Comprehensive Protection in Real Time: OLB Strengthens Fraud Prevention and Compliance with INFORM

Instant Payments Increase Time Pressure and the Need for Action

With the introduction of instant payments, banks are under significant pressure: transfers are executed within seconds, and fraudulent transactions must be detected and stopped immediately. At the same time, fraud cases and regulatory requirements continue to rise.

“From a fraud perspective, instant payments have now become the number one payment method,” says Marie-Christine Titze, Director and Head of Compliance Anti Financial Crime at OLB. “Suspicious activities must be detected in real time today, otherwise the money is gone.”

Decision in Favor of a Holistic Real-Time Platform

Against this backdrop, OLB decided in 2022 to fundamentally modernize its existing fraud and compliance system. The previous system offered neither real-time fraud detection nor the necessary flexibility in rule management. Following market research and a tender process, OLB selected RiskShield from INFORM. Key deciding factors included real-time risk analysis, consolidated monitoring across all channels, a holistic approach to fraud prevention and compliance, flexible rule management, and the prospect of integrating machine learning (ML).

Comprehensive Compliance and Fraud Prevention in a Single System

The implementation of the solution was carried out in phases. In 2023, the first module for real-time fraud detection went live, followed by additional modules over time. Today, RiskShield is a central component of OLB’s compliance monitoring and fraud prevention framework. The platform includes real-time screening of transactions for sanctions violations or potential fraud, screening of existing and new customers for sanctions and PEPs (politically exposed persons), as well as downstream detection of potential money laundering based on customer transaction behavior.

A key advantage is the close integration of customer and transaction screening within a single system, particularly with regard to new EU requirements for SEPA Instant Payments. Since certain checks are not permitted for instant payments, OLB relies on real-time queries in customer sanctions screening. Thanks to the integrated platform, the required interfaces were implemented efficiently. RiskShield also enables OLB to adapt rules and scenarios flexibly. Titze describes the progress: “In the past, changing a rule was time-consuming. Now we can adjust a great deal ourselves, from individual thresholds to entirely new fraud scenarios.”

Measurable Gains in Efficiency and Security

Thanks to fully automated fraud checks of all transactions, 99.66 percent of transactions can be released immediately. Only 0.34 percent are flagged as potentially suspicious and forwarded for manual review. Optimized review logic has reduced this manual effort by 20 percent, while simultaneously preventing 96 percent of fraudulent transactions. “The quality of alerts has improved significantly, and our response times to fraud warnings have been drastically reduced,” says Titze.

Outlook: Further Expansion with AI

Looking ahead, OLB plans to increasingly leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to further improve the already high detection rate of actual fraud cases while continuing to reduce the low level of manual payment reviews. The goal is to make the detection of suspicious activities even more precise and to lower the false-positive rate. With RiskShield, OLB believes it is well-positioned to stay one step ahead of financial crime in the future.

About OLB

OLB is a universal bank with a nationwide presence in Germany and more than 150 years of history in north-west Germany. Under the OLB and Bankhaus Neelmeyer brands, it serves about one million customers in its two strategic business areas, Private & Business Customers and Corporates & Diversified Lending, both in person and via digital channels. The institution has a network of 80 branches nationwide and employs around 1,700 people.

With total assets of more than €30 billion, OLB became a significant financial institution at the beginning of 2025 and has since been directly supervised by the European Central Bank. Since January 2026, OLB has been owned by TARGO Deutschland GmbH and is thus part of the cooperative Crédit Mutuel Alliance Fédérale, one of the largest and financially strongest banking groups in Europe.