Most people believe that if a criminal steals money from their bank account, the bank will make it right. For consumer accounts, there are real protections. For business accounts, the picture is very different.
In the United States, consumer electronic transfers are covered by federal rules that limit personal liability when fraud is reported quickly. Business accounts generally fall under different rules and your specific account agreement. If the bank followed its agreed security procedures and a transfer was authorized with your credentials, the loss may be yours.
What owners often miss
When the bank says “sorry, not our problem”
Picture a common scenario: an attacker gets into a bookkeeper’s email or computer, learns how payments work, then initiates a wire transfer or changes vendor payment details. Because the transaction used real credentials or an employee’s approval, the bank may treat it as authorized. Recovering wired money is only realistic if the bank is contacted within hours, and even then it is far from guaranteed.
Your bank protects its systems. Your credentials and your people are your responsibility.
How to protect business accounts
- Use dual approval: Require a second person to approve wires, ACH batches and new payees.
- Set transaction limits: Daily limits reduce the damage of a single fraudulent transfer.
- Enable positive pay: Available for checks and ACH at many banks, it flags payments you did not authorize.
- Dedicate a device for banking: One computer used only for online banking, not email or browsing, dramatically lowers risk.
- Verify payment changes by phone: Always call vendors on a known number before changing bank details.
- Turn on every alert: Real-time notifications for transfers, new payees and login changes.
Ask your bank today: What fraud protection services do you offer for business accounts, and what exactly is my liability if credentials are stolen? Get the answer in writing, and review your cyber insurance for social engineering and funds transfer fraud coverage, which is often a separate endorsement.
Speed is everything
If you suspect fraud, call your bank’s fraud line immediately and ask them to initiate a recall. Then report it to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov. The faster both happen, the better the chance of stopping the money before it disappears.
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