strategies for managing pay-
ments fraud.
And where companies do seek
to battle back, the tactics they
use often are aimed at historical
threats rather than evolving fraud
strategies. Asked which are the
most important tactics used by
their companies, 45 percent of
survey respondents cite audit-
ing (audit trails). That’s followed
by expanded use of electronic
payments (41 percent) and daily
reconciliations (35 percent).
All three are valuable tools, to be
sure. By contrast, consider that
only about one-third of survey re-
spondents (34 percent) say they
employ dedicated fraud detec-
tion and monitoring systems that
can proactively ferret out fraud
attempts. The CFO too often
appears to be checking the rear-
view mirror instead of scanning
the road ahead for trouble.
Many finance executives also ad-
mit that they need to be doing
more to support their boards
of directors in this area. Asked
where their boards most often
fail to receive critical information
and decision-support data from
the CFO, 43 percent list fraud
monitoring and mitigation—
more than any other area. Thir-
ty-seven percent also say their
organizations lack the tools or
technology to enable the board
to make good decisions on this
issue.
THE WAY FORWARD:
FRAUD DETECTION
Where to begin? Dedicated
fraud detection and monitoring
systems top that list of tactics
that the finance team should
substantially improve. Cited by
36 percent of survey respon-
dents, fraud detection and mon-
itoring handily outpaces other
tools and practices that include
limiting the use of paper pay-
ments (26 percent), automated
approval workflows (24 per-
cent), audit trails (22 percent)
and daily reconciliations (22
percent). (See Figure 2).
4
I
FIVE KEY CFO CHALLENGES FOR ADDRESSING PAYMENTS FRAUD
continued on page 6
FIGURE 2
Tactics for managing payments fraud that my finance team should substantially
improve
Multiple responses allowed
19%
21%
22%
22%
22%
24%
26%
36%
Dedicated fraud detection and monitoring
Limited use of paper payments
Automated approval workflows
Audit trails
User authentication process
Daily reconciliations
Signatory management process
Expanded use of electronic payments