Highlights
- Ames National ($2B, six Iowa banks) used Google to check loan applicants. Results were unreliable and risky.
- Thomson Reuters® CLEAR gave them one easy platform with millions of databases to verify applicants quickly and accurately.
- First year: Stopped six fraudulent loans. Saved major losses. The tool paid for itself multiple times over.
When you’re responsible for protecting your institution’s assets and your customers’ deposits, inconsistent fraud detection tools aren’t just frustrating—they’re dangerous.
Ames National Corporation, a bank holding company managing $2 billion in assets across six Iowa bank brands, faced exactly this challenge. Their onboarding due diligence process relied heavily on Google searches to vet commercial loan applicants. The results? Unreliable at best, and potentially costly at worst.
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The high stakes of inadequate fraud prevention
From Google searches to comprehensive intelligence
The results: Fraud prevention that pays for itself
The power of comprehensive, accessible data
The high stakes of inadequate fraud prevention
For financial institutions, every lending decision carries significant risk that needs to be managed. Without comprehensive, reliable data sources, banks must choose between two equally unappealing options: approve loans with incomplete information or slow down the lending process with extensive manual research.
Executive Vice President and Chief Lending Officer Mike Wilson knew his institution needed a better approach—one that would provide consistent, comprehensive results while remaining user-friendly enough for daily operations.
From Google searches to comprehensive intelligence
The solution came through Thomson Reuters Risk & Fraud Solutions, specifically the CLEAR suite of tools. CLEAR ID Confirm, CLEAR Risk Inform, and CLEAR Adverse Media gave Ames National Corporation and other clients access to millions of public databases, data points, news services, and websites—all assembled into an intuitive, easy-to-use format.
The impact was immediate and measurable.
The results: Fraud prevention that pays for itself
Within the first year of deployment, CLEAR helped identify significant concerns in at least six potential loan transactions. In each case, the banks ultimately declined to participate—avoiding what could have been substantial losses.
CLEAR has been a terrific one-stop shop for us to complete our underwriting. The magic of CLEAR is the reach it has. It’s that combination of comprehensiveness and user-friendliness that makes CLEAR different from other tools on the market.
Executive Vice President and Chief Lending Officer, Ames National
Beyond fraud prevention, the solution delivers ongoing value through:
- Faster onboarding: Robust due diligence helps confidently onboard legitimate customers without delays
- Proactive risk management: Alerts flag changes concerning high-risk customers, enabling further investigation before issues escalate
- Operational efficiency: Staff can complete comprehensive reviews quickly with minimal training required
- Proven ROI: The solution has already paid for itself several times over
The power of comprehensive, accessible data
What made the difference for Ames National Corporation wasn’t just access to more data—it was access to the right data, presented in a way that enables fast, confident decision-making. Features like reverse phone number look-up help identify red flags such as VoIP lines or burner phones that signal potential fraud.
The customer service team at Thomson Reuters has been responsive and quick to address needs, ensuring the solution continues delivering value as the institution’s requirements evolve.
Ready to see how your institution can achieve similar results? Discover how Thomson Reuters Risk & Fraud Solutions can help your institution make better lending decisions while protecting stakeholders.
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