Fighting Back Against Credit Push Fraud: New ACH Rules for Originators
Send us a text. (email us if you need a response) Jordan Bennett, AAP, APRP (Senior Director, ACH Network Risk Management at Nacha) joins Joe ahead of NEACH's End User Fraud Symposium to break down the new ACH rules targeting social engineering fraud — and for the first time, they put real obligations on originators, not just financial institutions. Jordan Bennett Key topics Jordan Bennett introduces himself as Senior Director of ACH Network Risk Management and explains how his work now includes helping originators adapt to newer ACH rules. The symposium format is explained - one day for financial institutions, one day for end users and companies so both sides can talk through fraud from their own perspective. The new ACH rules are aimed at social engineering schemes, not just traditional unauthorized debit fraud that the industry has gotten much better at managing. Vendor impersonation is a major risk: a fraudster pretends to be a supplier, claims banking details changed, and tricks a company into sending money to the wrong account. Simple controls can block many scams, especially dual approval and callback procedures using a trusted internal contact list instead of the email sender’s phone number or reply contact. Urgency is a major red flag. If someone says a payment must go out right now and there is no way to verify it, Jordan says to slow down and treat it as suspicious. Real estate has been ahead of the curve for years because wire fraud during closings can derail the whole transaction, not just steal the funds. Account takeover and phone-based fraud are still active, including scams where someone impersonates a bank’s fraud department and asks for one-time codes or login credentials. If fraud is suspected, speed matters. Call the financial institution immediately, get the receiving bank involved, and move fast before the money disappears. Businesses face different protections than consumers, so companies need to understand their own responsibility and not assume consumer-style safeguards will apply. The same fraud prevention mindset should apply across payment methods, including ACH, wires, and checks. Check fraud comes up as a major industry issue, with both the Federal Reserve and payment organizations trying to reduce exposure. Jordan also mentions first party fraud as an upcoming topic, especially as banks and originators wrestle with customers disputing transactions they originally authorized. More from NEACH: neach.org
