Fraud Continues to Be a Watchpoint for Small Businesses in the Current Economic Environment

Fraud prevention is an ongoing concern for small business owners, who continue to be vigilant of evolving fraud tactics and implement preventative measures to stop potential future attacks. KeyBank’s 2024 Small Business Survey found that small business owners’ biggest concern is payment fraud, such as unauthorized transactions or unauthorized electronic fund transfers (44%.) Closely following is identify theft (37%), malware and ransomware attacks (28%) and phishing and email scams (27%).

As technology evolves, small business owners must stay alert to protect their business from information theft and payment fraud. Falling for scams can have long-lasting effect on a business, impacting potential profit and relationships with customers. Learn more about advice KeyBank provides to business owners about business security and risk management.

“With the introduction of new technology over the last several years, small businesses are some of the many that have fallen victim to fraudulent activity,” said Mike Walters, President of Business Banking at KeyBank. “It’s important for owners to have a plan in place and KeyBank is proud to provide resources that can help their business run better.”

Small businesses are the heart of many communities across the country. Their storefronts become part of neighborhood culture and contribute to the community by providing jobs to locals. KeyBank is dedicated to supporting low-to-moderate income (LMI) communities as well as providing community investments to bring access to capital to local businesses. In 2023, we provided $267.7 million in small business lending to LMI communities and, in 2020 and 2021, processed 69,000 loansthrough the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), providing more than $11.2 billion in critical funding to small and mid-size businesses.

KeyBank, a top SBA lender¹, has provided more than $4.5 billion in small business loans and lines of credit. Most recently, KeyBank received their 11^th consecutive “Outstanding” rating from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) on its most recent Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) exam. 

Learn more about KeyBank’s opportunities and programs for your small business by visiting key.com/small-business. KeyBank offers a range of tools, including the KeyBank Small Business Check-In, KeyBank Small Business Financial Review and the Business Cash Flow Calculator. For resources on how to protect your small business from fraud, read the Protect Your Business Checklist and Protecting Your Organization against Payment Fraud.

Methodology

This survey was conducted online by Survey Monkey. 1,983 respondents, ages 18-99, located in the United States, who own or operate a small-to-medium size business with an annual gross revenue of less than $10 million, completed the survey in March 2024. Learn more about KeyBank’s opportunities and programs for your small business by visiting key.com/small-business. KeyBank offers a range of tools, including the KeyBank Small Business Check-In, KeyBank Small Business Financial Review and the Business Cash Flow Calculator.

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This material is presented for informational purposes only and should not be construed as individual tax or financial advice. KeyBank does not provide legal advice. All credit products and SBA Loans are subject to approval, terms, conditions, and availability and subject to change. Key.com is a federally registered service mark of KeyCorp. ©2024 KeyCorp

¹Source: Statistics released by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) October 2023 for total approved loans through the SBA’s 7(a) lending program during the federal fiscal year ending 10/2023.