his approach is that there are more accounts flagged for possible fraud than there are investigators. The number of flags could be dramatically reduced with optical character recognition to help focus investigative efforts. It is expected that the upcoming neural network chips and add-on boards from Intel will add blinding speed to the current network software. These systems will even further reduce losses due to fraud by enabling more data to be processed more quickly and with greater accuracy. Recommendations Breakthroughs in neural network technology have already created many new applications in financial transaction security. Currently, neural network applications focus on processing data such as loan applications, and flagging possible loan risks. As computer hardware speed increases and as neural networks get smarter, "real-time" neural network applications should become a reality. "Real-time" processing means the network processes the transactions as they occur. In the mean time, 1. Watch for advances in visual recognition hardware / neural networks. When available, commercially produced visual recognition systems will greatly enhance the security of automated financial transactions. 2. Computer aided voice recognition is already a reality. This technology should be implemented in automated telephone account inquiries. The feasibility of adding phone transactions should also be considered. Cooperation among financial institutions could result in secure transfers of funds between banks when ordered by the customers over the telephone. 3. Handwriting recognition by OCR systems should be combined with existing check processing systems. These systems can reject checks that are possible forgeries. Investigators could follow-up on the OCR rejection by making app...
