Pub. 8 2019 Issue 1

L E A D I N G A D V O C A T E F O R T H E B A N K I N G I N D U S T R Y I N K A N S A S 20 MAKE YOUR CUSTOMERS S.A.F.E. By Craig M. Collins, President, OneBeacon Financial Services B anks do an excellent job keeping their customers safe while on the bank’s premises. However, there has been a significant uptick in robberies of bank customers taking place after they leave the safety of the bank’s parking lot. Although you can’t control what happens beyond the premises of the bank, there are some safety tips to share with your customers to help keep them safe. Subtle Deposit Bags The primary target for a robber is the deposit bag. Keeping them out of plain site goes a long way towards prevention. The use of backpacks, shopping bags, larger purses, or book bags are excellent ways to keep deposit bags concealed during their transfer from the customer’s location to the bank. Alternative Routes Most people drive or walk the same routes every day. Unfortunately, robbers also know this. Many times, a simple “fender bender” is more nefarious than it appears. Altering routes between the bank and the customer’s location makes this type of robbery much more difficult to plan and implement. Advise customers that if they feel that they are being followed, they should not drive to the bank or back to the customer’s location. Instead, the customer should dial 911 and drive to the closest police station, keeping the dispatcher informed of their location until arriving at the station. Flexible Scheduling As with routes, frequently the same person comes to the bank at the same time every day. Encourage them to alter their deposit/withdrawal times throughout the week. In addition, encourage them to send different people to conduct the transactions from time to time. Unpredictable schedules make a coordinated robbery much more difficult to complete. Exits and Entrances Unfortunately, most customer robberies occur as they are either leaving or returning to their location after making their transactions. Before leaving the location, they should have a good look outside, keeping an eye out for people and cars in view of the exit. They should pay particular attention to cars with multiple occupants in them as well as cars moving from space to space in the parking lot. While this type of robbery attempt is not new, it’s becoming more common. Bank employees and customers alike need to be aware that criminal behavior is changing and evolving, and because of this they need to be more cautious and aware of their environment. Hopefully these tips will help keep your customers S.A.F.E. April 2019 Legal Update Seminars Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat 1 2 Overland Park 3 Wichita 4 Topeka 5 6 7 8 9 Salina 10 Independence 11 Marysville 12 13 14 15 Russell 16 Colby 17 Dodge City 18 Great Bend 19 20 21 22 23 Wichita 24 Lenexa 25 Topeka 26 27 28 29 30 Mark Your Calendars Educa�onal Resources 785 - 232 - 3444 www.ksbankers.com Presented by: Terri Thomas, KBA’s Senior Vice President and Legal Department Director