- Customer Success Story -
Enhancing Anti-Fraud Measures in the Energy & Utilities Sector through Arbutus Data Analytics
USA
Swiftly identified high-risk transactions, improving efficiency and fraud detection.
Challenges
Our client, a major player in the energy and utilities sector, sought to fortify their internal controls against fraud and policy violations, particularly concerning corporate credit cards and vendor master data. With a vast array of transactions influenced by employee roles, locations, and international operations, manual review processes proved inadequate to address the scale and complexity of potential risks. Traditional methods relying on spreadsheets and sample-based audits lacked the depth and efficiency required to identify anomalies or instances of fraud effectively.
Key challenges:
Diverse Transactions: The energy and utilities sector involves a wide range of transactions influenced by employee roles, geographical locations, and international operations.
Manual Review Limitations: Traditional manual review processes, often reliant on spreadsheets and sample-based audits, proved inadequate to address the scale and complexity of potential risks.
Data Scattering: Data was scattered across disparate systems, making it challenging to gain a holistic view of transactions.
Solution: Arbutus Analyzer
To tackle these challenges, the internal audit team turned to Arbutus Analyzer, a state-of-the-art data analytics tool known for its effectiveness in anti-fraud measures. Here’s how Arbutus addressed the client’s needs:
- Comprehensive Analysis: Arbutus seamlessly integrated with various data sources, allowing the audit team to perform comprehensive analysis across the entire dataset.
- User-Friendly Interface: Arbutus provided a user-friendly interface, making it accessible even to non-technical users.
- Automation: By automating the analysis process, Arbutus condensed weeks of manual work into mere hours.
Result:
By leveraging Arbutus Analyzer, the internal audit team achieved remarkable results in their anti-fraud efforts. The Impact was remarkable:
- Increased Efficiency: The audit team swiftly identified control breakdowns, root causes, and exceptions for management to address and remediate.
- Fraud Detection: Arbutus analyzed over 250,000 corporate credit card transactions, identifying 160 high-risk employee/vendor matches and 2,000 records for further investigation.
- Exception Types: Some of the exceptions included high-risk personal purchases, outdated employee status, non-compliance with company policies, and instances of multiple credit cards assigned to a single employee.
In summary, Arbutus Analyzer empowered the internal audit team to enhance anti-fraud measures, streamline processes, and protect the organization’s financial integrity.
Impact:
The implementation of Arbutus technology enabled our client to gain unprecedented efficiencies in fraud detection and control monitoring. By swiftly identifying control breakdowns and underlying root causes, management could take proactive measures to address vulnerabilities and safeguard against future risks. Some notable exceptions uncovered through the analysis included high-risk personal purchases, outdated employee status changes, policy non-compliance, and improper credit card assignments.
Conclusion:
Through the strategic deployment of Arbutus Analytics, our client, a prominent player in the energy and utilities sector, bolstered their anti-fraud measures and internal controls significantly. By harnessing the power of data analytics, they not only mitigated existing risks but also established a framework for ongoing monitoring and improvement. With Arbutus as their trusted partner, they continue to navigate the complexities of their industry with confidence and resilience.
Enhancing Anti-Fraud through Arbutus Data Analytics
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How does Arbutus Analyzer handle data integration?
Data Integration
Arbutus Analyzer excels in handling data integration by providing a seamless and efficient process. Here are the key aspects of how it accomplishes this:
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Data Source Connectivity:
- Arbutus Analyzer seamlessly connects to various data sources, including databases, spreadsheets, flat files, and enterprise systems.
- It supports popular formats such as CSV, Excel, SQL databases, and more.
- Users can configure connections to retrieve data directly from these sources.
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Data Extraction and Transformation:
- Arbutus allows users to extract relevant data from connected sources.
- Transformation capabilities enable data cleansing, enrichment, and standardization.
- Users can apply filters, join tables, and create calculated fields to prepare the data for analysis.
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Automated Data Refresh:
- Arbutus provides scheduled data refresh options.
- Users can set up automated data pulls at specified intervals (e.g., daily, weekly) to keep their analysis up-to-date.
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Data Profiling and Quality Checks:
- Before integrating data, Arbutus performs data profiling to understand its structure, patterns, and quality.
- Users can identify missing values, outliers, and inconsistencies.
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Data Blending and Joins:
- Arbutus supports data blending by combining data from different sources.
- Users can perform inner, outer, left, or right joins to merge datasets.
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Data Security and Privacy:
- Arbutus ensures data security during integration.
- Users can define access controls, encryption, and authentication mechanisms.
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Scalability and Performance:
- Arbutus handles large volumes of data efficiently.
- Its optimized algorithms enable fast processing and analysis.
In summary, Arbutus Analyzer streamlines data integration, allowing organizations to harness the power of comprehensive analytics while maintaining data integrity and security.