Bankloch

In the financial services sector,   Anti-Money Laundering (AML)  continues to be a topic of intense debate. Discussions oscillate between advocating for stricter regulations and questioning the extent of banks' responsibilities in overseeing (policing) financial transactions. AML regulations are pivotal in preventing the use of financial institutions for facilitating crimes such as money laundering and terrorist financing. However, the effectiveness of these measures is often under scrutiny, especially considering their impact on legitimate customers and banks' financial models. Despite rigorous AML frameworks, a significant gap persists between their intended outcomes and actual results, i.e. The United Nations estimates that around $2 trillion, equivalent to the GDP of a major economy like France, circulates annually through money laundering channels. Alarmingly   the detection and interception rates are disconcertingly low , with only about 2% of this amount being detected,

Just over a year ago, I wrote a blog describing how merchants struggle with an efficient refund process (cfr. " Refunds - A bigger problem than you would imagine " -   https://bankloch.blogspot.com/2022/07/refunds-bigger-problem-than-you-would.html ). The traditional method of refunding is by sending funds back to the original payment method, but this method is not just costly and complex; at times, it is downright impossible. This issue was also identified by Jeremy Balkin, a former executive of JP Morgan and now founder and CEO of TodayPay, which offers “ Refunds as a Service ”, enabling merchants to offer customers instant refunds via multiple payment methods. Examples of their services are " Refund Now, Pay Later ", in which TodayPay issues the refund and the merchant has up to 90 days to refund the funds or " Better Refund ", offering consumers a cash back in exchange for a refund. This unique service underscores a significant gap in the evolution of