Use of Thumbprint Signatures on New Accounts
04/01/2002
Are there any banks that use the thumbprint program on customers that want to open a new account?
Dana Turner
Bio:
Dana Turner is a security practitioner based near San Antonio, Texas. Dana has served as a law enforcement officer in several capacities -- including the investigation of business and banking crimes -- and he is celebrating more than four decades of crime and financial institution security management.
As a speaker and conference facilitator, Dana has delivered thousands of platform, telephone and Internet presentations. He has designed and participated in continuing education programs offered by state and national banking and credit union associations, state and federal examining and law enforcement agencies -- and state and national security, audit and human resources organizations.
As a consultant, Dana has participated in or led hundreds of projects and assisted in the development and delivery of components of seminars, schools and conferences. As a writer, Dana has written many manuals and books -- and numerous newspaper, trade publication and magazine articles published and distributed both nationally and internationally. Dana is the author of the Financial Institution Security Library and he also serves as one of the moderators in several of BankersOnline.com's Security Forums.
Areas of Expertise:
Security Training
Security Consulting
Information Security
Questions Answered
Disaster Recovery Steps to Take Now
04/01/2002
Banks should have a disaster plan in place. Do you recommend any changes to this plan, considering recent events?
Collateral Substitutions
04/01/2002
On occasion, we have had customers who want to substitute collateral (such as wanting to sell the car that is being held as collateral and substitute with another car of same or greater value). We use a substitution form which is signed by the customer. I'm questioning if that is enough. Should the customer sign a new security agreement? Also, we have a difference of opinion when it comes to filing the new lien. Some people use the date of the collateral substitution as the security agreement date and some use the original security agreement date. If the latter is used, what about the 20 days to perfect our lien?
Resources For IT Security Training
02/04/2002
I am working with IT to develop electronic security awareness training. The objective is to provide an understanding of the security risks involved with computers, passwords, email, sign ons, etc. I am looking for resource information that I can use to develop the training.
Robbery Deterrence: Security Guards vs. Equipment and Procedures
02/04/2002
I am the Security Manager and our branch office, located in a small rural town, has been robbed three times in the past nine months. In the first robbery, the robber wore a disguise and a gun was displayed. In the second robbery, no weapon was displayed AND the robber became nervous and just grabbed money from a customer and fled. In the third robbery, the robber wore a disguise, a knife was displayed and the robber went behind the teller line. There were at least a dozen customers in the branch at the time of the robbery. In all three robberies, the staff followed banking procedures, and there were no injuries.Senior management and branch personnel want to hire an unarmed security guard for 3 to 6 months. I expressed my concerns that a security guard may provide the staff with a false sense of security, escalate the situation toward more violence rather than controlling or deterring the situation, and present many liability issues.I have recommended the below listed action steps to deter a future robbery:<ol><li>Install additional cameras (2 exeterior and 1 at the rear entrance) and a monitor at the rear entrance. Approved by senior management.</li><li>Repair the locks on the doors leading behing the teller line. (The Branch never informed Maintenance the locks were broken.) Approved by senior management.</li><li>Consider renovating the interior of the branch to allow branch personnel to view customers entering via the rear entrance. (Currently, when indivdiuals enter the rear door, they must walk down a hallway before they can be seen by branch employees. All three robbers entered via the rear entrance.) Senior management is currently considering thsi request.</li><li>Install dye packs at the teller stations. (We currently have just a motion triggered vault pack.) - Approved by senior management.</li><li>Close the rear entrance to customers. Require customers to enter via the front door. - This recommendation was flatly refused by senior management.</li></ol>Note: We did meet with the local and state police to discuss possible action steps. Unfortunately, the police informed senior management they felt a security guard would act as a deterrent.I am having a difficult time convincing senior management not to hire a securty guard.Your thoughts on this matter would be greatly appreciated.Also, if you have any articles or statitistics regarding the use of guards, I would appreciate receiving a copy.
Forgery - Who To Contact
01/07/2002
I was wondering what law enforcement agency would handle a case of forgery.<strong>Scenario:</strong> The Government refund check ($600) sent out earlier this year was sent to the ex-wife (the couple is divorced) she forged his signature and deposited the money into her account. He has asked her numerous times for his $300 (half of the check) we need to know the recourse to follow to press charges against her. In addition she somehow managed to sign off his name of a trailer that was only in his name (the title).
Two Signatures Required?
01/07/2002
When a check is payable to two parties without "and" or "or" written on it, do I need one signature or two?
Robbery: Advice For Tellers
12/03/2001
What does a teller do in the case of a bank holdup?
Bait Trap Advice
12/03/2001
Members of our senior management have questioned the need for bait traps at drive thru teller stations. Could you offer an opinion on this issue or direct me to information and statistics on drive thru robberies?
We've lost transit checks - now what?
11/05/2001
We have had two instances of a branch losing bundles of transit checks. They were processed and proven, but somehow never made it to our check processing company. As luck would have it, the branch's microfilm for those days is blank. We have written to our clients to ask for thier assistance in obtaining copies of the missing checks with very little success. Can we debit these customers for the loss, if it is clearly our error?