Are You Sure You're Secure? How to Prevent Financial Fraud

Fraud and Financial Crime

Sam Sweet

Jul 22, 2019

Partnering with each other for the 4th consecutive year to develop a comprehensive market research initiative, Strategic Treasurer and Bottomline Technologies have delivered yet again, providing key insights and actionable advice about how to prevent financial fraud.

How can you protect your organization from fraud?

In the age of electronic payments, the risk of fraud is constantly evolving. Fraudsters are developing a variety of new techniques to victimize organizations and the strength of your security infrastructure could make the difference to your organization’s success in the fight against financial fraud. If your fraud prevention strategy is not forward-looking and proactive about bolstering your security measures, your organization is at severe risk of experiencing significant financial losses.

Three key insights for preventing financial fraud emerged from the 2019 Treasury Fraud & Controls Survey Report:

Timely Bank Account Visibility and Reconciliation

Visibility into and reconciliation of bank accounts is a function that helps organizations quickly identify fraudulent activity and prevent future losses. As the speed of B2B payments increases, it is important to understand that with faster payments comes faster fraud. According to this year’s survey, a majority of corporates (73%) are not taking full advantage of this vital layer of fraud protection. This lack of timely bank account reconciliation represents a large gap when it comes to quickly identifying fraudulent transactions. Don’t let complacency be the reason your organization is victimized by fraudsters.

User Monitoring Software

Financial-Fraud-image-1.png

With the risk of financial fraud increasing annually, new security capabilities are being developed constantly. In this modern era of faster payments, using cutting-edge technology such as machine learning combined with user monitoring software will enhance your organization’s ability to detect and prevent fraud attacks. User monitoring software allows a level of transparency and analysis that identifies fraudulent behavior and prevents losses for your organization.

Corporate Security Training in Need of Enhancement

While 81% of corporates from this year’s survey trained their employees on security either annually or at point-of-hire, only 29% of corporates are applying the best practices for corporate security training sessions.

To ensure that your employees are up-to-date with security policies, annual training should include modules that touch on:

  • How to identify suspicious activity
  • Defining the various forms of fraud (including business email compromise)
  • How to respond to an attack
  • How to maintain a controlled and hygienic work space
  • Testing employees with fake fraud instances
  • Testing employees with written quizzes

With the threat of financial fraud increasing annually, it is important to ensure that your organization is protected. Fraudsters are constantly finding new ways to victimize organizations through complex and coordinated attacks. In the fight against fraud, complacency is the real enemy — make sure that your organization is secure with a proactive and multi-faceted security infrastructure.

To find out how to enhance your organization’s security infrastructure to prevent financial fraud, download the full “2019 Treasury Fraud & Controls Survey Report” along with complete analysis.

And for even more insights into the payments industry and beyond, subscribe now and stay up-to-date on the latest trends and topics.

Posted by

Sam Sweet

Sam Sweet is a featured SmartPayments contributor who brings a global perspective to his writing. He is currently studying communications at Denison University and interning at a fast-paced, multi-faceted marketing department at a leading fintech organization specializing in global payments, banking solutions and fraud prevention platforms.
Browse all posts
footer curve