WYANDOTTE, Mich.– Michigan Legacy Credit Union has launched a pilot program with Wayne State University’s Institute of Gerontology designed to help protect its vulnerable members from financial exploitation.
The initiative follows the September 2021 passage by the Michigan legislature of the Financial Exploitation Prevention Act requiring financial institutions to offer training and procedures to recognize financial exploitation and protect vulnerable clients from becoming victims.
After learning of Wayne State’s Financial Vulnerability Survey, which is a short questionnaire to determine the risk of financial exploitation, Michigan Legacy said it saw an immediate opportunity to take action.
“Older adult financial exploitation is at epidemic heights,” said CEO Carma Peters said. “Sadly, these crimes are often swept under the rug because victims are too ashamed to report them. We never want to see a credit union member financially manipulated and victimized, and this pilot program provides resources to truly empower our staff and our members.”
Automatic Offering
MLCU said new members of the credit union age 50 and up are automatically offered the Financial Vulnerability Survey, reporting that dozens of members have already done so.
“Their scores are included in a database to help monitor these members’ accounts for abnormal financial activity,” the CU reported.
All MLCU credit union staff participated in multiple training sessions with Wayne State on the survey and learned how to identify and discuss cognitive risk factors before exploitation occurs.
“As a result of this training, staff members have already been able to address several cases of older financial exploitation,” it added.
The Financial Vulnerability Survey is one of several tools created by Dr. Peter Lichtenberg to combat fraud and financial exploitation in older adults. Lichtenberg is the director of the Institute of Gerontology and for nearly two decades has done extensive research to develop and validate a variety of financial decision-making and vulnerability tools, the credit union reported.
17 Questions
The Financial Vulnerability Survey (FVS), a self-administered tool for older adults, is the most recent. The 17-question survey identifies older adults at increased risk of financial fraud and exploitation and suggests resources to help protect them.
"The FVS is easy to understand and to complete,” Lichtenberg said. “It resonates with older people who are concerned about their financial decision making. Finances are often a taboo topic for discussion, yet people are hungry for information about their own financial vulnerability level."
The FVS and other tools to assess financial decision making, plus resources for professionals, caregivers and older adults can be found at Lichtenberg’s website OlderAdultNestEgg.com.
Duo to Address Meetings
Peters and Lichtenberg are scheduled to discuss the pilot project and financial exploitation protections with other credit unions at Audit Link’s Conversations on Compliance May 25 in Grand Rapids, Mich., and on June 10 at the Michigan Credit Union’s Annual Convention and Expo at the Renaissance Center in Detroit.
Michigan Legacy Credit Union noted it also created a campaign during April’s Financial Literacy Month to encourage existing members and owners to take the FVS and have their scores uploaded to the credit union’s database.
“Ideally, this pilot program will be utilized throughout the state of Michigan, and nationally, to help combat this epidemic and provide another tool to protect older adults from financial fraud,” Peters said.
Anonymous data from the project will be analyzed by Lichtenberg and his team to expand research insights into vulnerability and safeguards for older adults.
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