The American Bankers Association last week responded to a request for information from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency regarding potential actions to address payments fraud.
According to ABA, “the growing prevalence and sophistication of fraud in today’s financial ecosystem underscore the urgency of this inquiry and the need for coordinated efforts” among the OCC, the Treasury, the Federal Reserve and FDIC.
The RFI response provides a series of recommendations designed to strengthen the nation’s fraud prevention strategy and, ABA said, are intended to “provide practical, industry-informed recommendations to help shape effective and sustainable fraud mitigation strategies.”
To advance meaningful solutions that protect consumers, businesses and financial institutions from fraud across all payment channels — including check, ACH, wire and instant payments, ABA’s suggested a number of “critical” foundational principles.
They include formal collaboration between the banking agencies and other authorities, alongside other industry stakeholders through dedicated working groups and advisory forums; the establishment of a White House Federal Office of Fraud and Scam Prevention to coordinate a national strategy, promote cross-sector data sharing, and ensure public-private engagement on prevention; and clarification and consistent application of regulatory standards to ensure transparency, accountability and uniform enforcement across all the industries throughout the scam ecosystem.
