Bad Santas, beware

The tree is up, the stockings hung, and with a successful visit to Santa under our belt, we are ready for Christmas. After I tucked my little one in last night and strategically hid her Elf, I watched my all-time favorite Christmas movie. No, it’s not Cleveland’s infamous “A Christmas Story” or the timeless classic “Miracle on 34th Street.” Instead, I am referring to a movie only appropriate for adult audiences: “Bad Santa.”

“Bad Santa” is the story of two conmen disguised as Santa and his Elf. They travel across the country each Christmas season getting jobs at shopping malls – then robbing them blind on Christmas Eve.

Naughty.

Tis the Season for Theft

As my side hurt from laughing, I started to think about how this ridiculous story isn’t that different from real life. To most, Christmastime is the season for giving. But sadly, it’s also turning into the season for identity theft, fraud and scams.

Your members trust you. Protecting their personal information is crucial to maintaining that loyalty. So is acting quickly and efficiently in potential fraudulent situations. Relying on inefficient spreadsheets leads to time-consuming and disorganized investigations that are frustrating for members.

Investigators need a better alternative to basic Excel spreadsheets. They need a simple way to organize, access, and connect each piece of critical information, including information across business applications. That’s where case management comes into play.

Streamline Fraud Investigations

Case management solutions allow investigators to easily log, access and interact with the critical data involved in a fraud investigation. Leveraging an enterprise content management (ECM) case management solution for fraud investigations gives employees a 360-degree view of all case-related information – including data records, documents, forms and history. The right case management solution allows credit unions and investigators to:

  • Simplify entry, organization, and reporting of information surrounding a fraudulent case file
  • Provide instant and simultaneous access to case files for multiple users
  • Streamline investigations with easy access to information from disparate systems with advanced search capabilities

Spoiler Alert

Despite some embarrassingly hilarious scenes, like most holiday movies, “Bad Santa” ends on an uplifting note. The two conmen meet an eight-year-old boy with a trusting nature who shows the profanity-laced criminals the error of their ways and the true meaning of friendship and Christmas.

Santa doesn’t really exist. (I warned you when I said “spoiler alert!”) If he did, he’d deliver every financial institution a case management solution this holiday. Does your credit union believe in miracles? Or is it truly protecting your members and their information?

Michelle Harbinak Shapiro

Michelle Harbinak Shapiro

Michelle Shapiro has more than a 15 years of experience in the banking industry to her role as Financial Services Industry Expert at Hyland Software. Her mission is to share ... Web: www.onbase.com Details