fraud to coordinated ring attacks targeting their peer-to-peer and merchant payment flows.

Compounding the problem, their existing fraud filters generated a 35% false positive rate, blocking legitimate transactions and frustrating customers. The platform needed a real-time scoring system that could evaluate every transaction in under 50 milliseconds while dramatically reducing both fraud losses and false positives.

$4.2M
Annual fraud losses
35%
False positive rate
15M+
Active users
<50ms
Required latency

Our AI Solution

Ensemble ML models for real-time fraud detection and adaptive learning

Ensemble ML Model

Core AI

Built a stacked ensemble combining XGBoost, Random Forest, and LSTM networks to capture both tabular feature patterns and sequential transaction behavior for maximum fraud detection accuracy.

  • XGBoost + Random Forest + LSTM ensemble architecture
  • 150+ fraud indicators including device fingerprinting
  • Behavioral pattern analysis and geolocation signals
  • Confidence scoring for every transaction

Real-Time Processing

Performance

Ultra-low-latency inference pipeline scoring every transaction in under 50 milliseconds, powered by Kafka streaming and Spark for batch feature computation.

  • <50ms latency per transaction scoring
  • Kafka streaming pipeline for event ingestion
  • Spark for batch feature computation
  • Auto-scaling to handle peak transaction volumes

Adaptive Learning

Intelligence

Self-improving system that automatically detects and adapts to emerging fraud patterns through daily retraining cycles and controlled rollout strategies.

  • Daily model retraining on new fraud patterns
  • 12 new fraud patterns discovered automatically
  • A/B tested with 20% traffic before full rollout
  • Continuous monitoring and drift detection

Explainable AI

Compliance

Transparent decision reasoning that enables compliance teams to understand, audit, and defend every fraud decision with full traceability.

  • Transparent decision reasoning for compliance teams
  • Audit trail for every flagged transaction
  • PCI-DSS compliant architecture
  • Role-based access and reporting dashboards

Results & Impact

Measurable improvements across every key metric

76%
Fraud Reduction
Losses reduced from $4.2M to $1.0M annually
8x
Fewer False Positives
Rate reduced from 35% to 4.2%
31%
More Transactions Approved
Legitimate transactions unblocked
$3.2M
Net Annual Savings
Clear ROI from single investment
12
New Fraud Patterns
Discovered automatically by AI
7 Mo
ROI Achieved
Full return on investment

Technology Stack

Production-grade AI infrastructure built for financial services

🧠

ML Models

XGBoost, Random Forest, LSTM

Streaming

Kafka, Spark Streaming

☁️

Cloud

AWS SageMaker, Lambda

🔒

Compliance

PCI-DSS, Encryption

"We've slashed fraud losses by over 75% while dramatically reducing false positives. The system learns and adapts to new fraud tactics automatically. It's rare to see such clear ROI from a single technology investment."

Sarah Mitchell
Chief Risk Officer

More Case Studies

Explore more AI success stories across industries

Healthcare Imaging

Healthcare

83% faster diagnostics, $850K annual savings with AI-powered medical image analysis.

Read Case Study

Quality Control

Manufacturing

99.2% accuracy, 8x faster inspection for electronics manufacturer.

Read Case Study

AI Chatbot

E-Commerce

72% inquiry automation, $920K annual savings for fashion retailer.

Read Case Study

Ready for Similar Results?

Schedule a free consultation with our financial services AI specialists. We'll analyze your fraud prevention workflow and demonstrate how AI can transform your operations.

Get in Touch

Let's discuss how AI can transform your fraud prevention operations