With hackers' skills evolving in pace with the technology they are looking to crack, it is prudent to partner with experts who can provide a sophisticated safety net to prevent and manage cybercrime risk, including payment security. Start by talking with your bank.
An experienced financial services provider will offer education and tools to mitigate risk. This starts with mobile banking as a platform for awareness. Busy decision-makers should be able to log in to their accounts to review up-to-date activity for anything unusual. Many sophisticated apps go one step further with the ability to review and approve transactions, making it convenient to maintain multiple levels of authorization without delaying business if an approver is out of the office.
Accounts with high transaction volumes, such as those used for payroll or operating purposes, may be at even greater risk for fraud and are understandably more difficult to monitor manually. As a solution, ask your banker about automated account reconcilement tools. Look for tools that include check-based and ACH (Automated Clearing House) transactions, designed to identify, flag and report unauthorized transactions for review via online or mobile banking. Additional controls can be implemented through an ACH debit filter, which enables preauthorization of specific transactions, such as those from a payroll vendor, with all other debits presented for review, conveniently closing the loop on secure transactions.
It is important to develop a holistic package of products and processes tailored to your company's unique needs. This may include adding alerts to your accounts, such as for transactions exceeding a certain threshold, or using corporate credit cards for everyday business transactions. In addition to offering controls not typically provided on checking accounts, cards minimize the number of times your account number is shared and can even be used strategically to optimize cash flow and disbursements.
Payment security should be comprehensive and specific to your needs. Ask your banking partner about secure options to safeguard your business.
