eFunds attempts to demystify USA Patriot Act

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – eFunds Corp., a provider of fraud and risk management products recently held a Webcast on demystifying the USA Patriot Act, which is designed at thwarting potential terrorist attacks. Approximately 2,200 financial institution execs viewed the Web cast held on August 9. A replay of the event can be found at www.efunds.com/webcast. Financial institutions will have to be in compliance with the anti-terrorism legislation by Oct. 25 of this year. Stricter identity verification and record maintenance are two main parts of the legislation. “In the war on terrorism, financial institutions are on the front lines and represent a key defense,” said FBI Chief of Financial Crimes Dennis Lormel, who joined TowerGroup Analyst Breffnit McGuire and eFunds Chief Privacy Officer Lisa Nelson in the Webcast. “Financial institutions are critical in our efforts to detect and identify potential terrorists and terrorist activity. The Patriot Act will require financial services companies to be increasingly alert about customer activity,” said Lormel. He cited FinCEN’s Patriot Act Communications System as a two-way pipeline between law enforcement and financials, and strongly recommended that the financial community adopt the practice of filing SARs in an electronic format to maximize speed and efficiency.