Adoption of EMV security standard, and increases in online and mobile banking makes check fraud all the more attractive to criminals

Advanced Fraud Solutions, the leading provider of fraud mitigation tools for financial institutions, released a report today that warns banks and credit unions to prepare for a dramatic and sustained increase in check fraud.

Advanced Fraud Solutions’ report, includes extensive analysis of the changes taking place within the online and mobile banking environment, the impact of the EMV security standard on card fraud, and why fraud professionals, including David Lott, a payments and risk expert with the Atlanta Federal Reserve predicts continued increases in the level of check fraud.

In order to help banks and credit unions understand the threats that they face, the report includes extensive analysis of check issuance volume and corresponding fraud rates over the last decade, as well as the types of check fraud that results when financial institutions embrace online and mobile banking.

With many banks spending millions of dollars to encourage customers to use their online and mobile banking and the services, online services such as remote deposit capture provides criminals with a simplified as well as depersonalized channel to commit fraud. Instead of entering a branch with a fraudulent check in hand, now all a criminal needs is a bank account in good standing and a mobile phone.

While the report confirms that the volume of checks issued continues to decline, it also shows that with the adoption of EMV and the explosion of online and mobile banking, check fraud is experiencing a resurgence, with the potential to inflict significant losses for financial institutions that fail to respond to the threat.