Pub. 12 2015 Issue 1

O V E R A C E N T U R Y : B U I L D I N G B E T T E R B A N K S - H E L P I N G N E W M E X I C O R E A L I Z E D R E A M S Spring • 2015 13 T he past couple of years have shown a spotlight on the importance of information sharing when it comes to dealing with financial crimes. While much of the focus has been on cyber security, the truth of the matter is that information is critical no matter what type of financial crime we are talking about. The ability for a bank to remain up-to-date on the types of crimes and how they are being perpetrated is vitally important to protecting customers and our industry. Fraud-Net remains one of the greatest tools for information sharing and usage of the system can go a long way in helping your bank remain safe. That said, Fraud-Net is only as good as the material that is shared. The more people that are willing to share financial crime information, the better off our users and their banks will be. The reasons why people don’t post generally fall into one of three categories: 1. “I don’t have the time”: Fraud-Net is easier to use than ever before. Posting an alert now requires far fewer steps before the information is available on the system. Once you’ve selected the time and date of the posting and the category under which the alert will be shown (i.e., Robbery or Counterfeit Instru- ment), you need only type a subject line and the alert anecdote. It truly is as easy as sending an e-mail. 2. “I’m not sure we can share this information”: This is the ultimate concern and one that we completely understand. That said, we are constantly working to ensure Fraud-Net usage is above board. Fraud-Net usage fits into an exception in Gramm-Leach-Bli - ley allowing for the disclosure of information “to protect against or prevent actual or potential fraud, unauthorized transactions, claims or other liability.” For a complete FAQ on how Fraud-Net can be used and why we are able to share information, please contact Bret Rock at brock@floridabankers.com . 3. “It already happened to us”: This may be true, but it’s important to remember that financial crime happens at every institution. More often than not, it’s the same types of crimes and, in a lot of cases, the same suspects. Sharing information helps the industry as a whole and the more people that are willing to post on Fraud-Net, the more likely those same people will be helped down the line when an- other user who benefitted from their information returns the favor. Information sharing has never been more important than it is now and Fraud-Net provides a perfect mechanism to ensure each of our member banks are in the loop. To find out if your bank is using Fraud-Net, or to learn more about how the system can be used, please contact Bret Rock at brock@floridabankers.com . n Why We Don’t Do It