ECCU Blog

As you steward the financial resources entrusted to your ministry, one way to deter fraud is to establish internal controls around your checking account activities. Here are some best practices you should consider adopting:

Examine your bank statements quickly: When you opened your checking account with your bank, you entered an agreement (usually communicated through your account disclosures) that requires you to review your bank statements promptly and report losses as soon as possible. If you delay this review, fraudulent activity can go undetected. Even worse, it may escalate and you may become liable for the loss or future losses. Be sure you understand the requirements in your account agreement for timely statement review.

Use online banking features: Most online banking systems have a feature that allows you to set up account alerts that can be configured to inform you when checks clear and if balances fall below specific thresholds. Alerts are a strong tool in your early fraud detection arsenal.

Instill segregation of duties for check responsibilities: “Opportunity” is a common risk factor for internal fraud or embezzlement. You can minimize opportunities to commit fraud by implementing an internal control known as segregation of duties. An example would be assigning different people in your organization to prepare and reconcile checks. This way no transaction is handled by only one person from beginning to end.

Perform spot checks: Performing occasional surprise checks of the processes you have put in place shows you if those processes are performing as they should and that duties are indeed segregated.

Keep your check stock secure: You can keep check stock secure by restricting access to it. One good option is a locking cabinet that is accessible only to those individuals who are responsible for issuing checks. A cabinet with two locks is even better. The check reorder form should also be stored securely. Otherwise, a forger could easily reorder checks with the form and have them shipped to another location. It’s also a good idea to do occasional surprise inspections of your check inventory.

What internal controls do you have in place to protect the funds in your checking account?

My mother is selling her vacation home in Palm Desert. It isn’t used often, and the maintenance is becoming a burden. Over the years, she has amassed a lot of treasures in that home; now she needs to downsize and let go of many of them. As she was struggling over deciding what to keep, she realized, “If everything is a treasure, nothing is.”

That same principle can be applied to our efforts at work. If everything is important, nothing is. Maggie Fox, founder and CEO of Social Media Group, recently tweeted, “If you have more than three priorities, you have no priorities.” While I am not sure that three is the magic number, I have learned that by clearly focusing on fewer goals, we have a better chance for success.

We live in a world that is rapidly changing, with new opportunities around every bend. How does your ministry focus on the opportunities that can have the most kingdom impact?

Hackers never seem to tire of devising ingenious ways to inflict mayhem. An alarming new threat has emerged known as “Spear Phishing.” This phishing technique uses a personalized email message that’s designed to pique your interest. It might be a conference invite, an invoice, or a missions support plea.

Spear phishing messages, which appear genuine and often convey a sense of urgency, are ruses to get you to provide sensitive information (such as your login and password) or entice you to click on a link that contains an infectious virus. Often, these email “spears” pass through SPAM filters because they appear to be legitimate.

RSA, a security software firm, reported that about one in every 300 emails in 2011 was a phish. A growing number are being received at work email boxes as personalized “spear” messages addressed to specific employees, sometimes including details mined from social networks to make them appear valid.

Keeping your anitvirus software and spam filtering up to date will help weed out these nefarious emails. However, hackers are adept at getting them to pass through undetected. This is where employee training helps. Microsoft lists the following components of scam emails:

• Alarmist messages and threats of account closures
• Promises of money for little or no effort
• Deals that sound too good to be true
• Requests to donate to a charitable organization after a disaster that has been in the news
• Bad grammar and misspellings

A best practice is to only open email from trusted sources.

What is your ministry doing to guard against spear phishing attempts?

I was in a meeting the other day when one of my coworkers received a text message on her cell phone from the bank where her daughter, a college sophomore, has an account. She looked at her phone and commented, “It looks like there’s some strange activity on my daughter’s account.”

After the meeting she contacted her daughter and discovered that the strange activity was fraud, but thanks to the early detection by her bank, it would be handled swiftly.   This experience was a powerful personal reminder of how technology can now mitigate the risk of fraud in our banking relationships.   

