Zest Protect helps lenders decision loans more confidently with accurate, holistic application fraud detection

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LOS ANGELES, Aug. 7, 2024 — PRNewswire — Zest AI, the leader in AI lending technology, today announced its new fraud detection solution, Zest Protect. Zest Protect quickly and accurately identifies fraudulent activity during the loan decisioning process, helping credit unions, banks and other lenders navigate the rising application fraud environment while safeguarding the borrower experience.

The Federal Trade Commission estimates that consumer fraud losses in 2023 exceeded $10 billion while credit unions and community banks reported a 69 percent surge in fraud cases across consumer accounts.

“Lenders need to outsmart fraud, including an increasing volume of AI-driven fraud in the industry, with AI,” said Adam Kleinman, Head of Strategy and Client Success at Zest AI. “Our team designed Zest Protect to create an efficient tool that can more accurately detect all types of fraud now and in the future, including AI-created fraud, with the ultimate goal of boosting lending confidence for our bank and credit union customers.”

Zest Protect leverages Zest AI’s proven, industry-leading machine learning technology to instantly detect first party and third party fraud, as well as flag income inconsistencies within the automated loan decisioning process. This integrated solution empowers lenders to take control of their fraud risk, allowing them to adjust specific detection thresholds based on their risk tolerances and automation objectives. With access to fraud prevention data and analytics, Zest AI can flag applications swiftly, and protect against emerging threats.

“Capturing application fraud, especially more sophisticated AI-powered fraud, without compromising the member experience is a top priority for us,” said Gather Federal Credit Union’s EVP, Justin Ganaden. “The insights, accuracy and end to end automation we have experienced with Zest AI technology has transformed our lending business. We’re excited to bring that same level of innovation and intellectual rigor to fraud prevention with Zest Protect.”

“The banking industry is bracing for an onslaught of fraud as AI tools become more ubiquitous, making it easier to generate deepfakes, clone voices and otherwise defraud people and businesses,” said Zest AI CEO Mike de Vere. “Now with a combination of AI-automated underwriting technology and fraud detection, we can enable lenders to safely and efficiently fund more loans.”

Zest Protect has been piloted with select Zest AI credit union customers. For more information about the availability of Zest Protect, please contact us via our contact form on Zest AI.