ACH, wire transfers and Remote Deposit Capture (RDC) are essential services financial institutions offer for businesses and consumers. Both your organization’s Board of Directors and management are responsible for ensuring that these products and services do not expose your financial institution to excessive risk.
Regulatory agencies like the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) and the Federal Reserve emphasize the importance of board-level oversight for these payment channels.
While ACH, wire transfers and RDC are specifically addressed in current regulatory guidance, your institution may benefit from applying similar reporting practices to emerging payment platforms like FedNow® and RTP®. Including these channels in reporting supports a more comprehensive view of operational and fraud risks across the full payments landscape.
Relevant regulatory guidance includes:
When the EPCOR Advisory Team conducts ACH, wire transfer or RDC audits and risk assessments, one area of review is the financial institution’s risk management program. We evaluate whether established policies define required reports and their reporting frequency, what is provided to the Board of Directors, and whether such reports are consistently delivered.
Effective management and board oversight require periodic and relevant reporting that not only assesses activities but also promotes sound risk management. Reporting should be clear and concise; your financial institution can use dashboards and visuals to communicate key insights efficiently and effectively.
Common metrics include:
- Transaction volumes and dollar values by type,
- Trend analysis,
- Return rates and volumes,
- Exposure limits,
- Policy exceptions,
- Operational errors or losses,
- Instances of fraud or attempted fraud (regardless of loss) and
- Fee income.
This type of information should prove useful to the Board and assist in determining profitability, as well as highlighting fundamental risks related to the product offering. Financial institutions can leverage The Federal Reserve’s FraudClassifier or ScamClassifier when reporting fraud and scams. These tools support consistent classification across payment channels and, when used together, strengthen fraud mitigation strategies and internal training. They also enhance reporting accuracy and empower account holder education by identifying specific fraud and scam trends.
Reporting should align with your financial institution's overall strategic plan by assessing whether the data presented to the Board of Directors is accurate and relevant. Your institution should also review applicable regulatory guidance to determine essential reporting components while tailoring the reporting to reflect strategic goals. Ultimately, robust reporting strengthens oversight, informs decision-making and fosters a culture of risk awareness and accountability across ACH, wire transfer and RDC operations.