In the world where financial inclusion is pivotal to economic growth and personal empowerment, the launch of Tazama earlier this year marks a significant milestone. As an open-source transaction monitoring system, Tazama is not just a technological advancement but a beacon of hope for millions who are yet to tap into the benefits of a fully inclusive financial system. It provides a platform that can ingest transaction messages in ISO20022 format and evaluate transactions for fraud and money-laundering behaviour using 35 pre-configured rules that support 31 pre-defined typologies.
A transaction enters the system and is simultaneously evaluated through various channels, each with its own set of criteria. After passing through these criteria, the transaction is categorised based on known risk patterns. Finally, the system assigns a risk score to the transaction, representing its potential threat or suspicious nature. The higher the score, the more attention the transaction might require. This setup ensures comprehensive and efficient risk assessment for every transaction processed.
As an open-source software, Tazama offers several advantages:
- Accessibility: Freely available, Tazama eliminates financial barriers for low- and middle-income countries, enabling them to safeguard their citizens’ financial well-being.
- Transparency: The open-source code allows for scrutiny and collaboration, fostering trust and continuous improvement within the development community.
- Scalability: With the collective effort of the open-source community, Tazama can evolve to handle ever-increasing transaction volumes, ensuring its long-term effectiveness.
The Genesis of Tazama
Developed under the aegis of the Linux Foundation, Tazama has its roots in a philanthropic vision. The shared goal is clear; to democratise financial services and ensure that even the most underserved communities have access to them. The commitment of these entities to financial inclusion reflects an understanding that accessibility to financial services is a cornerstone of economic prosperity.
The reasoning behind using an open-source transaction monitoring system to achieve their goal, is that it is typically the most expensive, complex, and hardest component to implement in an overall Fraud Risk Management System (FRMS). The successful launch of Tazama is not just a technological triumph, it embodies the spirit of open collaboration and shared knowledge.
Sybrin: Engineering Financial Inclusion
As the engineering team behind Tazama, Sybrin had the privilege to partake in this amazing project. Not only did we craft a state-of-the-art system, but we also seamlessly integrated it within our own expansive product offering.
Our suite of services is a testament to our holistic approach to financial technology, from identity proofing with advanced Web and Mobile SDKs, to solutions that conform to regional onboarding and KYC activities.
With the integration of Tazama, Sybrin’s product ecosystem has been greatly enriched, fitting snugly under Fraud Risk Management technology stack. It enhances our company’s ability to offer comprehensive case management and fraud detection services, crucial to maintaining the integrity of financial transactions.
Tazama in the Sybrin Ecosystem
While Tazama serves as a cornerstone for fraud detection, Sybrin offers a comprehensive suite of services that can further strengthen financial institutions’ risk management and compliance efforts:
Identity Verification
- Liveness, Selfie Capture & Compare: Prove the physical presence and biometric liveness of a person, for remote interactions, with the combined use of image processing techniques and neural networks using only a selfie.
- Intelligent Document Capture & Extraction: Our ID Capture product enables the rapid capture and extraction of ID cards, passports, and other identity documents via mobile and web API.
- Document Fraud Detection: A robust solution for scrutinising identity documents to detect and prevent fraud through advanced verification and analysis techniques.
Digital Onboarding
- Identity Name Screening: Automatically perform real-time screening against global sanction lists and watchlists using our advanced AI and machine learning technology.
- Compliance Workspace: An advanced case management solution for automating KYC compliance, managing identity verification exceptions, and screening matches seamlessly.
By integrating Tazama with Sybrin’s suite of services, financial institutions can create a robust and multi-layered defence against fraud, protecting their customers and fostering a thriving financial ecosystem.
A New Dawn for Regulatory Technology
The path to financial inclusion is a collaborative effort. It requires the commitment of global foundations, the expertise of engineering teams, and the community spirit of open-source ecosystems. Tazama is not just a system; it’s a vision made tangible, and with Sybrin, it is poised to redefine the landscape of financial technology.
Reach out for more information about Tazama and its integration into Sybrin’s suite of Fraud Risk Management products.
