Fraud prevention

Restaurants, electronics sellers and digital-goods merchants are seeing sharp spikes in fraud as criminals find creative new ways to interfere in online and mobile commerce.

New legislation in Iowa that allows banks and credit unions to utilize electronic notaries could help local lenders compete with online competitors.

The Southeastern regional bank said Thursday that it had hired Lee Byrd to a new role dedicated to protecting customers and the company itself from fraud.

The Credit Union National Association has partnered with the group to help distribute the platform to financial institutions free of charge.

A recent study shows credit unions are likely to be increasingly reliant on vendor partners if they want to maximize efficiency and security in the account-opening process.

System breaches similar to events at Equifax and Marriott could just as easily happen to credit unions, leading Mastercard and the credit union service organization, PSCU, to take protective measures.

The Silicon Valley partnership represents an extension of — but also a departure from — the consumer strategy that Goldman has been pursuing since the launch of its digital consumer bank, Marcus.

Reports of improper charges by perpetrators who know the victim soared last year. Issuers and card networks are failing to tighten security, clearly label transactions and police chargebacks, critics say.

Merchants are often the last in the payments ecosystem to know when card fraud occurs, and their losses tend to escalate in the meantime.