Technology Banks Keep Your Money Safe.

Following years of intense attacks by international cybercriminals, more small companies are getting serious about securing online bank accounts. And they are not just increasing computer security into their companies. They’re requiring much better security from their banks.

“They will come to the table with a checklist of different types of fraud-mitigation technologies,” says Julie Conroy McNelley, a senior analyst at Boston research firm Aite Group. In response, banks — keen to retain and appeal to new clients — generally describe what they are working on behind the scenes and supply additional security tools.

Being a squeaky wheel can pay off. Derek Capo, founder of Miami- and Beijing-based Next Step China LLC, asked Bank of America numerous security-related questions when he opened a business account in 2008. The bank helped Capo with several defenses, including alerts and temporary blocks should anyone, including an employee, try to make transactions exceeding a certain value.

Bank of America also sold Capo a keychain gadget for $15 that displays an alternating code that he must enter when transferring funds internationally. The bank also advised him to receive payments into one account and immediately transfer the funds to another that he uses for paying expenses. Maintaining a zero balance in a receivables account recently stopped an attempted fraudulent use of his debit-card number at a New York hotel, he says.

Fending off crafty, well-financed criminals requires many layers of low- and high-tech controls. In general, banks are getting better about defending business accounts.

Banks haven’t always invested enough in defending business accounts because they aren’t liable for fraud losses as they are with consumer accounts, says Avivah Litan, an analyst at Stamford, Conn.-based research firm Gartner Inc. Large international and regional banks generally have the best security systems, she says, while community banks tend to lag behind because they often outsource technology systems to third-party payment processors that have skimped on security investments.

A company’s best protection is an agreement in writing stating that the bank will absorb any fraud, Litan says. “If you can’t get that, you have to drill into their security.”