Written by Suzette Covalt
As we are quickly approaching the mid-year of 2025 (Already?!) Have you been fortunate enough to avoid all the check and ACH fraud currently happening? Although, fraud has always been around and banks have been trying diligently to stay ahead of it, it seems as if there is so much more this year or maybe more sophisticated ways for criminals to steal money.
Who has the time to monitor all activity running through your checking account every day by a certain time? And that multiplies if you have more than one account you run transactions through.
Because of all the business checks that fraudsters have stolen and either whitewashed, replicated or simply used the account information to steal your business’s hard earned money, banks have had to step it up and provide better tools, technology and services to protect your accounts and since implementing these services is not free, it has increased service fees to business owners, although it is better to pay $50-$100 per month for these services instead of losing $5,000-$100,000 or more of hard earned money you can’t get back, it is still frustrating for business owners and requires their time to enroll in the service, implement and utilize it.
Online Banking
To keep up with customer demand, banks have been increasingly moving their services to online which leads to more sophisticated cyber threats, causing them to invest heavily in more robust security to protect their customer’s sensitive data and maintain trust. Due to regulatory agencies enforcing stricter compliance standards to ensure banks uphold the highest level of security, Cybersecurity has become a top priority and is no longer a back-office concern. Institutions are conducting regular testing and assessments to ensure their systems are resilient against these threats.
While financial institutions use newly created technologies to do good there is always someone who spins it a different way and does bad. Both criminals and banks are always trying to outdo each other as criminals are becoming more creative with how they conspire to steal your money and leads to increasing fraudulent activities, financial institutions respond with better defenses.
Artificial Intelligence
AI (Artificial Intelligence) is at the core of modern banking innovation. AI driven automation can offer personalized financial advice, predict credit risk and streamline back office processes. It will enable banks to understand customers on a deeper level, facilitate meaningful conversations, and tailor recommendations to the unique needs of their customers. It will help to bring back the personalized service of yesteryear and foster stronger customer relationships in ways that benefit both parties.
Increased digitization continues to be dominant in 2025. Customers expect to transfer funds, open accounts, apply for loans and receive support completely through digital channels, 24/7, at the touch of a button. Cloud computing (the cloud) is playing an important role in this digital wave. It allows for faster delivery of services and better data management, supporting more personalized customer experiences.
Cybersecurity, AI automation and digitization are reshaping the banking industry in profound ways. These trends are not isolated, they are interconnected, each expanding the benefits of the others. The future of banking is not just digital, it’s secure, smart and customer centered.
