In Response to Increasing Fraud Attacks, Calls for Enhanced Consumer Education Persist

With fraud attacks targeting individuals on the rise, there has been a continued push to increase consumer education. Many financial institutions have introduced security centers within mobile banking apps aimed at keeping customers informed about the latest threats.

Despite these efforts, according to Lea Nonninger, Digital Banking Analyst at Javelin Strategy & Research, these security centers still require significant improvements as detailed in her report entitled “Security Centers in Digital Banking: How to Tell an Empowering Story of Prevention, Detection, and Resolution.”

Shifting to Empowerment

In the past, financial institutions tended to handle security matters behind the scenes, minimizing customers’ awareness of potential threats.

“Over the last five years, we’ve seen banks shift their narrative and focus on providing tools for customers to improve their own security,” Nonninger said. “Customers often act as the weakest link themselves, and there are numerous things they aren’t doing to protect their accounts or their knowledge of security measures.”

A comprehensive inclusion of customer education within security centers is now necessary, according to Nonninger, to enhance customers’ confidence in recognizing and addressing fraud. This could improve overall satisfaction with banking relationships.

Creating a security center alone isn’t enough; banks must ensure they provide tools that genuinely empower the customer. Nonninger emphasized the importance of not just securing accounts but also ensuring that customers feel confident about their security and know how to enhance it.

Measuring Effectiveness

The Javelin report analyzed three key aspects of security centers: prevention, detection, and resolution. It highlighted significant gaps in the current offerings.

“We reviewed selected features across banks and found a decline in support for a comprehensive suite of features,” Nonninger said. “Many security centers lack essential tools that help customers prevent fraud effectively.”

A dedicated article informing users about hallmarks of phishing attacks, along with relevant interactive content, could be highly effective. However, the report noted that current security center information was often generic and poorly organized, potentially deterring deeper engagement.

The End of the Road

For effective fraud detection, customers need to understand how to monitor access to their accounts and transaction activity. Alerts can play a crucial role in notifying them about unusual activity, as highlighted by Nonninger.

“Banks should provide end-to-end digital solutions for resolving fraud,” she said. “Currently, few banks offer such comprehensive features, leaving customers at the end of the road without proper tools to resolve their issues.”

Fine-Tuning the Story

A centralized approach to educational material is essential, as noted by Nonninger. Disjointed information can lead customers to abandon security center efforts.

“The goal should be to create a coherent story of security features rather than dumping all content into one place and expecting the customer to navigate it,” she said. “It’s about guiding and directing the customer effectively.”