Unity Trust Bank has appointed Keith Finson as head of Financial Crime as part of its commitment to keep customers safe from fraud.

Keith, who studied criminal law at university, served as a detective with Northamptonshire Police for 14 years before moving into the private sector in 2017.

He has held several roles at banks and fintech companies around the world and while head of Organised and Complex Fraud at Barclays, he won a global award for helping to prevent a multi-million-pound cheque scam.

Keith said: “There are a lot of synergies between risk management in banks and financial services companies and how risk is managed in public sector organisations like the police.

“Most importantly we’re both committed to protecting people. Our customers are at the heart of everything we do at Unity and keeping them safe is a priority for us, especially those who may be vulnerable.

“We use intelligence, information and data to identify, mitigate and monitor risks and formulate risk management plans just like the police do.

“The police have masses of intelligence from communities and from covert and overt assets which they utilise, and banks do exactly the same with financial crime.

“So, whether that’s a risky IP address or device, evidence of unusual activity attached to a device, a cookie or a session ID, these are all pieces of risk intelligence which we use in our risk management plans.”

As head of Financial Crime, Keith assesses risks, monitors activity and ensures Unity’s controls and procedures continue to safeguard customers.

His team also provide support and guidance on what businesses and organisations can do to protect themselves.

Keith said: “We are constantly evolving and enhancing our approach to financial crime but it’s imperative that customers also look to protect themselves too and we work together to combat financial crime.

“I always encourage people to be more suspicious when it comes to receiving requests for things like new payment details or getting an unexpected invoice or if there's been an element of urgency introduced into the conversation.

Keith added: “I was attracted to Unity because of its community values and there’s a culture of openness and transparency at Unity which is really refreshing, especially the bank’s attitude towards identifying and dealing with risk.

“As an ethical bank it doesn’t put bottom line numbers ahead of doing the right thing for customers and having been a police officer, those values align well with me.”

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