Business Bank accounts

What is dual control banking & should you use it?

Panna Kemenes

05.12.22 (updated more than 1 year ago)

Read time 1 minute

In business, it’s critical to put in place robust security measures to protect incoming and outgoing funds.

There are various ways to secure funds during transfers, including the banking dual control method. With dual control, you rely on two-step authentication as two people act in the transaction approval process.

Set up dual approvals easily
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What is dual control in banking?

Dual control in banking is when you involve two people in the business transaction approval process. There can be different combinations of people and timings of approval, so long as two people have their say on the transaction.

What is the purpose of dual control?

The main purpose of dual control is to bolster your company’s ACH and wire transfer transaction security. By having two people involved in each transaction rather than one, there’s a lower risk of fraud and human error.

Dual control banking can be helpful in the following scenarios:

A cybercriminal attempts to commit fraudulent transactions to or from the business
Someone from within the company attempts fraud
Manual errors when creating and sending transactions

What is the difference between dual control and separation of duties?

Dual wire control banking and separation of duties are similar terms, yet they differ in meaning.

Here’s a brief explanation of each:

Dual control - When two people act to approve an ACH or wire transfer transaction
Separation of duties - The idea that one person shouldn’t have access to all critical business functions due to the security risk that would pose.

Benefits of dual control banking

Here are the main benefits of employing dual control banking procedures:

Lowers the risk of fraud - When you have more than one person involved in a transaction, you lower the risk of fraudulent activity
Minimizes potential for human error - Human error can be costly, but with two people it's less likely
Provides greater operational functionality - When one person is away from the office, another can step in. This extends the time your business is operational

Set up dual approvals in a click with Wise Business

With Wise Business, you can set up custom payment approvals that work for your business needs. You can do so in one of two ways.

The first is to create an approval rule for all future transactions. The second is to add a team member as a ‘Preparer’, which allows you to put in place online banking dual control.

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