A Direct Line Blog

By Donya Parrish, MCU VP Risk Management

Last week, the blog talked about the increased focus on fraud across Montana. This week, I wanted to share a little about some of the efforts we’re making to be proactive and give you some tools to keep it on your radar in the boardroom.

Taking steps toward collaboration

In September 2024, we started a fraud peer community for Montana credit unions and their teams. In a year and a half, it has grown to include nearly every credit union in the state, and over 118 people receive updates via the email listserv, warn each other when they see something new or alarming, and share tools or processes that have been helpful in their fight. In addition, the group meets every other month and typically has a speaker on a particular topic.

In fact, the topic is so hot that our fall conference in Great Falls, October 27-29, will focus solely on fraud with a Be Aware agenda. We have developed relationships with FBI and IRS-CI agents who meet regularly with our fraud and compliance officer groups, as well. The two-way dialogue has proven to be valuable to both parties!

We are not celebrating that fraud continues to affect members across every community and demographic. It is certainly not a positive when a credit union tries to help and still sees a member lose valuable savings or assets. But we do think the collaboration is having an impact, even if it is not measurable. Empowering credit union teams to reach out to others for advice and confirmation is a positive. As a TruStage speaker recently noted on a fraud training, “resource constraint at credit unions makes collective risk even more critical.” We couldn’t agree more!

How can the board support these efforts?

As you look to support your credit union’s efforts from the boardroom, here is a list of questions that might prompt thoughtful discussion with management or in your boardroom. It is not recommended that you throw ALL the questions at them at once, but instead, to use them as a roadmap for thoughtful discussion on the topic. It is also important not to get into the weeds of discussing the details of each scenario that has arisen. That is not your board’s role from a governance perspective.

We hope there is a point at which we convince fraudsters that credit unions and their members are not a viable target because we collaborate and help each other. If that day comes soon, it can’t be soon enough. We have plenty of other work to do to improve members’ lives!