Branch leadership can think creatively even when it comes to one of the most serious issues facing banking today: minimizing fraud.
ProSight regularly engages with fraud and cybersecurity experts who stress that as routine banking reaches across several channels, branches provide a personalized and conversational atmosphere, focused audience attention, including personnel, plus traction within the community. Targeted fraud education efforts might include well-placed signage, inviting small business leaders for in-person workshops on detecting fakes from a batch of legitimate checks, or hosting breakroom pub-style quizzes and mocktails to test staff knowledge of phishing.
“Given the seriousness of risks and the range of fraud vectors, anti-fraud messaging in statement inserts and emails that may get lost in a mix of all-bank messaging just doesn’t cut it anymore,” said Bobbie Paul, managing director, fraud, at consultancy Huron, who led a ProSight Banking Trends webinar on prioritizing fraud prevention goals in 2026.
Because fraudsters are regularly upgrading technology and expanding their reach, including with AI, strategists advise addressing fraud-protection steps early and often in banking relationships.
Jason Bartolacci, director of the ProSight Fraud Alert Network (FAN), said messaging should be strategic across email, apps, social media campaigns, and within anti-fraud directives on a bank’s website, as well as part of in-branch signage and teller-to-customer engagement. A key access point, he says, is education built into account opening, which is an onboarding process that ProSight research shows remains a popular in-branch function.
“Any kind of fraud education campaign can work like a marketing campaign. You want to make sure that it’s sticky,” Bartolacci said in an interview on balancing fraud mitigation and limiting customer friction.
Data shows that consumers have heightened awareness of fraud dangers, which means banking customers are increasingly becoming a receptive audience to greater fraud prevention education. Some 60% of Gen Z customers said they are at least “somewhat” and up to “very” worried about fraud, the same percentage as Gen X, while roughly 55% of Millennials feel this way and 58% of Boomers on up expressed this level of concern, according to survey data in the ProSight Banking Outlook: 2026 Trends.
Busy bank branches aiming to function with right-sized staffing may find it challenging to fit in these conversations beyond fleeting messaging, but making time for anti-fraud education, reinforcement, and outreach campaigns can be vital to safeguarding customer confidence in the institution.
For every 10 customers asked, between two and three said they had switched providers after they were impacted by a single fraud event, said Ray Olsen, senior director of enterprise fraud management at Wintrust, who joined Huron’s Paul on the fraud trends webinar. Olsen said he based this figure on multiple reports and combined the results for a snapshot of banking behavior.
And it’s not only retail customers who will abandon their primary provider if spooked by criminal activity; some 30% of small businesses will leave after a lone fraud exposure, according to at least one survey from Abrigo.
Matt Meis, cyber fraud manager at Summit Credit Union and a fraud trends webinar participant, said his organization has stepped up anti-fraud training and retraining for frontline employees, including customer-facing branch staff. Efforts include updating personnel on shifting fraud vector trends, data vulnerabilities, and local crime incidents.
Plus, security leaders at Summit expose staff to physical fake ID and faulty check examples so that suspicious materials “are brought into the real world,” not abstract, Meis said.
Wintrust’s Olsen emphasized regularly changing the message on fraud to lower the likelihood an internal and external audience grows desensitized or complacent. Olsen, whose responsibilities include his regional bank’s suburban Chicago branch network, said he conducted nearly 50 fraud educational seminars for retail customers and commercial clients at events inside the branch or by pushing into his community to address business groups or assisted living facilities, over the past year.
Here are some strategies to consider.
Steps directed at customers and members
Balanced tone. Data breaches. AI-powered deepfakes. The dark web. For many customers, fraud and cybersecurity language may resemble their Netflix programming pitches and not everyday banking, or so they think. Serious messaging will get the point across, but overt scare tactics may have the opposite effect. Customers and members need reassurance that the institution is acting in their best interest and that sound habits by individuals all work toward keeping their money as secure as possible. The emphasis should be on a consistent fraud-mitigation approach that resonates and is memorable. Keep messages simple, visual, and story-driven, say experts.
Simple, repeat messaging works. When a branch does promote fraud and cyber awareness, anti-fraud campaigns should have intention and employ results tracking like any good marketing effort. While adhering to FDIC compliance requirements for signage, branches can hang posters and banners, plus use digital sign capabilities that promote cybersecurity and fraud awareness keeping pace as new schemes emerge. And don’t consider branch awareness efforts in isolation, say experts. Use social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and LinkedIn, to reinforce branch events and share tips, stories, or resources.
