BAI's Holly Hughes talks with Wintrust’s John Koleno and OneSpan’s David Vergara about the key challenges around providing a great customer experience while also protecting against fraud and the tools and technology that can help. More from BAI on managing fraud and cyber security: * Podcast: Working to stay one step ahead of the cybercriminals * Bankers beware: Deepfake technology is Read More
It’s no secret that fraudsters use weakness and vulnerability to their greatest advantage, and they move fast.From the earliest days of the coronavirus outbreak, scam artists have worked to leverage the societal disruption – quarantines, service limitations, changing work situations – to steal money and information from banks and their customers. While the fraud scenarios are borrowed Read More
As a British energy company executive listened to the voice on the other end of the phone line, the familiar German accent convinced him that he was speaking to his parent company’s CEO. So when the executive was instructed to wire $243,000 to the CEO’s bank account, he went ahead and did it.But it turned out both Read More
Inefficiencies such as a bank’s disjointed data systems, manual processing of authentication for new account openings or outdated payment processes don’t just cause headaches for employees and customers alike — they also play directly into the hands of fraudsters. Although these kinds of operational inefficiencies don't rise to a level as egregious as leaving the vault unlocked, Read More
To his victims, many elderly, Michael “Mickey” Henschel might have seemed like the homeowner’s hero, rescuing people over their heads on their mortgages. In reality, Henschel was not an angel of home possession but rather a devil possessed. In May, the 70-year-old career con man from Van Nuys, California, pleaded guilty in a federal court to netting Read More
In recent weeks, regulators have reprimanded leading investment banks for insufficient money laundering controls within their markets and broker-dealer business. This comes as no surprise; few have invested adequately in protective controls, which creates unnecessary exposure. In its 2018 Report on Examination Findings, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) noted increased trading within firms by foreign entities Read More
After about a year of having a small amount of funds withdrawn from his Citizens Bank account every month, Steve Puccia finally noticed the money was being taken out without his permission.“Every month there was a debit on my card from anywhere from $16 to $18 and it was always a website purchase,” says Puccia, 58, of Read More
Make no mistake: Blockchain technology stands as a promising disruptor for dozens of current industries, and an enabler of change that will bring forth new opportunities and revenue streams for financial institutions, realtors, retailers and more. Unlike anything that’s come before it, blockchain enables trusted digital relationships without a centralized administration. (And in the case of cryptocurrencies, Read More
The banking industry has a multi-billion dollar fraud problem—and as fraudsters get more aggressive and resourceful, the costs will only rise. Financial institutions continue to spend more and more money on fraud tools, with seemingly no end in sight. Every time fraud goes up, bank spending goes up with it in a cycle that clearly indicates a Read More
Living in a fast-developing digital world has its undeniable advantages. In the last few decades, we confidently entered and mastered the personal computing era. Technologies have enhanced our lives as never before and make handling our day-to-day responsibilities much easier. But rapid digitalization has its drawbacks: Hackers are becoming overly inventive and already nothing seems completely safe. Read More
Though they are good and bad guys, respectively, lenders and fraudsters share one goal: to grow their enterprises. And as the lending landscape evolves, fraudsters know they must change how they operate to stay in the game. Consumer lending has made it difficult for fraudsters to perpetrate their crimes thanks to standards such as EMV chips for point-of-sale Read More
A sophisticated crime where thieves install malicious software and/or hardware at ATMs—and force the machines to spit out up to 40 bills every 30 seconds—has for some time threatened banks in Europe and Asia. Yet these attacks somehow spared U.S. ATM operators—until now. Last month, the U.S. Secret Service warned financial institutions that “jackpotting” attacks have targeted Read More
In the race to secure customer satisfaction, banks must balance security and convenience. With an estimated 265.9 mobile phone users in the United States, banks are ramping up their mobile offerings. But they’re also finding that they need to tighten up security—or else face leaving the vault wide open for cyber criminals. In a restless 24/7 effort Read More
Even though there’s no gun present, banks and their customers are being silently robbed. The reason? The mechanisms used to identify, authenticate and authorize users are rife with weaknesses. While banks value convenience in the race to secure customer satisfaction, they must balance it with security. With an estimated 265.9 mobile phone users in the United States, Read More
It can happen to anyone in your organization: He or she receives an email requesting an electronic funds transfer for a legitimate business need. It looks like it came from the CEO or some other senior executive and on the surface meets legitimate requirements. Thus the transaction gets approved and completed. And before any flag is raised, Read More
It’s an eternal worry for banks: how best to detect and report money laundering. And the problem grows bigger and costlier by the day. Such transactions represent 2 to 5 percent of global GDP—or roughly $1 trillion to $2 trillion a year, according to a PriceWaterhouseCoopers global survey of banks in 2015 and 2016. And to be Read More
Individuals and organizations tend to act cautious—extremely cautious—during and immediately after a crisis. Yet too much caution can create a mini-crisis of its own: making firms so defensive that they reduce risk well beyond a safe margin of error. After the 2007-2009 meltdown, financial firms were so concerned about taking on too much risk that they rejected Read More
All financial institutions share one key objective: to generate revenue in a way that supports and sustains profit. Yet all too often, banks focus on driving new deposits, loans and other volume-oriented measures of growth. The problem is this: Activities that create a positive effect on the balance sheet may not translate into sustainable profitability. And what Read More
In articles one and two of this three-part BAI Banking Strategies series, we outlined CECL, the Current Expected Credit Loss standard issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board. Those pieces discussed a savvy approach to gather the required data, consisting of two crucial elements: First, assemble the right internal team to pull accurate data, with representatives from Read More
On the last episode of Season One of the BAI Banking Strategies podcast, we talk with Colin Carvey of TransUnion about synthetic fraud, where criminals create fake identities to land and steal from credit lines, at a great cost to banks. Carvey explains how financial institutions can fight this fraud in conjunction with credit bureaus. Guest, Colin Read More
