ECCU Blog

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?

According to Javelin Research’s 2010 Identity Fraud Survey Report published in July, more than 11 million people were identity theft victims in 2009. Now there’s an overwhelming statistic. How can we stay vigilant while still enjoying the efficiencies and convenience made possible by online banking technology?

One primary way is to be aware and informed. Banking security regulations require financial institutions to protect your information and identity. Understanding your bank’s stance on security is crucial. Here at ECCU, we are dedicated to securing our members’ personal information and helping to educate them about the need for vigilance. For example:

• Our online banking platform is protected with 24/7 security.
• Our website—eccu.org—offers a variety of resources, including white papers that discuss data security, tips on protecting yourself from identity theft, and news posts on the homepage of recent scams that have affected the financial community.
• Our staff is also trained in security and fraud prevention techniques.

Additional steps your ministry can take to combat online fraud come from the Association for Financial Professionals:

• Never link to your financial institution’s website. Instead, type the address into your browser.
• Immediately contact your financial institution if you see unusual or unexpected activity on your account.
• Be cautious of emails that claim to come from your financial institution. (ECCU will never request personal identification or account information, such as your Social Security or account numbers, from you via our website or email. If you receive any email requesting this information, be suspicious, do not respond, and notify us immediately.)
• Know what your financial institution’s website looks like and what questions it asks to verify your identity.
• If possible, dedicate a single computer for online banking access. The fewer computers that have sensitive information, the less likely it is that the information will be compromised. (We recommend never storing passwords on the same computer you use for online banking.)
• Consider blocking plug-ins and pop-ups on computers used for online banking.

From time to time we call or email a member to ask if a specific transaction is legitimate. The response is often an expression of appreciation for the extra steps taken to protect their accounts.

One missionary in Ecuador, for example, said, “I really appreciate your vigilance on account activity that may be fraudulent.”

Another serving in the Philippines said, “We appreciate ECCU’s continual efforts to strike a good balance between security and convenience (both high values, but not always easily compatible). Your commitment to service—and especially knowing that we have a financial institution who understands our context—is a tremendous blessing to us!”

How about your ministry? What are you doing to protect your information when banking online?

Transitions are important, aren’t they? Some of you can remember making the transition from typewriters to personal computers. For me, this post constitutes an equally eventful shift. Yesterday I wasn’t a blogger. Today I am. Amazing. And to think that when I gave up my typewriter, “blog” wasn’t even a word.

The transition from summer to fall is always eventful too, especially for ministries. I trust your ministry team is increasingly energized as you pursue your mission in this new season. And just like the ministries we serve, we’ve been busy here at ECCU. With so much happening, now is a good time for an update on what we’re up to.

This blog is a good place to start. We launched it in July, and it’s already well on its way to achieving our goal of delivering financial management insights and information while giving readers the opportunity to join an online conversation about ministry, money, and more. Please take time to comment on posts that catch your attention and invite your friends to join the conversation.

We also rolled out a new e-newsletter, Managing Ministry Money, which delivers the “best of” blog posts and updates on financial services, events, and other resources. I hope you choose to subscribe.

ECCU members have been receiving preliminary information about another initiative that’s been getting a lot of our staff’s attention—enhanced online banking. This significant investment of credit union resources is focused on making ministry banking quicker, easier, and more secure for our members. We’ll be communicating more details in the coming months about the launch of this new system.

Those ECCU member ministries that utilize our remote deposit services are now enjoying quicker access to their funds and reduced risk of fraud thanks to a recent upgrade. They’re also experiencing increased speed and accuracy through automatic email confirmations and duplicate deposit identification.

You’ve read several recent posts about cash reserves because we’ve been talking with so many ministries about the importance of building reserves. These conversations have prompted us to develop financial tools and resources to help ministries better understand liquidity and cash reserves. We’ve even created a new account to help ministries build their reserves—the Cash Reserves Savings Account.

See what I mean about this being an active season for all of us? I can tell you that we’re enjoying all the opportunities to better understand ministries’ needs and equip them with the financial services and resources to meet them.

What’s even more fulfilling, though, is the way these interactions and conversations are building relationships. I think that’s the aspect of being involved in a financial cooperative that keeps all of us working so hard. We are definitely better together.