Check fraud is a perpetual thorn in the side of financial institutions. So how do FIs protect against potential check frauds, while simultaneously making it easier for more customers to use remote channels, like mobile RDC and ATMs to deposit checks? A new webinar – Check Fraud is on the Rise! Is Mobile Deposit Still Safe? – examines this question, with insights from solution providers and a banker on ways to improve check fraud mitigation.
In this time of social distancing and stay-at-home orders, many consumers and businesses are turning to mobile RDC and other remote options for depositing checks. Polling conducted by RemoteDepositCapture.com indicates that as of mid-March over 40% of FIs were seeing mRDC growth rates in excess of 30%; two-thirds were seeing growth rates exceeding 20%. (See article here. You can add your vote here for ongoing polling.)
“The battle against check fraud is constantly evolving,” said John Leekley, Founder and CEO of RemoteDepositCapture.com. Fortunately, so, too, are fraud fighting tools, he added.
But the COVID-19 pandemic creates an entirely new scenario, as banks and credit unions seek to meet customer demand for options like mobile deposit that allow them to deposit checks from the safety of their homes and home offices. “FIs are under pressure to increase deposit limits, and broaden mobile deposit eligibility,” said Leekley. “The question on the minds of many is how to meet these customer demands while continuing to contain risks?”
Further heightening concerns around risks are reports of fraudsters lying in wait to pounce on unsuspecting FIs and their customers with scams involving government stimulus checks and unsuspecting “mules.”
Xan Kasprzak, Customer Experience Director at Jack Henry, and Russ Clark, Marketing Solutions Director at Early Warning, described how integrating Early Warning fraud tools with Jack Henry’s deposit solutions (e.g.: mobile, ATM), and other risk tools, FIs can evaluate transactions in real time. “If we can help mitigate risk across all channels in real time, that’s real value for our clients,” Kasprzak said during the webinar. “Our focus right now is on providing additional protections,” added Clark.
Chris Germann, Director of Payments Services at TCF Bank, chronicled how that bank saw a 43% lift in fraud mitigation in just 6 months using real-time decisioning tools for ATM deposits. And that was before the COVID-19 pandemic struck. TCF Bank is headquartered in Detroit and operates branches is 7 states.
It’s not an up-or-down decision process based solely on the information provided through Early Warning, explained Germann. “We make those decisions based on actual true relationship with the customer as well as the power of the information,” he said. “We don’t mitigate every risk, but in this particular channel we mitigate a lot,” Germann added.
Hosted by RemoteDepositCapture.com and sponsored by Jack Henry & Associates and Early Warning, Check Fraud is on the Rise! Is Mobile Deposit Still Safe?, is a 60-minute webinar available free and on demand at RemoteDepositCapture.com. Click here to access.
And while you’re at it, check out other informational webinars in the RemoteDepositCapture.com Webinar Library.