Katlynn Arroyo
Woodbury,NJ
Summary
Bank Fraud Operations Director with 15+ years of experience in financial crimes, fraud prevention, and AML/BSA across top-tier financial institutions. Proven record of owning fraud detection programs, driving issue management, and partnering with Executive Leadership to reduce risk and strengthen controls. Expert in building and optimizing detection strategies, policies, training, and quality frameworks to ensure regulatory compliance and protect members from loss. Known for quickly standing up new capabilities, leading high-performing teams, and turning complex data into clear, actionable decisions.
Overview
13
13
years of professional experience
Work History
Director
USAA
06.2024 - Current
- Lead fraud operations strategy and execution, aligning detection and prevention activities with enterprise risk appetite, regulatory expectations, and USAA member-first priorities.
- Oversee fraud detection workflows and performance metrics, ensuring timely, high-quality investigations and decisions that minimize financial loss and member impact.
- Partner with Executive Leadership, risk, compliance, and technology teams to assess emerging fraud trends, recommend mitigations, and drive enhancements to fraud controls and processes.
- Champion a culture of continuous improvement, accountability, and operational excellence across fraud operations teams.
- Lead performance management for fraud operations teams, setting clear KPIs (quality, productivity, SLAs, loss mitigation) and holding managers and specialists accountable to result-driven goals.
- Conduct regular performance reviews and calibration sessions with people leaders to ensure fair, consistent evaluations and alignment with enterprise performance standards.
- Use operational metrics and trend analysis to identify individual and team performance gaps; partner with leaders to create targeted coaching plans and development roadmaps.
Lead
USAA
09.2022 - 06.2024
- Served as Business Process Owner (BPO) for Fraud Prevention and Detection training programs, policies, procedures, and training materials supporting enterprise fraud operations.
- Ensured fraud-related risks, trends, and patterns were effectively identified, measured, monitored, and controlled across key business activities.
- Leveraged advanced analytical skills to identify process and strategy gaps; implemented improvements that strengthened fraud controls, reduced handle time, and improved compliance.
- Monitored operational metrics and dashboards to provide performance insights to leadership; recommended solutions to enhance prevention, detection, and member experience.
- Provided mentorship and guidance to fraud investigators; served as primary escalation point for sophisticated and high-risk issues.
- Led implementation of action plans for issue management, mitigating potential risks and closing operational gaps; oversaw ~14 issues in Detection, with 4 successfully closed and recognized by Executive Leadership.
- Drove training efforts (MRA, KC, TCS, Asana, Financials), building processes and a training calendar that accelerated issue closure and increased business knowledge for specialists.
- Acted as primary point of contact for KC, creating new processes and workarounds, managing urgent injections, and performing after-hours work to publish critical articles and support major initiatives (e.g., ECAMS/SAFIRE conversion).
- Stood up a QA team within 2 days to conduct peer-to-peer reviews in support of remediation, improving accuracy and consistency in investigations.
- Developed and maintained reporting, procedures, a SharePoint site, and communication channels to support transparency and operational oversight.
- Created a Box repository to centralize gaps, reporting, PwC errors, and daily team alerts, improving accessibility and control awareness.
Lead
PNC Bank, N.A.
10.2021 - 09.2022
- Analyzed cases generated from enterprise fraud detection systems to ensure adherence to service level agreements, quality standards, and regulatory requirements.
- Reviewed and investigated customer cases, reports, and work items for potential and actual loss, escalating high-risk matters as appropriate.
- Performed early detection of suspicious activity to control and prevent losses across multiple fraud typologies.
- Researched and analyzed bank activities and reporting to detect and prevent potential fraudulent and suspicious activity.
- Applied AML, BSA, and fraud risk standards and practices to mitigate exposure and strengthen controls.
Investigator II
Wells Fargo Bank
02.2018 - 10.2021
- Exceeded productivity goals on a high-volume case workbench while consistently meeting federally regulated due dates with minimal supervision.
- Conducted training for new employees on investigation best practices, workload management, system navigation, quality expectations, and AML/BSA and banking practices.
- Performed in-depth quality reviews of new team members’ cases, ensuring accurate investigation steps, adherence to compliance requirements, and sound decision-making.
Manager
Garden State Home Loans Inc.
06.2017 - 01.2019
- Managed AML/BSA compliance program activities including monitoring, reporting, and program documentation.
- Oversaw policies, procedures, and controls designed to detect and report suspicious activity in alignment with regulatory expectations.
- Collaborated with leadership to address examination findings and implement corrective action plans.
Investigator III
TD Bank, N.A.
06.2014 - 07.2017
- Conducted complex AML investigations, including review of alerts, transactional activity, and customer profiles to identify suspicious behavior.
- Prepared well-documented investigation files and recommendations consistent with regulatory expectations and internal standards.
- Partnered with compliance and risk teams to address emerging fraud and AML trends and refine detection scenarios.
Senior
TD Bank, N.A.
07.2013 - 04.2014
- Investigated debit card fraud cases, analyzing transaction activity, patterns, and customer claims to determine legitimacy.
- Recommended recovery and loss mitigation actions while balancing customer experience, operational efficiency, and regulatory compliance.
Education
Doctorate of Business Administration & Leadership -
Walden University
04.2026
Master of Criminal Justice - undefined
South University
06.2020
Bachelor of Criminal Justice - undefined
South University
03.2018
Associate of Criminal Justice - undefined
Argosy University
12.2015
Skills
- Bank Fraud Operations & Strategy
- Fraud Detection & Prevention Programs
- AML/BSA & Financial Crimes Compliance
- Issue Management & Remediation
- Risk Identification, Assessment & Control
- Quality Assurance & Metrics Reporting
- Executive-Level Communication & Influence
- Training Program Design & Delivery
- Process Improvement & Change Management
- Cross-Functional Partnership & Stakeholder Management
Timeline
Director
USAA
06.2024 - Current
Lead
USAA
09.2022 - 06.2024
Lead
PNC Bank, N.A.
10.2021 - 09.2022
Investigator II
Wells Fargo Bank
02.2018 - 10.2021
Manager
Garden State Home Loans Inc.
06.2017 - 01.2019
Investigator III
TD Bank, N.A.
06.2014 - 07.2017
Senior
TD Bank, N.A.
07.2013 - 04.2014
Master of Criminal Justice - undefined
South University
Bachelor of Criminal Justice - undefined
South University
Associate of Criminal Justice - undefined
Argosy University
Doctorate of Business Administration & Leadership -
Walden University