Banco Popular’s innovation chief says international banking collaboration is key to combating AI-enabled fraud across the financial sector.
San Juan, (EFE) — The banking industry is collaborating positively at the international level to address the challenges posed by artificial intelligence (AI), including protecting “the financial sector as a whole” from fraud, said Camille Burckhart, Vice President of Innovation, Technology, and Operations at Banco Popular de Puerto Rico.
“The cybersecurity effort spans all U.S. banks but also the industry at large, and that includes service providers — from data centers to the technology vendors that supply us,” Burckhart told EFE.
In her view, the international banking industry’s collaboration in this area is “something very positive,” because if AI falls “into the wrong hands,” the financial sector must protect itself collectively — not just entity by entity. Burckhart noted that this cooperation will only deepen, translating into broad-based protection against banking fraud for institutions of all sizes, not only those with the most resources to defend themselves.
The goal, she continued, is to develop “better models to detect fraud more effectively,” whether in an online purchase or an in-person transaction.
At a forum, Burckhart also addressed the application of intelligent automation in the financial sector and how AI supports day-to-day operations at the bank. Banco Popular has deployed a digital agent that suggests strategies for meetings, monitors employee performance, and provides customers at the call center with “more accurate information” in real time, she detailed.
“When I started at the bank 25 years ago, we were just beginning with the whole digital transformation, and experts were saying that branches would disappear forever. Today, I think we all know that human interaction remains absolutely critical,” said Burckhart.
She acknowledged that the human role has shifted — rather than processing a payment or making a deposit, branch staff now focus on consultative support to help the customer — but emphasized that “human value” must never be lost from the equation.
