Eighth Circuit Holds Bank That Complied With Reasonable Security Procedures Not Responsible For Loss Of Funds From Fraudulent Payment

Payment Processors Privacy/Cyber Risk & Data Security

On June 11, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit held that under the Uniform Commercial Code a bank that complied with commercially reasonable security measures was not responsible for a customer’s loss resulting from a fraudulent payment. Choice Escrow & Land Title, LLC v. BancorpSouth Bank, No. 13-1879, 2014 WL 2598764 (8th Cir. Jun. 11, 2014). The customer sued the bank claiming that a $440,000 wire transfer from its account through the bank’s internet wire transfer system was fraudulently initiated by a third-party. The court explained that Article 4A of the Uniform Commercial Code permits a bank to take steps to protect itself from liability by implementing commercially reasonable security procedures, and if the bank complies with these procedures in good faith and in accordance with the customer’s instructions, the customer bears the risk of loss from a fraudulent payment order. The parties agreed that the bank complied with its security procedures in accepting the payment order that resulted in the loss for the customer, but disputed whether (i) the bank’s security procedures were commercially reasonable, (ii) the bank accepted the payment order in good faith, and (iii) the bank accepted the payment order in compliance with the customer’s written instructions. The court concluded that the bank’s security procedures, which included password protection, daily transfer limits, device authentication, and dual control, were commercially reasonable because the bank followed 2005 FFIEC guidelines and further enhanced its security to address threats not considered by that potentially outdated guidance. Moreover, the court held that the customer assumed the risk of failure of security procedures by declining some of those procedures. The court also held that in promptly executing a payment order that had cleared its commercially reasonable security procedures, and absent any independent reason to suspect the payment was fraudulent, the bank acted in good faith in processing the payment. Finally, the court determined that an inquiry from the customer as to whether it would be possible for the bank to stop foreign wire transfers did not constitute an instruction to the bank, and therefore the bank did not violate any written instruction from the customer. Based on these holdings, the court concluded that, under the UCC, the loss of funds from the customer’s account fall on the customer and not the bank.