Businesses are consistently made aware of the risks and extensive damage that fraud can have.
However, it would probably shock you how many still don’t incorporate a fraud prevention program into their business plan.
The damage caused by fraud is not just financial, it can affect working relationships within your company and your business’ reputation. Once your reputation has been damaged, it’s very hard to get back and it can greatly affect customer loyalty and the amount of new customers coming in.
Let’s delve further into why your business should prioritise and invest in fraud prevention…
Losses…
The main reason that fraud prevention should be one of your main priorities, is the extent and range of losses that it can cause for your company. First and foremost, fraudulent activity can cost your money huge amounts of money. It doesn’t matter whether your business is large or small, established or relatively new, you are not exempt from being targeted.
In some ways, small businesses are even more at risk as they will have less money to invest in fraud prevention and less to fall back on if disaster strikes!
AccessPay offer an online payment tool and fraud detection software for businesses, which automatically detects and removes any anomalous transactions – nipping any fraudulent activity in the bud! This means you don’t have to spend time scrolling through your transactions to spot any suspicious activity, the job is done for you. With AccessPay, you can also fully control who has access to your finances so it reflects the natural hierarchy within your business. This means not every man and his dog can submit or accept payments, which is bound to increase the risk of fraud.
Fraud is common…
Believe it or not, there are a lot of people out there who are not phased by taking advantage of the hardship of others. Unfortunately, you can’t expect everyone to be as nice as you!
Fraud is a lot more common than you probably realize and even if you trust your employees fully, it is worth making sure your business has its defences up – both internally and externally!
Company values…
Enforcing a fraud prevention program also gives you the opportunity to clearly set out and reiterate your company values. Informing your employees and customers of your values shows what you stand for. If your employees are aware of what you expect and the procedure for fraudulent activity you are far less likely to find fraud occurring internally.
Despite this, there is a fine line between making sure fraud doesn’t occur internally and giving the negative impression that you don’t trust your employees. If employees feel as though trust is not there, company morale can risk being seriously damaged. Be aware of this when starting to invest in fraud prevention, but don’t let it stop you from doing so!
Increased confidence…
Through keeping your employees and workforce informed as to how you are going about fraud prevention, you will likely increase their overall confidence. If fraud is eliminated as something for your business to worry about, you can focus on more important matters like actually bringing in business.
As well as increasing confidence within your company, investors and clients will also feel a lot more at ease trusting you with their money, if it is known that you prioritise fraud prevention.