North American financial executives perceived an increase in the rate of online account takeover attacks (63 percent) compared to their global counterparts (50 percent) in 2013, but the actual rate of attempted and actual wire and automated clearinghouse (ACH) fraud related to account takeover is lower in North American financial enterprises than at the global institutions, according to an ACI Worldwide survey, Strategies to Prevent Attacks on Commercial Accounts.

The difference in perception might hinge on a difference in focus – North American executives are placing more emphasis on utilizing tools that address device protection, such as device ID, secure browsing and malware protection (89 percent of North American banks). Global financial executives are focused on payment-specific transaction monitoring and online session anomaly detection (89 percent of world banks).

And although fraud protection is top-of-mind, 18 percent of all survey respondents admit to being only mostly or partially compliant with current security regulations.

All survey respondents reported confidence in their fraud-fighting tools, although they differ in which tools they believe are most effective. North American respondents’ top three tools were: rank-layered security protocols, payment transaction monitoring and device protection. Global banks ranked payment-specific monitoring as the most-effective approach.