Best Practices:
Implement dual custody. Use dual control for online payment and self-administration services. Dual custody, an industry best practice, requires a second level of approval to release online payment transactions and make self-administration user changes.
Update antivirus programs. Ensure that your company’s firewalls, servers, and client applications or systems are updated with all vendor-recommended patches and that your company’s antivirus and anti-spyware software are installed and updated regularly.
Be cautious. Use caution if you receive an email or text message expressing an urgent need for you to update your information, activate an account, or verify your identity by calling a phone number or submitting information on a website. Also practice caution with e-mail attachments and downloadable files.
Educate your employees. Educate your employees about online fraud and train them never to give out their online banking access credentials, including passwords, PINs, token codes, and token serial numbers.
Use stand-alone PCs for online banking. To initiate money movement transactions, use stand-alone PCs that are not enabled for email or web browsing.
Use trusted websites. Always access Heritage Bank Internet Banking site through our trusted bankonheritage.com web address.
Protect your network. Identify trusted websites for your business and block access to any web address that is not relevant to your employees’ business needs.
Monitor online accounts daily. Actively monitor your online accounts to detect suspicious activities. Contact Heritage Bank immediately if you notice anything out of the ordinary.
Use notification/alert services. Set up to receive an e-mail notification alerting you of large transactions or balance limits set on your accounts.
We can help
Give us a call at 402-694-3136 to talk about implementing dual custody on your Heritage Bank business accounts or to learn about other tools and services to help build a strong fraud protection program to help your company avoid falling victim to online fraud.
Dual custody works
Online fraud can be a serious threat to your business and bank accounts. Armed with a valid online banking password and ID, thieves — internal and external — can divert funds from your accounts to theirs.
Dual custody is one of the most important tools available to help protect your corporate accounts from the risk of fraud. This industry best practice requires two users to make online payment transactions. Heritage Bank’s Internet Business Banking application provides our Business partners the ability to implement this control.
The first user initiates a payment, the second user, on a different computer must approve the payment before it takes effect.
By separating user tasks, you’re better positioned to identify and stop fraud before it happens. Thieves may be able to coax access credentials from the user who initiates online payments, but it’s unlikely they’ll also get credentials from the person who has to approve and release the payments.
Similarly, a dishonest employee can’t make unauthorized payments to himself without another person’s approval.
You can implement dual custody for a range of transactions, including ACH payments, ACH receipts, wire transfers and Bill Payment. Dual custody is one of the most effective fraud deterrents in a layered security approach.
For more information, contact your Heritage Bank Internet Banking representative at 888-554-5499