With rising concerns about online fraud and data breaches, protecting personal financial information is more important than ever. John Woods, vice chair & CFO at Citizens Financial Group, joined TheStreet to discuss how to protect yourself and your money against these growing risks.

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CONWAY GITTENS: So sticking with the consumer, we’ve seen a lot of bank fraud, credit card fraud, identity theft. Can you talk to me about where the industry, how can the industry do a better job at protecting banking consumers and their data?

JOHN WOODS: Yeah, I think it’s a huge issue. And we need to have customers need to trust that their financial institutions are going to protect their data. And that’s a huge investment that we’re making. We’ve been investing in our fraud capabilities for a number of years, and we feel like we have a very effective capability in preventing fraud. One one of the ways that we do that is through alerts where we reach out. And one of the most effective ways is to say, hey, was this. And if it’s not, then we’re able to quickly be able to prevent a transaction from occurring. And that’s always the best way to handle it. But if a transaction fraudulently gets through, then because we’re such a large financial institution, we have the resources to make you whole. And to ensure that you’re not going to be out when an issue that maybe we could have prevented but didn’t. We’re able to make sure that this doesn’t end up being a financial loss for you. And you can do that with a large institution that you trust like Citizens.

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CONWAY GITTENS: So someone in the industry – when your family members come to you and say, what should I do to protect myself, what do you tell them?

JOHN WOODS: It’s really to be careful with your own data and ensure that you’re not sharing your data in an inappropriate fashion. And the things like phishing attacks that you see on emails don’t ever give out your personal information when someone reaches out to you. If you get a phone call and they say, hey, is this you. Is this John woods. And I’ll say, hold on a second. Who are you. Well, I’m your bank and you give me your information. You never do that. And citizens will never ask for your information by reaching out to you. And so the advice is never give out your personal information bank with a large, reputable financial institution who will be there for you when the rare mistake comes through. And you can trust that your data will be protected. And in the unlikely event that something untoward happens, we’ll be there to compensate you. 

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