Small Business Month — Protect Your Business and Your Peace of Mind

Small businesses are the backbone of our communities—and protecting them is more important than ever. During Small Business Month, it’s a great time to evaluate how you’re safeguarding your accounts, your employees, and your daily operations from fraud.

At Firstrust Bank, we understand that business owners need both visibility and control. That’s why tools like Firstrust Alerts are designed to help you stay informed and act quickly—before small issues become major disruptions.

Stay Aware with Firstrust Alerts

Fraud prevention starts with awareness. Firstrust Alerts give you real-time insight into your account activity so you’re never caught off guard.

With Firstrust Alerts, you can:

• Get instant notifications of account activity
• Receive alerts for suspicious transactions
• Stay ahead of issues with low-balance and overdraft warnings
• Choose how you're notified-text, email, or push notifications

These alerts help you monitor your accounts continuously, even when you’re focused on running your business.

Enhance Visibility with Smart Account Practices

Alerts are powerful—but combining them with strong financial habits creates even greater protection.

• Review alert activity daily
  Use Firstrust Alerts as your first checkpoint, then regularly review transactions in your online banking platform.

• Reconcile accounts more frequently
  Pair alerts with weekly or daily reconciliation to quickly identify discrepancies.

• Use dual controls when possible
  Assign separate roles for transaction initiation and approval to reduce risk.

Layer in Additional Firstrust Treasury Tools

For businesses with more complex needs, Firstrust offers additional solutions that work alongside Alerts:

• ACH and Wire Controls
  Monitor and approve outgoing payments with greater oversight.‍

• Positive Pay Services
  ‍Help prevent check fraud by matching issued checks against those presented for payment.

• User Access Controls
  Customize permissions so employees only access what they need.

These tools create multiple checkpoints—helping ensure that only authorized transactions are processed.

Empower Your Employees to Protect the Business

Even the best tools need informed users. Employees are often the first line of defense against fraud.

• Train staff to recognize phishing attempts
  Fraudsters often impersonate vendors, executives, or even Firstrust's customer care and fraud teams.

• Verify sensitive requests
  Encourage employees to confirm payment or payroll changes through a second channel.

• Promote a culture of awareness
  Remind your team: when something feels off, it's worth a second look.

Protect Payroll and Vendor Payments

Payroll and vendor payments are frequent targets—but Firstrust tools can help you stay in control.

• Use alerts to monitor payment activity in real time
• Require approval workflows for changes to payment details
• Regularly review payroll and vendor information for accuracy

Take Control with Firstrust—No Surprises, No Stress

Fraud can happen anytime—but with the right tools and practices, you can stay one step ahead.

Firstrust Alerts, combined with smart controls and informed employees, give you the confidence to manage your business finances securely.

Take control of your finances—set up your Firstrust Alerts today: firstrust.com/online/alerts.

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