When financial institutions work together, the results can be transformative. That was the clear takeaway from The Great Fraud Showdown, a webinar co-hosted by Salv and We Fight Fraud, which brought together over 300 financial crime professionals.
According to Salv, the event highlighted the power of real-time intelligence sharing to detect scams, prevent fraud, and recover stolen funds—underscoring the critical importance of collaboration in today’s fast-evolving financial crime landscape.
The scenario was familiar to anyone working in fincrime: a flagged transaction triggers an alert. But what next? Do you act immediately, or wait for more information? Often, decisions must be made with incomplete data. The webinar challenged participants to make those calls in real-time—taking on the role of investigators facing ambiguous situations. But there was a catch: only by working together could the complete picture become clear.
The exercise exposed the limitations of siloed operations. In 2023, UK-authorised push payment (APP) fraud losses neared £450m, yet most institutions still manage threats independently. During the simulation, three fictional teams—Nunster Bank, FlexPay, and Uncooperative Bank—analysed a series of suspicious transactions. What looked like isolated incidents turned out to be connected, but that only became apparent when information was shared across teams.
One case involved a £20,000 outgoing payment marked “LI investment opp”, flagged by Nunster Bank. Using Salv Bridge, a secure intelligence-sharing platform, the bank alerted FlexPay. FlexPay, with a broader view of the transaction chain, spotted onward payments to crypto exchanges and saw the funds move to Uncooperative Bank. But without access to shared context, the Uncooperative team failed to act in time, allowing the funds to vanish.
The missed signals made the cost of poor collaboration painfully clear. An elderly customer—unknowingly acting as a money mule—received £20,000 and swiftly transferred nearly the entire amount elsewhere. This final transfer was the same sum originally moved through the fraudulent investment scam.
The simulation showed that even the most advanced internal tools are no match for joined-up intelligence. Major breakthroughs didn’t come from sharper analytics—they came from better communication. By enabling faster decision-making and shared context, Salv Bridge turned fragmented views into unified action. Under UK APP fraud reimbursement rules, where liability is shared, that coordination is not just useful—it’s essential.
As one attendee put it, “The legal framework for data sharing is there. We just need to be bold! Criminals don’t care about GDPR or any other legal framework!” The message was unmistakable: to stay ahead of sophisticated scams, institutions must embrace shared visibility.
Salv Bridge, already used by over 100 financial institutions across Europe, is proving that collaboration isn’t a ‘nice-to-have’—it’s a vital line of defence. As fraud tactics grow more sophisticated, so too must our defences. The Great Fraud Showdown was fictional in format—but the message, the scams, and the stakes are very real.
Earlier this year, Salv achieved significant recognition in the fight against financial crime, being awarded the first-ever Intelligence Sharing Award by Chartis Research.
This accolade is part of the prestigious 2025 Financial Crime and Compliance (FCC) 50 rankings, where Salv has been acknowledged for its leadership and innovative approach to tackling financial crime.
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