Early fraud detection for Franklin Mint FCU

Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union, a provider of financial products and services since 1970, serves the greater  Philadelphia region and beyond. With over $1 billion in assets, FMFCU has 110,000 members, 2,500 partner organizations and 23 branches.

To stay dedicated to the mission of speed, service and convenience, FMFCU needed to review their applicant screening options to make better-informed decisions and provide clear direction for front-line staff. 

Reviewing applications poses a challenge

 The credit union needed to make sure its decision-making data was current, relevant and descriptive. In addition, it had to quickly achieve the appropriate risk threshold so good applicants won't be turned away while transitioning to a new screening service. FMFCU's existing provider was going to transition the credit union to an enhanced version of its service, so it was a good time for FMFCU to see what Deluxe, which was already a partner, could offer.

The credit union found Deluxe Detect, and the lower price assured FMFCU that it was the right move. Execs at FMFCU were most impressed by the enhanced reminder prompts for the branch staff  —  such as FCRA reminders and Adverse Action. 

Enjoying the benefits of partnership

Deluxe interviewed Gretchen Scheidly and Kelly Chaudrue from FMFCU to learn more about their experience working with Deluxe.  Scheidly said about the decision-making data, "The records are current. That’s a huge plus. Records from five years  ago aren't relevant, and that’s what we  were getting from our previous provider."

Chaudrue added, "From a back-office  perspective, I’m seeing more detail in the  derogatory hits coming back. More than  just a limited set of reason codes, there  are explanation fields that institution s can use when they input data. This really  helps! I can see dollar amounts  and whether a record is paid or unpaid.  This makes a difference because we are willing to accept history at a certain dollar  threshold if the record is past a certain  time frame and has been paid and cleared."

FMFCU is now able to avoid a complicated service transition by accessing applicant screening through Deluxe OrderPro®, FMFCU’s existing web portal for  ordering Deluxe checks. It's also able to use  Deluxe Detect® to gain access to the timely data from nation’s largest  financial institutions, configurable decision logic and action responses that  FMFCU  was seeking.

Ending with impact

The quality of data has affected the number of new members  FMFCU accepts.  Scheidly said, "We are better able to accept  deserving applicants because we have  current information. Also, Deluxe Detect  has the configurable logic that lets us  stretch our decision parameters and risk  tolerance as our business objectives  change.

Chaudrue said, "The more users, the more powerful the database. We have  some major national players using it in our market area. A negative record is  becoming a motivator for offenders to pay their old debts. Deluxe Detect has  become a tool to get charge-off dollars  back, allowing the consumer to open a new account with us, or another  institution."

As for communication with applicants, the branch staff is now clear about what to do and say when they cannot immediately open an account.  The applicants appreciate this level of  knowledge.

Scheidly mentioned fraud control: "Deluxe Detect gives us what we want to know about consumer behavior in today’s environment versus  older records we were getting from the competitor’s database.  Frankly, in addition to new account and  account-takeover fraud, our industry is also  dealing with increases in ACH fraud, wire fraud, RDC fraud and P2P fraud. There will  never be a 100-percent solution to protect us from everything but we feel we are in a  better position using Deluxe. "

In all,  FMFCU enjoys:

• A reduction in write-offs: Former members are paying their debts to clear their record from the Deluxe Detect database

• Fewer false-positive results and more-informed back-office investigations

• The ability to hit new-member targets with quickly configurable decision logic

The future looks bright for FMFCU's mission of speed, service and convenience. Its use of better data and decision making has already led to clearer direction and communication with applicants.