Guardians of Trust

While National Bank of Arizona has offered fraud prevention tools for more than a decade, the bank continues to make enhancements to help further protect clients’ accounts. The enhancements “provide an additional layer of security for our clients,” explains Zak Wagner, senior vice president and treasury management sales manager for National Bank of Arizona.

Unfortunately, Wagner continues, “cyber criminals are very savvy, and we want to ensure we’re offering proper solutions to our clients to help mitigate the impacts of fraud. It’s human nature to think you’re invincible…until you’re not.”

Here are a few ways National Bank of Arizona offers fraud protection for business clients:

• Business Online Banking – A key feature with Treasury Internet Banking “is the dual approval process to initiate and send a wire or ACH payment, the primary system agencies use for electronic funds transfer,” Wagner says. This added layer protects clients from both internal and external fraud by requiring one employee to initiate the transaction and another employee to approve the release of the transaction, he explains. “Within the system there are capabilities to customize at an even more granular level, so our clients are in control of their day-to-day activity.”
• Mobile Fraud Alert Service – National Bank of Arizona’s Commercial Card solutions allow clients to opt-in to a mobile fraud alert solution. Parameters can be established on the thresholds that will trigger a text to the card holder to ensure the transaction is valid.
• ACH and Check Positive Pay – Check Positive Pay is a fraud mitigation service that provides early detection of fraudulent, altered or counterfeit checks through a daily verification of checks presented for payment against an account. These customizable solutions allow clients to review an unwarranted ACH debit and potentially fraudulent check activity on their accounts. Both of these solutions provide daily oversight for clients and can also assist with the reconciliation of paper check activity.
• Business E-mail Compromise – “Our goal is to educate our clients on the benefits of checks and balances with their internal protocols,” Wagner says. “We all need a constant reminder to slow down and review what is being requested. If something looks out of the ordinary, it’s worth the time to call (not email) the vendor, client or partner using a known phone number to confirm the activity. Fraudsters are capable of hacking into someone’s email and acting on their behalf. The more education and scenarios we can present to our clients, the better suited they will be to protect themselves and their company.”
• The key difference to our solutions is the customization available to our clients, Wagner notes. “We want to work with our clients to meet their needs, without causing a dramatic impact on their day-to-day operations.”
• With fraud so prevalent in today’s society, the solutions the bank offers are just one layer of protecting a business. “It takes everyone’s involvement, due diligence to following proper protocols and procedures to ensure a company is protected to the best of its abilities,” Wagner continues. “We’re always here for our clients to talk through scenarios, solutions and to properly educate one another.” 
  

The key difference to our solutions is the customization available to our clients, Wagner notes. “We want to work with our clients to meet their needs, without causing a dramatic impact on their day-to-day operations.”

With fraud so prevalent in today’s society, the solutions the bank offers are just one layer of protecting a business. “It takes everyone’s involvement, due diligence to following proper protocols and procedures to ensure a company is protected to the best of its abilities,” Wagner continues. “We’re always here for our clients to talk through scenarios, solutions and to properly educate one another.” 

Photo: Mark Lipczynski