Know Your Vendor: Fighting Fraud the Smart Way

Detecting and preventing fraud is a growing concern for treasurers, especially as operations become increasingly digital and payments are being made in real time. BELLIN has launched a new Vendor Verification tool to help treasurers to stay one step ahead of the fraudsters – and scooped a 2019 TMI Award for Innovation & Excellence in the process.

According to KPMG’s Global Banking Fraud Survey, more than half of respondents stated that fraud recoveries equalled less than 25% of fraud losses. This low recovery rate demonstrates the importance of prediction and prevention efforts in connection with corporate payments. But treasurers have limited time and resources to spend on such activities, so the onus is increasingly on payment providers and treasury management system (TMS) vendors to develop new functionalities that help companies prevent fraud.

Taking control

To help tackle fraud, it is first important to understand any areas of weakness. André Scheffknecht, CSO, BELLIN, explains: “Generally speaking, companies struggle with a complex and fragmented bank connectivity environment across subsidiaries, which can be a ‘breeding ground’ for fraud. The critical first step to combating this threat is moving to a centralised, bank-independent banking solution that provides full bank connectivity, complete payment transparency and uncapped administrative controls for both domestic and global payments.”

He adds: “BELLIN’s tm5 payments and bank connectivity solution allows corporates to achieve just that – encompassing both domestic and global payments needs of corporates. Users benefit from a multi-banking portal with universal accessibility by any team member, at all subsidiaries worldwide. Fraud-fighting features include two-factor authentication, straight-through processing and group-wide payment processing control.”

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