CHERRY HILL, N.J., June 12, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Financial and
payment professionals do not anticipate any respite from cyber
fraud and cyber attacks in the near future, according to a recent
survey conducted by TD Bank, America's Most Convenient
Bank®. An overwhelming 91 percent of respondents stated
they anticipate that payments fraud will become a bigger threat in
the next two to three years, up slightly from last year (89
percent).
TD's survey at the NACHA PAYMENTS 2017 conference in
Austin, Texas, collected responses
from nearly 400 finance professionals on industry trends and
outlook.
These cyber concerns are not without merit, as 64 percent of
respondents reported that either their organization or one of their
clients was involved in a cybersecurity event in the past year. The
most commonly cited incidents were business email compromise (20
percent); account takeover (19 percent); and data breach (15
percent).
"Companies need to be mindful that everyday tools from email to
the Internet can pose risk to payment operations, and the criminal
toolbox is expanding," said Rick
Burke, Head of Corporate Products and Services, TD Bank.
"Corporate treasurers need to create layers of control for accounts
and payments processing, both within their organization and in
conjunction with their banking partners."
The Wait to Automate
Despite the grim outlook on cybersecurity, industry
professionals noted that automating payments processing could offer
greater defense. When thinking about the advantages of automating
payments, 21 percent named fraud control and security as the top
benefit. Other benefits include:
- Speed and ability to pay same day – 27 percent
- Efficiency – 25 percent
- Cost savings – 16 percent
- Accuracy – 11 percent
Although corporate treasury professionals believe there is value
in automating payments, progress is slow. The percentage of
businesses that are paper free has not significantly grown since
last year (23 percent in 2016 vs. 21 percent in 2017). Indeed,
conference attendees are even less optimistic about their paperless
future than they were last year— almost half (48
percent) think it will take three or more years to become
paper free, up from 42 percent in 2016.
While most companies are sluggish adopters of paperless
transactions, they agree that there are best practices and tools
available to speed up payments, lower department costs or leverage
receivables. The majority of financial professionals named same-day
ACH as the most helpful tool (40 percent), followed by accelerated
receivables (27 percent) and automating cash application (14
percent).
Survey Methodology
TD Bank polled finance
professionals at the 2017 NACHA–The Electronic Payments
Association® PAYMENTS conference held in Austin, Texas, in April and via the
organization's mobile app. A total of 392 responses were collected
from industry professionals, including payments system stakeholders
from business end-users and financial and technology services
organizations.
About TD Bank, America's Most Convenient
Bank®
TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, is
one of the 10 largest banks in the U.S., providing more than 9
million customers with a full range of retail, small business and
commercial banking products and services at more than 1,200
convenient locations throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Metro
D.C., the Carolinas and Florida.
In addition, TD Bank and its subsidiaries offer customized private
banking and wealth management services through TD
Wealth®, and vehicle financing and dealer commercial
services through TD Auto Finance. TD Bank is headquartered in
Cherry Hill, N.J. To learn more,
visit www.tdbank.com. Find TD Bank on Facebook at
www.facebook.com/TDBank and on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/TDBank_US.
TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, is a member of TD Bank
Group and a subsidiary of The Toronto-Dominion Bank of Toronto, Canada, a top 10 financial services
company in North America. The
Toronto-Dominion Bank trades on the New
York and Toronto stock
exchanges under the ticker symbol "TD". To learn more, visit
www.td.com.
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SOURCE TD Bank