Banco Santander, BBVA, CaixaBank form alliance to tackle fraud

Banco Santander, BBVA and Caixabank have formed an alliance in an effort to combat financial crime and prevent fraud, including new account fraud, online fraud and card payments.

The Spanish banks will work together on tools that exchange information and data, the first of which will share information on fraudulent practices and effective response measures.

They have created a new company, FrauDfense, bringing together anti-fraud initiatives from each of the banks.

The banks confirmed that FrauDfense has been presented to the “appropriate supervisory and regulatory authorities”.

FrauDfense is being rolled out in Spain, but the banks have said that, following an initial phase, banks and companies from other industries will be able to join in the future.

Carlos Requena has been appointed as the chief executive officer of FrauDfense.

The board of directors of FrauDfense will comprise two representatives of each bank, including Carles Solé Pascual, chief information security officer at Santander España and Daniel Barriuso, Banco Santander’s group chief transformation officer.

From BBVA, Natalia Ortega, global head of financial crime prevention, and group chief security officer Sergio Fidalgo, will join the board.

Sofia Karapatsiou, director of governance and fraud control, and Lorenzo Malo, chief information security officer, both at CaixaBank, will become members of the board.

BBVA’s Ortega has been named FrauDfense’s first chair, with the role set to rotate every two years between the three banks.