In 2022, banks issued roughly 680,000 reports of check fraud to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. That’s nearly double the 350,000 reported in 2021.
Since May of this year, the U.S. Postal Service Inspection Service has made more than 530 arrests for mail theft. Thieves are focusing their efforts on checks, using techniques to alter the payee names and dollar amounts, allowing them to fraudulently deposit the checks. In some cases, the criminals employ chemical methods to remove the ink, while others copy and scan to create a counterfeit copy of the document.
Is your business still issuing checks? Positive pay might be for you. Identified by most anti-fraud experts as the most effective form of defense against check fraud, positive pay puts your business in control to block fraudulent transactions.
The best part? It’s simple and easy.
It puts you, the owner, in control to block any non-authorized transactions from posting to your account. Check and ACH fraud is a challenge and very serious concern for any type of business, no matter how big or small.
HOW IT WORKS
Check Positive Pay
Check Positive Pay allows you to inform Oakworth about what checks have been written. That data is compared to checks as they are presented against your account. If we receive a check that does not match what you’ve told us, we provide an exception report and give you the control to either pay or return the check.
Check Positive Pay could be right for you if:
- Your business issues large dollar or a high volume of checks.
- You have complex payment operations, with numerous accounts, payees and checks.
- You have experienced check fraud in the past.
- You require additional risk management.
- You have a desire for increased financial security.
What are the benefits of Check Positive Pay?
- Protects your business from check fraud.
- Blocks non-authorized transactions to your account.
- Saves time and money by avoiding or reducing associated financial losses, legal fees and fraud investigation.
- Eliminates the need to close accounts in the event of unauthorized checks clearing.
ACH Positive Pay
Provides you with the opportunity to review ACH debit transactions that are being presented for payment against your account. You review the transaction, decide if it should be paid or returned to the originating bank, and even create a new ACH Positive Pay rule to authorize future transactions.
ACH Positive Pay could be right for you if:
- You authorize vendors to make direct debits for invoice payment.
- You have experienced unauthorized ACH debits.
- You require additional risk management.
- You conduct a high volume of ACH transactions.
What are the benefits of ACH Positive Pay?
- Protects your business from ACH fraud.
- Puts your business in control of clearing transactions.
- Reduces risks and losses associated with unauthorized ACH debits.
Positive Pay is Safe and Secure
Check and ACH Positive Pay is available through Oakworth’s Online Banking, allowing you to take advantage of existing, advanced multifactor authentication and additional online banking security. How does this work? You will have the option after entering Access ID and passcode to be able to choose one of three options for an additional layer of security. You’ll receive a one-time pin via email in online banking, a text message with the one-time pin (if you are not set up for text messaging, we have a how-to video that will show you every step), or just answering your security questions that you set up when enrolling into online banking. This feature helps secure your online information and confirms your identity and authorization. Our goal is to provide additional security to keep your information safe and to give you additional peace of mind.
Get Started Today
The set up for Positive Pay is incredibly simple. Call your Oakworth advisor today and ask about how to get started.
Note: This article is part of a special content series on Corporate Fraud Prevention. Also check out:
- What is Payments Fraud?
- 12 Key Solutions to Help you Protect Your Business Against Fraud
- Business Email Compromise
WATCH OUR RECORDED WEBINAR:
American businesses will lose an average of 5% of their gross revenues to fraud. The biggest contributing factor? Not having the right internal, standardized procedures in place in order to prevent fraud from occurring. Our Oakworth Treasury Management team gives a detailed discussion so you can better protect your business on the front end.
Featuring the following discussions:
What is Corporate Fraud? | Amelia Ricks CTP
Treasury Management Advisor, Central Alabama Market
Who are Fraudsters? What are Attacks? | Tyler Fruland
Treasury Management Specialist, Middle Tennessee Market
Corporate Fraud Solutions | Jaye B. Patterson
Treasury Management Specialist, South Alabama Market
This information is being provided for informational and educational purposes and is not meant to be taken as specific advice. All decisions regarding the legal implications of these strategies should be discussed with your advisors before being implemented.