Three Ways Banks Can Reduce Payment Fraud

According to the Association of Financial Professionals, 78% of organizations experienced attempted or actual payments fraud in 2017. These breaches put banks at increased risk as fraudulent transactions are processed through their payment systems. It’s no wonder finding ways to reduce payment fraud is a top priority at these financial institutions.

The rise in attempted and successful attacks is due to the fact that attackers are using increasingly sophisticated techniques and technology to hack the systems that store sensitive information. As the attacks get more sophisticated, fraud detection systems struggle to keep up on the latest methods used by cyber criminals. With an ever-changing threat environment it can be difficult for banks to stay on top of payment fraud trends.

Add to these external threats the malicious behavior of authorized uses and employee error and it can seem like an impossible task to protect your bank from fraudulent activity.Fortunately there are three key weapons your bank should consider as it wages war on cyber attacks.

• Expanded use of behavior monitoring and analytics –traditional security approaches should be considered a first line of defense rather than the only line of defense. They may be able to detect attack attempts but they don’t provide a lot of detail on the attackers accessing your system. Real-time security systems collect log data as it happens, resulting in more attack attempts being thwarted before they hit the processing system.
• Embrace data analyzation tools-with same-day ACH and other faster payment methods banks are challenged to review increase payment activity in a decreased time frame. Investigating false positives can be expensive and ineffective. Utilizing tools that increase data visibility, like risk scoring and link analysis can prioritize and speed up fraud investigations and reduce fraud alerts.
• Educate banking customers-even with data breaches constantly in the news, it is still important to educate customers about what they can do to take payment security measures. All it takes is one person to open a malware-filled attachment for an entire organization to be compromised. 

For more details on how your bank can arm itself against cyber fraud,read the full report “Three Ways for Banks to Secure Payments against Emerging Threats”and start fighting back.