The FDIC, Federal Reserve and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency today issued a request for comment on potential actions to help consumers, businesses and financial institutions mitigate risks related to payments fraud, particularly check fraud.
“Because payments fraud may involve multiple institutions and payment methods, no single agency or private-sector entity can address payments fraud on its own,” the agencies said in a joint statement. “Therefore, the agencies are seeking public comment on discrete actions, collectively or independently, to mitigate payments fraud, including check fraud, within their respective bank regulation and payments authorities.”
The agencies are seeking public feedback on five potential areas “for improvement and collaboration.” They are:
- External collaboration among the agencies, Fed Banks and industry stakeholders.
- Consumer, business and industry education by the agencies and Fed Banks related to payments fraud.
- Regulation and supervision to mitigate payments fraud, including opportunities the Fed and FDIC boards may have related to check fraud.
- Payments fraud data collection and information sharing.
- Fed Banks’ operator tools and services to reduce payments fraud.
The agencies added they will also continue looking for additional opportunities to collaborate across other state and federal agencies to mitigate payments fraud.
Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman called the request for comment “a welcome first step” in the efforts of federal banking agencies to address the increase in fraud.
“Check fraud has grown substantially over the past several years, resulting in harm to banks, especially community banks, and the consumers and businesses who are the victims of fraud,” Bowman said. “While this has been a well-known problem for several years, efforts by regulators have been slow to advance, and seem to have done little to address this growing threat.”
In a statement, American Bankers Association President and CEO Rob Nichols thanked the agencies for inviting the banking industry and other stakeholders to share their perspective.
“Through our Fraud Contact Directory, #BanksNeverAskThat and #PracticeSafeChecks public awareness campaigns and other initiatives, ABA has led industry efforts to combat all forms of fraud,” Nichols said. “Still, we agree with Vice Chair Bowman that a coordinated national strategy bringing together the public and private sectors is needed to defeat the bad actors. This interagency focus on payment and check fraud is an important step in that direction.”
