ThetaRay launches SONAR, crime prevention solution for Cross-Border Payments

By Leandra Monteiro

ThetaRay, a provider of AI-based Big Data analytics, launched SONAR, an advanced financial crime prevention solution for cross-border payments. By providing full visibility across complex, cross-border transaction paths, the SaaS solution enables banks, financial institutions and businesses to increase their volume of transfers without the risk of being exploited for money laundering, terrorist financing, human trafficking, and narco-trafficking. This announcement follows on the heels of ThetaRay’s recent $31M funding round.

Cross-border payments are crucial transactions that connect local economies throughout the world to the global financial system. However, they often involve a complicated sequence of banks operating across multiple currencies in different countries, making it nearly impossible for banks to have transparency into who the beneficiaries are.

SONAR is designed to instil certainty and eliminate risks in cross-border payments, and to protect banks, FinTech companies and private companies that conduct payment transfers. Using machine learning algorithms developed by renowned mathematics professors Amir Averbuch and Ronald Coifman, SONAR protects users against attempts to abuse their money transfer platforms for sophisticated money laundering schemes.

The solution can be easily integrated and deployed within days, with minimal implementation required. With its ability to detect even the earliest signs of illicit activity, SONAR enables users to rapidly increase revenues, significantly reduce total cost of ownership (TCO), improve customer service, and boost ROI.

“For the first time in the history of cross-border transactions, risk and revenue are no longer a trade-off,” said Mark Gazit, CEO of ThetaRay. “SONAR is the new standard for trusted global transactions, providing an accurate assessment of risk and enabling safe, secure cross-border payments for financial services providers and their partners. Best of all, it can be up and running within days, providing immediate value.”

“What Swift did to the banking world 25 years ago, ThetaRay will do to the banking world in the next ten years,” said Erel Margalit, JVP founder and Chairman, and ThetaRay’s Board Chairman. “Business security and co-operation between countries will be possible when financial cybercriminals are left out of the secure system that ThetaRay has created together with the banks.”