Agencies seek comment on fighting payments fraud

The FDIC, Federal Reserve and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued on Monday a request for comment on potential actions to help consumers, businesses and financial institutions mitigate risks related to payments fraud, particularly check fraud.

“Because payments fraud may involve multiple institutions and payment methods, no single agency or private-sector entity can address payments fraud on its own,” the agencies said in a joint statement. “Therefore, the agencies are seeking public comment on discrete actions, collectively or independently, to mitigate payments fraud, including check fraud, within their respective bank regulation and payments authorities.”

The agencies are seeking public feedback on five potential areas “for improvement and collaboration.” They are:

• External collaboration among the agencies, Fed Banks and industry stakeholders.
• Consumer, business and industry education by the agencies and Fed Banks related to payments fraud.
• Regulation and supervision to mitigate payments fraud, including opportunities the Fed and FDIC boards may have related to check fraud.
• Payments fraud data collection and information sharing.
• Fed Banks’ operator tools and services to reduce payments fraud.

The agencies added they will also continue looking for additional opportunities to collaborate across other state and federal agencies to mitigate payments fraud.