Bank customers are responsible for detecting fraud 82% of the time, according to Information Security Media Group’s 2012 Faces of Fraud Survey.

Banks responding to the survey reported that the three leading causes of fraud they experienced were card-not-present – 56% – data breach at a retailer or processor – 53% – and point-of-sales skimming – 47% – all root causes over which the consumer has very little control.

However, when asked how a fraud incident was usually detected, 82% of banks said that it was when a consumer notified them. According to Authentify, a sponsor of the survey, this suggests that banks should put fraud monitoring tools in the hands of consumers for the highest levels of security.

“Many banks put anti-fraud measures in place that are invisible to the account holder so as not to be an inconvenience,” explained Peter Tapling, Authentify president & CEO. “Customers need to be given more credit – they know what is supposed to be happening in their account and can recognize a fraudulent transaction right away. Today, with advances in out-of-band technologies and the proliferation of smart phones and other smart devices such as tablets, it is much easier to proactively engage the user in the war on fraud.”

To grant customers more agency in this war on fraud, Authentiy offers a smart phone app called 2CHK that enables bank account owners to review and approve pending transactions, as well as cancel or conceal them.

According to the survey, one-third of the respondents plan to invest in out-of-band authentication in the upcoming year, such as 2CHK, while 70% of the respondents indicated that stronger authentication layers have already been implemented.