- Permanent TSB is the first bank to integrate ExpleoProtectUS software in the new PTSB Protect feature for its banking app
- ExpleoProtectUS enables Permanent TSB to alert customers when they have received a fraudulent link in a text message
- Recent figures show that fraudulent card payments in Europe reached over €1.5 billion in 2021
Dublin, Ireland – 12 October 2023 – Expleo, a global technology, engineering and consulting service provider, today unveils ExpleoProtectUS, a world-first anti-smishing solution that alerts banking customers to fraudulent text messages. The software is today being launched as part of a new security feature within the Permanent TSB mobile banking app, ‘PTSB Protect’, which helps prevent customers falling victim to fraudulent scams.
Smishing – phishing-style scams carried out via SMS – has become commonplace for banking customers today. Retail banks, along with global law enforcement, have warned banking customers to be on high alert as fraudsters contact customers via SMS, tricking them into thinking they are being contacted by a trustworthy source – such as their bank – before extracting sensitive account information from them. The most recent figures from the European Central Bank show that fraudulent card payments in Europe reached in excess of €1.5 billion in 2021.
Permanent TSB has introduced ‘PTSB Protect’, a new feature to its banking app which will help prevent customers from falling victim to fraudulent scams. It has integrated ExpleoProtectUS with its mobile banking app as it continues to roll out a series of measures and technology solutions to protect customers from fraudsters. The solution will inform the customer when it has detected a fraudulent SMS and take appropriate countermeasures.
The bank’s customer can then opt in to all inbound SMS messages being scanned after installation, and the software then uses intelligent systems to determine when a customer has received a text message from a fraudulent source and blocks that message.
Christophe Cazes, Global Head of Innovation & Partnerships, Expleo, said: “As a global leader in technology solutions, we have a responsibility to ensure that what we do is not only good for businesses but also that it is good for society. That is the motivation behind ExpleoProtectUS: our hackathon challenged teams to develop a customer-facing AI product that improves the customer experience for customers in the banking sector and beyond. We immediately saw the value in this solution, which protects the most vulnerable members of society, those typically older and less tech-savvy.
“This is the only solution in the world that we have been able to find that works on a mobile device and which can integrate with a bank’s existing app. It has the potential to benefit the lives of people across the globe and we are delighted that the team at Permanent TSB immediately understood and embraced its societal value. We hope that their trailblazing will set a positive example for the BFSI banking sector worldwide.”
Peter Vance, Chief Operating Officer Permanent TSB, said: “Attempts to defraud customers through criminal activity has increased significantly over the last number of years. With scams getting more sophisticated, consumers need to continue to be on their guard at all times. By introducing PTSB Protect as a new line of defence to our mobile app, we can now directly identify the source of this activity and help protect our customers before their accounts can become compromised. Financial fraud is a significant threat and it is often being targeted at groups that may think they are less vulnerable, so we’re delighted to partner with Expleo Ireland on this world-first anti-smishing solution”
Developed for the banking industry, ExpleoProtectUS can also be to protect customers and end users across the financial services, insurance, retail and government/public services sectors.
