EAY CKAURE, Wis. – Fraud specialist Karen Hotvedt was presented the Royal Credit Union (Royal) 2015 Positive Impact Award. Hotvedt, a Royal team member since 1992, met the high criteria for this award by demonstrating exceptional empathy and respect while working with Royal Members who are dealing with financial fraud. This is the Royal’s highest team member award and only one per year is presented.
Identity theft is an ever present threat that continues to grow. The 2015 identity Fraud Study by Javelin Strategy & Research found that $16 billion was stolen from 12.7million US consumers in 2014. Royal’s product settlement and services department evaluates fraud situations and takes appropriate action to quickly resolve issues. Fraud can be a troubling, often frightening, occurrence and Hotvedt goes above and beyond while implanting fraud mitigation techniques and counseling Royal Members on next steps.
“Karen makes it as easy as possible for these Members, meeting them wherever is most convenient for them – at offices, stores, post office, etc. – to recover funds and save Members from debt that can create significant challenges in their daily lives,” said Rudy Pereira, Royal Credit Union president & CEO. “In fact, she has been known to drive Members to places they need to go in order to make it easy for them to access recovery funds.”
At Royal, Hotvedt frequently places the needs of fellow team members above her own and takes on extra work to ensure that things get done. In addition, she attends meetings outside of her normal work hours to educate fellow team members on fraud tips, tricks, and trends. All Royal team members are eligible to make nominations for the Positive Impact Award. The recipient is chosen by the executive team. The award was presented to her at Royal’s corporate headquarters in Eau Claire.