How to Protect Against Safe Deposit Box Fraud
Unfortunately, safe deposit box fraud still occurs in financial institutions across America. Some mishaps occur as a genuine mistake – such as a bank employee opening the wrong box for someone. However, some cases are intentional – such as when someone pretends to be someone else in order to get into the contents of a safe deposit box. Whether it’s due to insider manipulation, misidentification, or poor logging practices, these vulnerabilities can open the door to serious financial and reputational damage.
If safe deposit box fraud, no matter how it happened, occurs at your bank, your institution may be held responsible for losses that customers incur as a result of the fraud. Safe deposit box security is a crucial component of your overall banking security strategy, and it’s important to explore ways to prevent this type of fraud to protect both your customers and your financial institution.
1. Identity Confirmation
The first – and arguably most imperative – step to preventing safe deposit box fraud is to confirm the identity of the person who wishes to open the safe deposit box. Individuals with a key are no longer led to a room of safe deposit boxes to open the box their key fits in. Instead, the individual who wishes to open the safe deposit box must say who they are and provide other identifying information. But, how can you really know if someone is who they say they are and the safe deposit box does indeed belong to them?
2. Digital Access Logs
One of the most common sources of safe deposit box fraud is insider manipulation. Many banks still rely on paper-based or manual systems to log safe deposit box access, which creates opportunities for internal abuse. Bad actors may alter logs or fake access entries.
A digital safe deposit box management system significantly reduces this risk by generating a secure, timestamped audit trail that cannot be easily manipulated. These systems also improve accountability and compliance.
3. Dual Control for Vault Access
Dual control is a long-standing best practice for protecting sensitive areas like vaults. In a safe deposit environment, this means access should require two people—typically two bank employees or a bank employee and a supervisor.
This simple control ensures that no single employee can access or tamper with a customer’s box without oversight, significantly reducing the chance of fraud.
4. Biometric Vault Access
Many institutions are turning to biometric solutions to enhance vault security. Whether it’s fingerprint scanning, facial recognition, or iris scanning, biometric access adds a strong second layer of identity confirmation. It makes it nearly impossible for someone to impersonate another customer or gain access without proper authorization.
5. Access Logging and Surveillance Integration
Banks should ensure that all access to the safe deposit box area is logged and monitored. A digital log combined with video surveillance allows your institution to review suspicious access attempts, track internal compliance, and investigate claims more effectively.
When a customer questions access to their box or claims a loss, having a digital log and accompanying video footage makes it easier to respond and resolve the issue.
SQN: Safe Deposit
SQN Banking Systems offers state-of-the-art technology for safe deposit box fraud prevention. With SQN: Safe Deposit, you can:
-
Enter the safe deposit box number upon client request and pull up a screen with identifying information
-
Identify each individual owner of a safe deposit box
-
Authenticate photo identification and signature on the same screen
-
Make confirmation that the billing account is current and that the owner is paid up to date for use of the box
-
Log each time the owner accesses their safe deposit box in order to potentially flag suspicious activity or to confirm the last time the owner requested access to their safe deposit box
SQN: Safe Deposit makes it easy for your bank’s employees to verify the identity of a safe deposit box owner and grant them access. This system thereby reduces instances of fraud where someone may falsify their information in order to gain access to the box’s contents.
Contact SQN Today
For more information about how to protect against safe deposit box fraud or other systems that can help ensure your banking is more secure, reach out to us via our online form. We will contact you as soon as possible to help you discover ways to give your customers the very best service while simultaneously protecting their assets and your own institution.