Nacha Updates Resources to Help Financial Institutions Protect Seniors From Fraud

Nacha’s Payments Innovation Alliance has updated two of the tools it offers to help financial institutions protect older Americans from financial fraud.

To help financial institutions educate the public about the prevalence of elder financial exploitation, the Alliance’s Consumer Financial Exploitation Project Team has developed an infographic that provides key statistics on this issue, Nacha, which governs the ACH Network, said in a Wednesday (June 11) press release.

To help banks and credit unions assist customers who may have been targeted by this type of fraud, the team created an Elder Financial Exploitation Awareness Financial Institution Checklist, the report said.

Elder financial exploitation generally includes fraud targeting people around 55 years and older, and conducted through deception, intimidation, undue influence or breach of fiduciary duty, according to the infographic.

These resources were released to mark World Elder Abuse Awareness Day on June 15, which was created by the United Nations in 2011, according to the report.

They arrive at a time when the number of U.S. adults who are aged 65 and older — 73 million — is the highest ever, Mary Gilmeister, CEO of PaymentsFirst and co-leader of the Consumer Financial Exploitation Project Team, said in the release.

“By equipping financial institutions with these resources, we aim to strengthen their ability to safeguard their account holders and provide critical support to those affected by fraud,” Gilmeister said.

Elder financial exploitation has spiked as more baby boomers and seniors go online to get their banking done, PYMNTS reported in June 2024.

The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) said in April 2024 that in 2023, the number of complaints of elder fraud increased by 14% and the associated losses rose by 11%.

Individuals 60 years old and older reported 101,068 of these scams in 2023 and lost $3.4 billion to fraud, with the average victim losing $33,915, according to the IC3’s 2023 Elder Fraud Report.

In December, five federal financial regulatory agencies, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and state financial regulators released a joint statement offering examples of risk management and other practices that banks, credit unions and other supervised institutions can use to identify, prevent and respond to elder financial exploitation.