Southern Bank is First in Region to Put Fraud Protection in the Hands of Cardholders

(July 29, 2015 – Springfield, MO) Southern Bank is the first bank in the region to put the power of fraud protection for debit cards directly into the hands of customers. Card Center is the smarter way for customers to protect and manage their debit card. By simply enrolling in Digital Banking from Southern Bank, customers can control when, where and how their card is used.

In 2014, more than 15 percent of Americans reported being victims of credit and debit card fraud, according to research from the United States Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice. An alarming 23 percent of fraud was committed by utilizing lost or stolen cards, with the total amount of credit card fraud worldwide exceeding $5.5 billion.

Card Center is part of Digital Banking, offered exclusively to Southern Bank account holders. Using Card Center, cardholders can immediately turn off their card if it is lost or stolen, or when it simply is not in use. Cardholders can also establish spending limits to allow transactions up to a certain dollar value and decline transactions when amounts exceed predefined thresholds. In addition, transactions can be monitored or controlled for specific merchant categories, such as travel, restaurants, or entertainment, and can be denied or reported for specific types of merchants.

Alerts can also be established to inform cardholders of specific types of transactions. Card Center can send an alert when a card is used, when a transaction is approved and exceeds any of the options established by the cardholder, or when a card transaction has been attempted but has been declined based on the parameters established. Cardholders will also be able to monitor accounts with linked access, such as teenagers with debit cards on a parent’s account or employees of small businesses with their own debit cards on a small business account.

“Southern Bank is proud to be the first in our area to offer this type of service to help protect our customers from fraud, considering the increased number of cases we see in today’s world. We felt it was a responsibility of ours to help further protect our customers,” said Justin Cox, Regional President at Southern Bank.

About Southern Bank

Southern Bank has served the financial needs of America's Heartland for over 130 years, making it one of the oldest financial institutions headquartered in the region. Southern Bank offers dynamic and competitive products to individuals and businesses with a full range of financial products and services. An intense focus is placed on core values of being strongly rooted within the communities it serves, but Southern Bank also offers the innovative technology and ease of accessibility consumers seek from larger banks. Southern Bank is now a $2.1 billion financial institution, with 47 locations in Southern Missouri, Northern Arkansas and Southern Illinois. For more information, visit www.bankwithsouthern.com.