Synergent Blog

Fraud is not slowing down: It continues to evolve and accelerate. When it occurs, both members and credit unions pay the price. For every $1 of fraud, financial institutions lose $4.23*, and the Federal Trade Commission has reported nearly $8.8 billion lost to fraud. Educating staff and members while implementing proactive, modern technology solutions can help credit unions better manage risk.

Financial Crimes Defender, offered through our partnership with Jack Henry™, is a real-time, AI-driven platform designed to proactively detect and prevent fraud. By continuously monitoring incoming and outgoing transactions—including checks, mobile deposits, transfers, ACH transactions, and instant payments—it identifies suspicious behavior such as identity theft, account takeover, data breaches, and other emerging financial crime threats across multiple channels in real time.

“Fraud is evolving faster than ever, and credit unions need technology that can keep pace,” said Pat Mileski, Product Analyst – Strategic Partnerships for Synergent. “Financial Crimes Defender gives teams real-time visibility into suspicious activity while helping automate compliance and investigations—so they can respond quickly, protect their members, and focus on serving their communities.”

How It Works

Using advanced analytics and automation, the platform analyzes transaction patterns to detect Anti-Money Laundering (AML) risks and fraud trends—including layering and structuring transactions, rapid movement of funds, multiple international wires, cryptocurrency activity, and other unusual patterns. When potential risks are identified, credit unions receive prioritized alerts along with recommended next steps to help mitigate loss and recover funds quickly.

The platform also automates Banking Secrecy Act (BSA) compliance, monitoring transactions for potential fraud and money laundering activity. It can automatically generate suspicious activity reports (SARs) and currency transaction reports (CTRs) that meet regulatory requirements and can be filed with the appropriate federal agencies. In addition, it automatically screens members and transactions against relevant watchlists.

Through its open API, Financial Crimes Defender integrates with both Jack Henry and non–Jack Henry systems, including account opening, lending, wealth management, and payment platforms—helping credit unions to strengthen fraud detection across their entire technology ecosystem.

Key Benefits

Leverage One Platform to Visualize Fraud – See all fraud activity across multiple point solutions through a single platform while strengthening fraud monitoring through AI-driven analytics.

Monitor Transactions in Real-Time – Auto-detect potential fraud and receive alerts regarding suspicious activity before funds enter or leave your credit union. Staff can also flag questionable transactions directly within the platform.

Simplify Fraud Case Management – Automatically gather all supporting documents and member data related to suspicious transactions. Streamline investigations so your team can respond quickly, mitigate risk, and potentially recover lost funds related to fraud.

Enhance and Streamline Reporting – Generate reports on suspicious activity, currency transactions, fraud trends, and more. Gain visibility into emerging fraud patterns, blocked accounts across financial institutions, and potential risks before they escalate.

Strengthen Compliance – Detect potential money laundering activity, including layered, high-risk, and structured transactions. Automatically screen against OFAC and other watchlists. Generate SARs, CTRs, and other federally required reports while validating BSA and AML compliance. The Federal Reserve’s FraudClassifier model is natively built in.

Get Started

For additional information on implementing Financial Crimes Defender at your credit union, please contact us today.