GZS, the German licensee of MasterCard International, has signed a multiyear agreement to use HNC Software Inc.'s Falcon credit card fraud control system.
Based in Frankfurt, GZS, which stands for Gesellschaft fur Zahlungssysteme, oversees Eurocard/MasterCard issuance by virtually all the German banks and savings banks. German Eurocards rose 20% last year to 5 million. The company has a 60% market share in Germany and is the largest card processor in central Europe.
"Our member banks have assigned to us the responsibility for Eurocard Germany's central security management," said chief executive officer Detlev Buchal. "We are confident that Falcon will play a major role in securing the millions of Eurocard transactions every year."
Neural Network System
The Falcon system, an increasingly popular application of neural network technology, analyzes vast numbers of transactions to detect potential fraud and other criminal patterns.
Michael A. Thiemann, executive vice president of San Diego-based HNC Software, said the German contract, on top of previous sales in Europe, demonstrates that Falcon is "an international solution."
But while credit card fraud in both Europe and the United States is critical, "there are significant differences in transaction patterns between the two regions," said Rene Kupfer, president of Metatron, a Swiss company that sells Falcon in Europe. "One of Falcon's strengths is the capability to customize its neural network models to capture the unique conditions of any geographical area."