The message my coworker received is called an alert. Banks send alerts to inform or remind you of important transactions, including those that might place you at risk.  Alerts can be sent to an individual, a group, or even a department. Best of all, online banking allows you to set up alerts to meet your specific needs.

For example, you can configure alerts to inform you when:

• All transactions from the previous day exceed a certain threshold
• A check has cleared
• Your balance drops below a pre-selected dollar amount

In addition to helping combat fraud, alerts can also help you manage your account by understanding transaction posting times and balance levels. 

At ECCU we offer these types of alerts and more through online banking. To find out more, follow this link.

How have you used alerts on your online bank accounts?

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor. (Ecclesiastes 4:9)

Some of my best work experiences have revolved around collaboration and partnership, when I have been able not only to bring my own talents but also benefit from others bringing theirs. Through partnership, I have experienced greater productivity and more creativity, which in turn has led to greater engagement and satisfaction with my work.

For example, a key leader I work with enjoys detailed problem solving. I, by contrast, am always anxious for action and enjoy learning by doing. In the world of banking operations, we are always crafting solutions and growing with the opportunities technology affords. In this endeavor, our partnership has led to some creative problem solving. She helps me seek root causes while I encourage her to try a course of action. It is iron sharpening iron. We challenge, we test, we expand, and we deliver. Knowing we both want the best for ECCU’s members is important. Equally important is that we respect and trust one another in the process.

Research shows that our experience isn’t isolated. According to the Gallup organization, “In the workplace, employees with just one collaborative relationship are 29% more likely to say they will stay with their company for the next year and 42% more likely to intend to remain with their current employer for their entire career, compared to those with no partnerships.” Here, from a recent book titled Power of 2: How to Make the Most of Your Partnerships at Work and in Life by Rodd Wagner and Gale Muller, are the eight crucial elements of a successful partnership that Gallup has uncovered from their research (and others’) on collaboration. As you read them, consider this question: How have partnerships—and these elements of them—strengthened your ministry and made your work more satisfying?

 The Eight Elements of a Powerful Partnership

“Great partnerships don’t just happen,” the authors say. “Whether your joint mission is to build a successful company, coach a team, improve the government, do something spectacular for a charity, or any other worthy goal, all successful partnerships share the same crucial ingredients.” When all these elements combine, partnerships become not just effective in accomplishing the mission, but also personally rewarding, sometimes intensely so.

• Complementary Strengths: Everyone has weaknesses and blind spots that create obstacles to reaching a goal. One of the most powerful reasons for teaming up is working with someone who is strong where you are weak, and vice versa. Individuals are not well-rounded, but pairs can be.
• A Common Mission: When a partnership fails, the root cause is often that the two people were pursuing separate agendas. When partners want the same thing badly enough, they will make the personal sacrifices necessary to see it through.
• Fairness: Humans have an instinctive need for fairness. Because the need for fairness runs deep, it is an essential quality of a strong partnership.
• Trust: Working with someone means taking risks. You are not likely to contribute your best work unless you trust that your partner will do his or her best. Without trust, it’s easier to work alone.
• Acceptance: We see the world through our own set of lenses. Whenever two disparate personalities come together, there is bound to be a certain friction from their differences. This can be a recipe for conflict unless both learn to accept the idiosyncrasies of the other.
• Forgiveness: People are imperfect. They make mistakes. They sometimes do the wrong thing. Without forgiveness, the natural revenge motives that stem from friend-or-foe instincts will overpower all the reasons to continue a partnership, and it will dissolve.
• Communicating: In the early stages of a partnership, communicating helps to prevent misunderstandings; later in the relationship, a continuous flow of information makes the work more efficient by keeping the two people synchronized.
• Unselfishness: In the best working relationships, the natural concern for your own welfare transforms into gratification in seeing your comrade succeed. Those who have reached this level say such collaborations become among the most fulfilling aspects of their lives.

What’s your experience. How have partnerships made you and your ministry more effective?