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Banks, Bankers and At Risk Elders
By Karen Lawrence of Matrix AdvoCare Network
How do banks and bankers figure into the safety and well-being of an elderly person? Bankers are in a position to identify signs and symptoms of challenges that are quite telling for elders and disabled adults who are at risk. Historically, those who are now elderly tended to initiate their banking at one location, a local branch near their home and they tended to keep their accounts there for years if not decades. In doing so, they frequently worked with the same banking staff, planned for their future and enlisted the assistance of trustees and the bank employees who then had the opportunity to get to know that banking client. In getting to know the person they began to recognize familiar banking patterns, how they spent their money, usual financial status and overall who the individual was. As time went on, bankers had the opportunity to work long-term with the person who was becoming older. Within this relationship bankers were often aware of and recognized what was happening in the individual’s life. They might know when the kids were each being married, what improvements the family home needed, when grandchildren were preparing for college, who would be the first to buy a home and where the customer hoped to retire to. How did they know this? In the course of the person doing day to day banking they often relayed why they were transferring funds, what the new accounts would pay for or who the trust was going to benefit. This familiarity also served to alert banking staff to potential concerns with an older adult. When bankers begin to notice frequent errors in a client’s check writing they may wonder what is different, why is information missing, why is a signature no longer legible? Bankers may notice physical changes in an elder when they make their weekly trip to tend to usual banking; perhaps the elder appears thinner, unkempt or seems to wear the same clothing every time they visit. Maybe the elder asks questions that indicate they are confused or having trouble completing tasks that they previously managed without difficulty. Other concerns might be witnessing the elder withdraw large sums of money on a regular basis when this is very unusual and unexpected behavior from their long-standing patterns. Any of these signs warrants concern and should prompt a banker to consider the elder at risk. Despite a more mobile and electronically focused community today, bankers and trust account managers still play a vital role in identifying at risk elders and banking patterns that signal trouble, even though convenience baking can minimize the interaction a person has with a banker or bank employee including those who are elders. This coupled with a very mobile employment environment including those people working at banks who switch roles, positions and branch locations frequently can make it more challenging to develop a short or long-term relationship with a banker. This however does not mean there are not benefits from the high tech banking services we use today; instead it means the focus has to change to utilizing the data provided by the high-tech options to help determine when there may be risk pertinent to elders and others who are vulnerable. Risks of financial exploitation, undue influence and even issues and concerns related to changes in cognitive functioning may become apparent through the information provided in the newer options in banking services. At this time, fraud alert systems pick up discrepancies in spending habits, customary purchases and usual activity on a credit card account. Electronic banking documents allow a bank employee to walk item by item through an online statement via telephone and alleviate the stress a worried individual is having when a recently posted transaction is unfamiliar. An electronic trail quickly identifies where and at what time a transaction took place at an ATM and most of the time it captures a photo of the person making the transaction. Bill pay options may help family members identify when an elder is having trouble remembering to process monthly bills when it is noted that payments are no longer being made in a regular and expected fashion but instead are erratic and at times omitted completely. These almost instantaneous banking features aid in the identification of risks and problems. Each of these types of tools can be a vital link to assuring that an elder’s finances are protected or if there is exploitation and abuse, a trail can be initiated to help determine who is taking advantage of a senior, how they are doing so and hopefully measures put into action quickly enough to minimize the damage to a seniors finances. Elderly people who have investment portfolios, stocks, bonds, their own homes, additional real estate and other material and financial assets are most likely to become victims of exploitation and undue influence. Those elders who are experiencing cognitive changes like memory or judgment impairment are at high risk. Elders who are physically dependent upon other people for care, transportation and assistance with financial and personal business matters are at high risk. Predators key into elders who have assets and then find ways to gradually earn the elder’s trust. Once they have established trust they begin manipulate and maneuver such that they gain access to the assets through any number of methods including loans, payment for services rendered or not rendered or simply the predator begins to drain accounts. Other times it can be a family member or friend who convince the elder to ‘assist’ them out of a tough situation, to lend them money or perhaps ‘give them their due inheritance’ early and the elder being impaired, trusting or unsuspecting believes these individuals and provides them the requested or demanded funds. Beyond individuals who exploit seniors are the many larger scale versions of taking advantage of elderly victims through online phishing scams, sweepstakes entries, charitable ventures and any number of organizations or entities. Many elderly are unable to identify the deception common in these practices, they believe the literature designed to mimic reputable organizations and they fall victim to the urgent pleas of telemarketers and scammers. Unfortunately, there are many people out there looking to financially exploit an elder who has any available funds or assets. Bankers and banks often have the ability to help identify those at risk, identify risky behavior and most importantly identify and stop abusive and illegal financial exploitation by reporting these concerns to the local authorities including local Adult Protective Services.
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