Securing Personally Identifiable Information (PII) in Personal Financial Statements

Communications between financial institutions and their customers contain private, sensitive information that could be leveraged to commit fraud. While financial institutions in the United States are required to distribute periodic financial statements, there may be additional information disclosed within than is not required by law. This research addresses gaps in the literature by comparing information required by law, deemed desirable and undesirable by consumers, and observed on existing personal financial statements. Using methods including a consumer preferences and experiences survey and analyzing financial statements, researchers found that some contained sensitive information. With over 50% of respondents receiving statements intended for someone else in the past five years, these occurrences and available information present an opportunity for fraud. This research may be used to deter sophisticated fraudulent activities such as account takeovers and money laundering and as a reference for future policies governing the information required in financial statements.