Neither the public nor branch staff can be expected to be experts in all vulnerabilities. Best practices may be conceding branch personnel expertise limitations and turning concerned patrons onto additional anti-fraud, security, and law enforcement resources.
“We’re talking about an action as simple as a teller taking an extra moment to remind the customer about the risk of scams or emphasizing that the bank will never call or text and ask for an account number — a step that is quick and easy,” Olsen said.
Consider programming aids such as from American Bankers Association’s Banks Never Ask That and the ABA Foundation’s Safe Banking for Seniors campaign.
Steps directed at tellers and other staff
The frontline as anti-fraud ambassadors. Edward Callis, vice president of IT risk management and assurance at Abrigo, said keeping branch employees energized in this fight can be as important as the focus on customers, and that means coaching in innovative ways. He suggests organizing in-branch activities or contests that test cybersecurity and anti-fraud knowledge and skills such as a virtual escape room exercise set up in the branch or team puzzle-solving for prizes or incentives.
Similarly, leaders should ensure that all employees feel invested in the fraud and cybersecurity fight, said Callis. It’s no longer exclusively an IT issue to care about cybersecurity, or only a risk team concern to focus on fraud, and branches are a first line of defense. The National Cybersecurity Alliance (NCA) provides educational materials and the federal government’s Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency promotes Cybersecurity Awareness Month, for a focused awareness campaign, typically in October, as well as providing year-round resources, which should be posted and visible for branch staff.
ProSight’s Fraud Alert Network (FAN) is designed for institutions to share non-private data and trends for deeper fraud tracking. ProSight’s Bartolacci advises that branch employees can also bookmark two sites that top his list of favorites for open-source insights and professional exchange:
IAFCI (International Association of Financial Crimes Investigators): A professional association offering investigative resources, training, and networking for those combatting financial crime worldwide. Bartolacci follows IAFCI’s LinkedIn group, where members regularly share case studies, red flags, and emerging fraud schemes.
ACFE (Association of Certified Fraud Examiners): The world’s largest anti-fraud organization and training body for fraud examiners. Its publications and LinkedIn community provide timely articles and practical guidance accessible to professionals outside of dedicated fraud teams.
Fraudsters are betting on human vulnerability. Why is it important that fraud education extend to internal targets as well as external? Criminals are looking for the point of least resistance and while that is not specific to an institution’s size, community bank branch staff may not be protected by the same security budget as larger banks. That puts extra responsibility on insider diligence to avoid exposing the branch and the community bank network to phishing emails or smishing texts, said Callis. Posting visible branch reminders and holding regular in-branch education sessions are a must. Messaging should address the risks of access, especially when employees click on unconfirmed links and don’t follow proper safeguards. Information retention will be strongest when training is fresh and inspiring, he emphasizes.
“Phishing and smishing remain a significant fraud inroad because email and text [for the fraudster] is basically free, and they can send thousands and thousands at a time,” said Callis.
Combined efforts in branches
Manageable assignments. Callis recommended community workshops directed toward a nonprofessional audience. Branch leadership might consider hosting sessions for employees, customers or members, and the community at large (banks and credit unions might also stream the event as a virtual webinar for wider distribution). Programming can cover topics that are teachable in a single session such as password management or how to recognize phishing. In-person workshops allow for trouble-shooting sample texts and Q&A. Callis said the topic mix can smartly blend digital banking topics with a branch setting because many customers use more than one channel.
Trusting a hunch and reporting. Wayne Jacobs, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Philadelphia division, in a release about financial scams, encouraged banks and credit unions to make reporting suspicious activity simple and judgement-free for customers and staff. Banks can generously post contact information throughout the branch such as the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) phone number or its online portal at ic3.gov, he said.
An ounce of prevention for check writing. Digital banking popularity isn’t turning back but paper checks have their place, often for higher-value amounts. Checks feature in the banking mix especially among older Americans and small business clients—customer categories that also tend to visit branches. Atlanta Fed research reveals a slow realization of the fraud risks associated with checks—such as sophisticated chemicals, forged signatures, and outright mail theft.
It all points to branch engagements as prime opportunities to boost awareness among the most vulnerable victim targets and bank staff most likely to be handling checks. Education on fakes can be found in the Federal Reserve Financial Services Check Fraud Mitigation Toolkit, which was created with industry input. And banking leaders seek more understanding around preemptive check approval clearance known as positive pay, which lowers real-time fraud-detection pressure on customers and branch staff.
