The Unique Role Community Banks Play in Fighting Fraud

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Community banks are among those on the front lines in the war on fraud, and Scott Anchin believes they have a secret-or maybe not so secret-weapon.

"One of the things that community banks do really well is relationship banking. They know their customers in very real and intimate ways. And those personal relationships that they maintain are really effective fraud detection tools," said Anchin, Senior Vice President, Strategic Initiatives and Policy at Independent Community Bankers of America.

Anchin will be participating in the April 26 panel "Combatting Fraud and Scams in the Age of Digital Payments," one of more than 140 unique educational sessions at Smarter Faster Payments 2026.

Speaking on Nacha's Payments SmartCast podcast, Anchin said when it comes to fraud fighting, community banks "have a real edge here."

"When something just doesn't feel right to community bankers, they really understand that because they're familiar at a very detailed level with the types of behaviors that certain customers display, so they can catch it when things go awry," said Anchin. "And this is the kind of thing I think that technology can't reproduce. It's that local knowledge, it's the personal vigilance, and it's working with customers to help them understand the threats that are out there that's just so important."

Anchin hopes the diverse panel at his session will offer different perspectives, giving attendees a wider picture of the fraud landscape, and sending them home with "practical tools that they can deploy to help fight fraud and scams."

Risk management is just one of the many areas of focus at Payments this year. To help everyone coming make the best use of their time, Nacha is adding a couple of new features based on attendee feedback. One is personas.

"We have these 10 different personas based on what is most important to the attendee," said Ashley Mustico, Nacha Senior Director, Education and Accreditation. You can view them on the conference website and even take a quiz to help determine your persona.

"We're really excited for the attendees to see that," said Mustico. "We really hope that it's going to be helpful to them to make meaningful choices with their sessions, and then beyond that they can use that persona to also find the networking events at Payments that best suit them."

Also, Sunday's traditional orientation is now called "Smarter Faster Strategy: Your Conference Kickoff," and Mustico promises whether you're a conference newbie or returning champ, you'll learn ways "to make the most of your time at Payments."

"That's a great place to start off."

Much more was discussed, and you can listen to the complete podcast below.

For details on Smarter Faster Payments 2026, April 26-29 in San Diego, visit the conference website.