Bank Tellers Can Help Fight Financial Exploitation, Study Finds

The emphasis on in-person banking staff could be particularly effective in preventing the exploitation of older adults, as more than 80 percent of adults over 50 still do their banking at physical branches, according to a 2016 AARP survey.

AARP and Virginia Tech point out that BankSafe training picks up where other fraud programs stop, educating staff on how to prevent losses before money leaves customers’ accounts. More than 2,000 financial, legal and law enforcement professionals advised AARP in the development of BankSafe. The training, which takes an hour, includes videos, modules to encourage employees to ask probing questions that may reveal unseemly schemes, and strategies for spotting dementia in customers who are being exploited.

The majority of the training focuses on interventions to thwart exploitation in cases where the perpetrator knows the victim. That strategy makes sense given that in 70 percent of the halted cases of financial fraud, the perpertator was a family member.

"The results show that the BankSafe training increases the frequency of recognizing exploitation, acting to prevent it, and reporting suspicious activity,” the report states.

Banks also have a legal incentive to participate in programs like BankSafe. A 2018 federal law makes it easier for banks to report cases of exploitation without fear that doing so would violate privacy requirements. Called the Senior Safe Act, the law stipulates that bank employees must be trained in identifying exploitation to be eligible for protection under the act.

Financial institutions in the U.S. lose $1 billion annually to exploitation of adults 50 and over, AARP findings show. Also, research suggests that customers show greater loyalty to financial institutions that have prevented fraud.

BankSafe training meets the requirements of the Senior Safe Act and the recommendations of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

"Education and training of staff are two of the most powerful things banks and credit unions can do to protect older consumers,” said Jilenne Gunther, coauthor of the research report and AARP's national director of BankSafe. “Our research shows that well-trained frontline employees provide a critical safety net for those most at risk of being exploited."