NEW YORK—While the pandemic has opened more doors for money launderers, it has also made it easier to catch them, according to one expert.
Already trending down prior to 2020, the onset of the pandemic only hastened the decline of the use of cash, with 50% of worldwide shoppers leveraging digital payments more often now than they did before the health crisis began, Pymnts.com noted.
“The increased digital transaction volume has also opened more doors for money launderers to slip through, however. Anti-money laundering (AML) teams have had to monitor higher payment volumes than ever before and remain vigilant for launderers seeking to capture illegitimate funds,” Pymnts.com reported. “The pandemic has — in some cases — been a blessing in disguise for catching money launderers, according to industry experts.”
Added Max von Both, SVP-compliance with payments provider Paysafe, “The pandemic has made some things even easier from an anti-money laundering perspective. Not only do you have more data overall [but] you [also] have more of what we call truth data with which to calibrate your systems. That’s where everything got a little bit easier.”