5 Things Banks Can Do Right Now to Protect Older Customers

Your bank’s most valuable customers are also its most vulnerable.

Americans born before 1965 hold 65% of bank deposits in the U.S., according to the American Bankers Association 2021 Older Americans Benchmarking Report. They are also routinely targeted by criminals: Adults ages 60 and older reported losing more than $600 million to fraud in 2020 alone, according to the Federal Trade Commission.

Banks’ role in protecting these customers is quickly becoming codified into law. More than half of states mandate that financial institution’s report suspected elder financial exploitation to local law enforcement, adult protective services or both.

However, banks need to go further to keep older adults’ money safe. Not only will these efforts help retain the large asset base of these valuable customers, but it can drive engagement with their younger family members who are involved in aging loved ones’ financial matters. Banks can do five things to support and protect their older adult customers.

1. Train employees to detect and report elder financial exploitation.
Although most banks train employees to spot elder financial exploitation, there’s confusion around reporting suspected exploitation due to privacy concerns, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. And when banks do file reports, they often aren’t filed directly with law enforcement or state Adult Protective Services agencies.

Executives must ensure their bank has clear guidelines for employees on reporting suspected exploitation. Training employees to detect and report fraud can help reduce the amount of money lost to exploitation. A study by AARP and the Virginia Tech Center for Gerontology found that bank tellers who underwent AARP’s BankSafe training reported five times as many suspicious incidents and saved older customers 16 times as much money as untrained tellers did.

2. Use senior-specific technology to monitor for fraud and financial mistakes.
Standard bank alerts don’t go far enough to protect against elder fraud. Banks should offer a financial protection service that:

• Recognizes senior-specific risks such as unusual transfers, unfamiliar merchants and transactions that could be related to scams.
• Monitors accounts to determine what is “normal” for each individual.
  Detects changes in transactional behavior and notifies customers of suspicious activity and their own money mistakes.
• Bank Director identified companies and services, like Carefull, that can offer added protection by analyzing checking, savings and credit card accounts around the clock, creating alerts when encountering signs of fraud and other issues that impact older adults’ finances, such as duplicate or missed payments, behavior change and more.

3. Ensure older customers have trusted contacts.
The CFPB recommends that financial institutions enable older account holders to designate a trusted contact. If your bank isn’t already providing this service, it should. Technology gives banks a way to empower users to add trusted contacts to their accounts or grant varying levels of view-only permissions. This helps banks ensure that their customers’ trusted contacts are informed about any potential suspicious activity. It’s also a way for banks to connect with those contacts and potentially bring them on as new customers.

4. Create content to educate older customers.
Banks should inform older customers how to safeguard their financial well-being. This includes alerting them to scams and providing time-sensitive planning support, video courses and webinars about avoiding fraud.

Banks must also provide older customers with information about planning for incapacity, including the institution’s policy for naming a power of attorney. And banks must accept legally drafted power of attorney documents without creating unnecessary hurdles. Having a policy here allows for this balance.

5. Create an ongoing engagement strategy with older customers.
The days of banks simply shifting older adults to “senior checking accounts” are fading. Banks should take a more active role in engaging with older customers. Failing to do so increases the risk that this valuable customer base could fall victim to fraud, which AARP estimates totals about $50 billion annually.

Banks need a strategy to combine training, technology and content to generate ongoing senior engagement. Working with a trusted partner that has a proven track record of helping banks engage and protect older customers could be the key to implementing this sort of holistic approach.