Executive Letter: Four WBA Member Banks Collaborate to Fight Fraud
By Rose Oswald Poels
Four WBA member banks, AbbyBank, Forward Bank, Northwestern Bank, and Prevail Bank have come together to educate their communities on how to prevent common forms of fraud. This underscores a longstanding tradition of Wisconsin banks putting their customers and communities first. WBA serves to support members in collaboration for the benefit of our industry and our state.
It’s inspiring to see that these banks share a commitment to the financial security of their customers, no matter where those customers do their banking.
Conversations between the banks about their fraud education collaboration began this summer. Their initial collaborative release in June was about the increasing threat of text-based fraud. Their most recent release to customers is centered around preventing check related fraud, with a focus on check washing.
In addition to sharing useful tips and strategies, leaders from the four banks share their insights and cautionary examples. Local newspapers have used the information from the banks in an effort to educate and protect community members, and a local TV station covered the first release in a segment on fraud trends.
Kudos to these members for making an impact in their communities! As fraudsters continue to get bolder and savvier, it’s heartening that these banks are collaborating to keep their customers informed and aware.
This summer I shared resources to fight check fraud and it’s worth re-sharing that information since fraud, in its many forms, continues its insidious growth. As I stated this summer, the volume of check fraud that is occurring is astounding considering overall check usage is decreasing. There are many check fraud resources available from WBA and others; I thought it would be helpful to gather them together so you and your staff can more easily locate them.
The following is a listing of resources that are meant to help educate staff on the rules applicable to check negotiation, identify where liability may lie regarding a fraudulent instrument, and directories meant to help banks handle check fraud claims more efficiently.
Directories:
• ABA online directory of 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.
• ICBA’s Solutions Directory to identify payments, compliance, and security service providers.
• Nacha’s ACH Contact Registry for banks needing a check contact at a counterparty.
Education-Related Resources:
• Webinar: Check Breach of Warranty Blues
• Webinar: Avoiding Check Fraud Liability: From Prevention to Loss Allocation
• ICBA Check Fraud: A Practical Guide to Altered, Forged, and Counterfeit Checks for Community Bankers
• 2023 WBA Negotiable Instruments Manual, UCC Rules Regarding Bank Liability and Responsibility for Wisconsin Banks
• WBA is your bank’s local training provider for ABA online training. The recently revised 30-minute Fraud Prevention course can be assigned to staff for $55/registrant. Interested in enrolling a group of 15 or more? Contact wbaeducation@wisbank.com for further discounting options.
WBA Best Practices Library
To further assist banks, 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 Library may be found on the “News and Resources” section of the WBA website. The WBA Best Practices Library is password protected; should you need the password feel free to contact WBA Legal at wbalegal@wisbank.com for the password.
Wisconsin Banker article
In addition to the resources listed above, an article on check fraud in the July/August issue of Wisconsin Banker included insights and expertise from members of WBA’s Financial Crimes Committee, the Financial Crime Investigators group, and detectives from the Dane County Sheriff’s Office.
