Bank of America provides its customers with the best protection against identity fraud, according to a US study conducted by Javelin Strategy & Research.
BofA came out top in a survey of 28 financial firms that analysed consumer-facing online identity fraud prevention, detection and resolution capabilities and was followed by Citibank, E*Trade Bank, Washington Mutual and Wells Fargo.
Javelin used a combination of online review and direct mystery-shopper research to score banks on a 100-point scale that included 28 consumer-facing capabilities that could be implemented.
The research found that almost all of the banks surveyed (96%) offer zero liability policies to account holders, so customers would not be liable for any funds stolen as a result of identity fraud.
However none of the surveyed banks are allowing users to limit or prohibit international or online transactions in order to increase security.
Furthermore, while banks have significantly improved their customer education capabilities, Javelin says most firms have yet to implement stronger authentication.
The study also revealed that the majority of banks do not offer customer-driven alerts regarding changes to personal information, balance transfers and unusual account activity, while none of the bnaks surveyed offer e-mail alerts of changes to credit bureau information - an important indicator of new account identity fraud.