Google Cloud and Swift Partner to Enhance Fraud Detection in Global Finance Using Privacy-Preserving AI

Google Cloud and Swift Partner on Privacy-Preserving AI Model Training | PYMNTS.com

Google Cloud and Swift are working together to develop a secure, privacy-preserving solution for financial institutions that use federated learning techniques. Federated learning enables collaborative artificial intelligence (AI) model training without compromising privacy and confidentiality, Google Cloud said in a Tuesday (Dec. 10) blog post. Swift plans to roll out a sandbox with synthetic data in the first half of 2025, working with Google Cloud and 12 global financial institutions, according to the post. "This exploration will help the community validate whether federated learning technology can help financial institutions stay one step ahead of bad actors through sharing of fraud labels, and in turn enabling them to provide an enhanced cross-border payments experience to their customers," Rachel Levi, head of AI at Swift, said in the post. Technology partners including Rhino Health and Capgemini will also collaborate on this project, according to the post. Rhino Health will develop and deliver the core federated learning platform, while Capgemini will manage the solution's implementation and integration. The solution's components include a federated learning server that orchestrates the clients' collaboration, a federated client that executes tasks and submits results for secure aggregation, and bank-specific encrypted data that remains encrypted through the entire process, the post said. It also includes a global fraud-based model, secure aggregation and a global-anomaly-detection trained model, per the post. "Our collaboration with Swift exemplifies the transformative potential of federated learning and confidential computing," Andrea Gallego, managing director, global go-to-market incubation at Google Cloud, said in the post. "By enabling secure collaboration and knowledge sharing without compromising data privacy, we are fostering a safer and more resilient financial ecosystem for everyone." Swift said in October that it was bolstering its AI-enhanced fraud detection capabilities and will begin offering this service to the payments sector beginning in January. The new capability expands on Swift's Payment Controls Service by using pseudonymized data from the billions of transactions moving across the Swift network to spot suspicious transactions, allowing for real-time response. Swift said at the time that the effort is part of its wider partnership with its network of more than 11,500 banks and financial institutions to determine how AI "can solve cross-industry challenges."

Google Cloud joins with Swift in fight against fraud

This content has been selected, created and edited by the Finextra editorial team based upon its relevance and interest to our community. In the first half of 2025, Swift plans to roll out a sandbox with synthetic data to prototype learning from historic payments fraud, working with 12 global financial institutions, with Google Cloud as a strategic partner. This initiative builds on Swift's existing Payment Controls Service (PCS), and follows a successful pilot with financial institutions across Europe, North America, Asia and the Middle East. Google Cloud is collaborating with Swift -- along with technology partners including Rhino Health and Capgemini -- to develop a secure, privacy-preserving system for financial institutions to combat fraud. The approach uses federated learning techniques, combined with privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs), to drive data sharing across institutions without compromising proprietary data. Rhino Health will develop and deliver the core federated learning platform, and Capgemini will manage the implementation and integration of the system. Rachel Levi, head of artificial intelligence, Swift, says: "Swift is in a unique position in the financial industry - a trusted and cooperative network that is integral to the functioning of the global economy. As such, we are ideally placed to lead collaborative, industry-wide efforts to fight fraud. "This exploration will help the community validate whether federated learning technology can help financial institutions stay one step ahead of bad actors through sharing of fraud labels, and in turn enabling them to provide an enhanced cross-border payments experience to their customers." She says federated learning offers a powerful solution for collaborative AI model training without compromising privacy and confidentiality. Instead of requiring financial institutions to pool their sensitive data, the model training occurs within financial institutions on decentralized data. Only the learnings from this training -- not the data itself -- are transmitted back to a central server for aggregation, managed by Swift. Andrea Gallego, managing director, global GTM incubation, Google Cloud, says: "Our collaboration with Swift exemplifies the transformative potential of federated learning and confidential computing. By enabling secure collaboration and knowledge sharing without compromising data privacy, we are fostering a safer and more resilient financial ecosystem for everyone."