SunGard Study Shows Companies Vulnerable to Payments Fraud
Many global companies have not implemented measures to reduce their vulnerability to payments fraud, despite fraud prevention being identified as a major concern, according to a study conducted by SunGard.
The study, which included nearly 400 participants globally from all major regions, found that 80% of organisations are not following a standardised and controlled payment management workflow across all of their entities – a key practice in fraud prevention.
Compounding the lack of standards, companies reported a high level of disparate systems within their technology environment, as well as a large number of banking relationships and accounts.
These factors contribute to an overly complex payments landscape – 25% of companies operate with more than 10 cash management banks and 23% of those operate with more than 1,000 bank accounts. The study highlights best practices in payments centralisation to help prevent fraud, reduce operating costs and improve visibility
“Fraud is a serious risk that companies face in this complex global business environment. It has become increasingly difficult to detect, and many senior executives remain unaware of the internal fraud risks that their own firms are facing,” said Enrico Camerinelli, principal, Aite Group.
“In addition to fraud, companies with a high degree of complexity experience increased operational and transactional costs. For this reason there is an increased demand for controls such as the introduction of standard processes and technology such as a payment factory.”
Andrew Owens, head of SunGard’s AvantGard Payments business, said: “Corporations are under increased pressure not only to manage cash more effectively, but also to do so in a controlled and streamlined manner. Introducing best practices to standardise and harmonise the payments and bank communications environment can help prevent fraud, reduce costs, and improve visibility.”
The full study can be accessed
here
.