Do you know that U.S. businesses lose an average of 5% of gross revenues to fraud? Fraud affects millions of businesses annually, and small companies are especially vulnerable to fraudulent charges and cybercriminals. By breaking into your business bank account or stealing funds from customers via devices inserted at your POS, criminals can easily steal money from your organisation.
However, although bank account frauds are more common than before, there are several ways to protect your business. Let’s look at these ways one by one.
Separate Your Personal and Business Banking
Technically, you don’t need to open a separate business account if you’re a sole proprietor. Meanwhile, LLCs and other corporation types need a designated business bank account. Even when you don’t legally need to separate your personal and business bank accounts, here’s why doing so makes sense.
- Setting up a separate bank account helps you to track business transactions easily.
- It becomes easier to identify taxable benefits and deductions.
- It’s easier to manage and react to your current cash flow.
- It’s a way to demonstrate your business’s credibility and professionalism.
- It helps build your business credit rating and score.
Check Your Accounts Frequently
Make sure to check your business bank account often, at least once per week. Doing so helps you easily spot fraudulent activities or potential bad charges. It takes less time than you think, especially once you’ve caught up to your current list of charges. You can also have an accountant or teammate do this job if you trust them.
Use Strong Passwords and 2FA
Using strong passwords for your bank accounts and all other workplace accounts is essential. Strong passwords often include upper- and lower-case letters, symbols, and numbers. According to Mark Burnett, author of Perfect Passwords, your passwords should be between 12 and 15 characters.
It’s also reasonable to use a password manager. These tools let you store different passwords without remembering them by heart. Next, you can plug passwords into your accounts when reaching your business computer.
You can even go further and introduce two-factor authentication (2FA) to your business bank account and other sensitive information. 2FA has you provide two means of identification before signing in to your bank accounts, such as a password and security question.
Most online banks offer 2FA these days, so it’s straightforward to implement this tip throughout your organisation. Or, you can write down your password on a piece of paper. Just be sure never to lose it.
Limit Access and Train Your Staff
Your business bank account is only truly secure if your staff knows how to avoid creating breaches. You should train your staff in good cyber hygiene practices, such as:
- Understand how to identify and not open phishing emails
- Know when and where to log in to business bank accounts (i.e., not over public Wi-Fi networks)
- Keep their ID cards and passwords safe
- And many more
It’s also recommended to hold occasional cybersecurity seminars to ensure your employees are trained well in this area. A strong security program and employee education about warning signs, safe practices, and responses to a corporate account takeover are vital to protecting your business and customers.
Summary
In an age where online fraud is becoming more prevalent, it’s a top priority to defend your company’s data. By taking a few simple ways to implement your fraud prevention plan, you can protect your company and build a culture of zero-tolerance for fraud now. As a result, you can mitigate unforeseen threats in the future.
