Banking Out Loud

Key Takeaways:

• Fraud is more than a loss number. Treating it that way keeps banks reactive. Bring fraud into in board and C-suite strategy alongside customer experience and growth.
• Bring fraud teams into product development before launch. Their data can expose weaknesses before fraudsters do and leads to smarter product decisions.
• Years of “zero liability” messaging may have left customers feeling fraud isn’t their problem. Short, relevant reminders help restore shared responsibility.

Fraud isn’t just a fraud department’s job. It touches product strategy, customer experience, risk governance, and financial planning. In this episode of Banking Out Loud, hosts Nancy Ozawa and Virginia Robbins talk with Rob Williams, CEO of Operous and author of the 2026 Financial Institution Risk Officer Survey, and Ben Wallach, Partner and CEO of Mission Omega, about how leaders at community financial institutions can prepare.

They discuss how fraudsters target identity and credentials, and why fraud belongs in strategy conversations rather than being treated as a loss number. Rob and Ben also explain how to build fraud protections products from the start, including rethinking features by customer segment, and share real example of a fraud risk assessment completed before a major payments rollout. They encourage middle managers to learn about emerging threats and to build institutions that capture what they learn and put it to use.

Ready to see where you fit into the fraud conversation? Tune in to hear practical ideas you can bring back to your team, from smarter product decisions to clearer conversations across departments.

Guests:

Rob Williams
CEO
Operus Inc.

Ben Wallach
Partner and CEO
Mission Omega LLC

Hosts:

Nancy Ozawa
Chief Marketing Officer
PCBB

Virginia Robbins 
EVP, Chief Solutions Officer
PCBB