Executive Letter: Check Fraud Resources
By Rose Oswald Poels
Check fraud remains a top issue and expense for WBA members. Often when needing to work through the process of collecting on a fraudulent check, it can be difficult to determine the correct party or department to work with at another financial institution involved in the particular check negotiation chain. I have heard of banks having to wait several weeks, or even months, to get a response from another when trying to resolve a fraudulent check matter. I have also heard from bankers of the frustration of not knowing what the other bank may need for research purposes or if a particular affidavit is required, such as an affidavit of forgery.
To help with this problem, the American Bankers Association (ABA) has created an online directory to assist banks in handling check fraud claims more efficiently. The directory lists contact information for banks that need to file a check warranty breach claim with another financial institution. It is searchable by bank name, city, state, or FDIC number, so banks can find the right contact at the institution to help resolve a warranty breach claim. The directory is available to ABA members and non-members.
To access the directory, banks will need to provide their detailed contact information and any documentation requirements for submitting a claim. As I understand the process, ABA will verify all submissions before uploading information to the directory. The process may take 5–10 business days, after which ABA will email the bank to let the bank know it has been added to the directory. I encourage banks to participate to maximize the utility of the resource.
To further assist banks with other resources, various affidavits have been created and/or shared by the WBA Financial Crimes Committee and may be found in the Security/Financial Crimes folder within the WBA Best Practices Library.
The WBA Best Practices Library is password protected; should you need the password, please contact WBA Legal at wbalegal@wisbank.com.
Information about the ABA Check Fraud Claim Directory may be found at: aba.com/banking-topics/risk-management/fraud/check-fraud.
If you have other suggestions or needs for resources to help your team mitigate check fraud, please let me know.
