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Anomalous Transaction Detection
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Anomalous Transaction Detection

HardSQL · PostgreSQL

Problem

Write a query to identify anomalous transaction patterns that deviate significantly from a user's historical baseline.

For this exercise, use completed transactions before each transaction to calculate the user's historical amount baseline. Consider a transaction anomalous when at least three prior transactions exist and its amount is at least two historical standard deviations from the prior mean.

Output

  1. One row per anomalous transaction.
  2. Return transaction_id, user_id, transaction_timestamp, amount, historical_count, historical_avg, historical_stddev, and deviation_score.
  3. Include only completed transactions with non-null amounts, ordered by transaction_timestamp ascending and transaction_id ascending.

Schema

users
ColumnTypeDescription
user_idPKINTUnique Chime user identifier
user_nameVARCHAR(100)User display name
transactions
ColumnTypeDescription
transaction_idPKINTUnique transaction identifier
user_idINTUser who initiated the transaction
transaction_timestampTIMESTAMPTime the transaction occurred
amountDECIMAL(12,2)Transaction amount
statusVARCHAR(20)Transaction processing status
merchant_categoryVARCHAR(50)Merchant classification
channelVARCHAR(20)Transaction channel
Tablesuserstransactions
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