Case Study: Royal Bank of Scotland achieves dramatic fraud reduction in two months with FICO

Royal Bank of Scotland dramatically reduces fraud in two months

Royal Bank of Scotland faced rapidly rising card-fraud losses—net fraud had increased 25%, then 28%, then 41% over three years—threatening profits and customer trust as the bank tried to grow its card business. RBS needed fast, effective action to stop the accelerating fraud trend without harming card acceptance or customer experience, so it engaged FICO in a targeted fraud-reduction partnership.

FICO conducted a two-phase engagement—assessment and execution—recommending a surgical, score-based approach at the point of sale plus operational changes (centralized fraud expertise, stricter referral handling, and a fraud challenge team) and a pay-for-performance fee model. The changes produced dramatic results within two months, exceeding RBS’s annual reduction expectations, bringing losses down to U.S. market levels and doing so without negatively impacting sales or acceptance.

Royal Bank of Scotland

Alasdair Grant

Director