Although a blueprint does not exist for defining the security measures a bank must take, the federal government has established a list of minimum security procedures banks must implement to receive a license to conduct business. Banks typically establish their security measures according to several factors, which include cost, location, and type of bank.
In addition to complying with the minimum security measures established at the federal level, banks should implement other security measures to protect both customers and employees. Highly-trained security officers should be used to monitor suspicious activity both inside and outside a bank. Banks should commit to hiring experienced, full-time security officers instead of moonlighting part-time security officers that spend more time sitting than moving around the bank.
Banks should establish a proper opening and closing procedure that boost security, such as walking around a bank building before opening to determine if any suspicious activity is taking place either inside or outside the bank. Every security camera should be monitored daily for performance, from the security cameras strategically installed throughout a bank, as well as in the parking lot and inside an ATM. The bank manager should keep records of previous criminal activity at the bank, as well as at nearby businesses in the neighborhood.
Sufficient lighting should be in place in the parking lot and around the lanes that drivers use to make ATM deposits and withdrawals. Bright lights should surround a bank and glow 24 hours a day, seven days a week. One of the most important security measures to establish concerns properly training bank employees on how to address a robber’s demand for money. How a teller responds to a note or a verbal command goes a long way toward determining how a criminal responds.