FDIC’s Supervisory Policy on Identity Theft

Identity Theft

For those financial institutions that have been putting off the education of their customers, it’s now time to sit up, take notice, and begin to take action. The FDIC’s issuance of a supervisory policy on identity theft on Wednesday means that all banks and financial institutions will be expected to take a more active role in detecting AND preventing identity theft of its customers.

The most recent data breach of TJX is a clear signal that business as usual for banks in regard to how they approach customer’s concerns about their identity is about to change. The FDIC’s expectations are also included in the letter, the active role that institutions need to take is laid out in the words, “detect, prevent and mitigate the effects of identity theft in order to protect consumers…”