Velera Modernizes Fraud Management for 700+ Lenders

Award-Winning Fraud Strategy

Velera, a leading financial technology and payment services provider specializing in supporting credit unions and financial institutions in North America, has transformed its fraud alerting services using FICO® Platform’s Omni-Channel Engagement Capability. This shift has delivered faster alerts, higher automation, and a significantly improved cardholder experience for 715 financial institutions. For its achievements, Velera was named a 2025 FICO® Decision Award winner for Fraud Management.

Now in its 13th year, the FICO Decision Awards recognize organizations around the world that have achieved outstanding results using FICO’s analytics and decisioning technologies. Velera was one of just 15 winners selected by an independent panel of eight industry judges across 10 categories.

Real-Time Fraud Alerts at Scale

Faced with increasingly sophisticated and fast-paced fraud threats, Velera recognized the need for a strong, proactive response. The company implemented FICO Platform to elevate its automated alerting system to an intelligent, two-way, omni-channel digital communication solution. This new approach empowers cardholders to receive and respond to fraud alerts through their preferred channels, including email, SMS, and digital voice, offering enhanced security and convenience.

“Keeping pace with today’s rapidly evolving fraud landscape required a bold and strategic shift in our approach,” said Adam Hodz, managing vice president, Payment & Channel Solutions at Velera. “With double and triple-digit increases in scams, smishing, vishing, phishing, AI deepfakes and consumer-engaged fraud, we are always seeking smarter, faster way to protect our clients and their cardholders. Partnering with FICO empowered us to transform our fraud alerting capabilities, delivering real-time alerts, lowering operational costs and giving cardholders the confidence and control they need to manage their accounts securely.”

Watch Velera tell their story on video

Tackling Integration Complexity

Amid the complexity of integrating multiple touchpoints and managing extensive API connectivity, Velera’s strong partnership with FICO enabled the seamless migration of 715 financial institutions to the new system within just eight months—without incurring additional costs for clients. This achievement not only delivered immediate benefits but also established a robust foundation for future innovations.

Boosting Self-Service and Reducing Costs

Key achievements of Velera’s transformation include:

• Faster Alerts: Cut fraud alert times by 85% compared to live agents.
• Self-Service Efficiency: 76% of cardholders resolved fraud alerts via SMS, email, or voice—no agent needed.
• Improved Cardholder Experience: Enabled uninterrupted spending and earlier fraud detection
• Enhanced Connectivity: Increased cardholder connections by 30%—adding 170,000 monthly interactions (Using smart omnichannel capability to select the best channel, whether SMS, email, or phone)
• Increased Automation: Automated 46% more outbound contacts and cut live agent calls by 19%.

Since the launch of the intelligent customer communication solution, Velera has committed to a very significant expansion into non-transactional fraud and is exploring numerous additional use cases aimed at reducing call center volumes while enhancing hyper-personalization.

“We were impressed by Velera’s ability to seamlessly integrate decision intelligence into its fraud management processes,” said Megha Kumar, research vice president at IDC one of the FICO Decision Awards judges. “The results speak for themselves—faster alerts, happier customers!”

To see the full list of 2025 FICO Decisions Awards winners, check out: https://www.fico.com/en/decisionawards

How FICO Helps Deliver Omni-Channel Engagement to Prevent Fraud

• Explore how FICO helps identify fraudulent and suspicious activity across any channel or payment type, empowering financial institutions to act faster and smarter.
• See how Customer Communications Services for Fraud engages customers in real time to disrupt evolving fraud typologies and protect payment experiences.
• Learn how real-time customer communication can help detect threats early and become a competitive differentiator across the entire customer lifecycle.