fbq('track', 'ViewContent'); fbq('track', 'Search');
Login

Positive Pay

Fight check fraud with our Positive Pay program.

Positive Pay is offered at no charge by SBSU.

Businesses and banks are losing money because criminals have turned check fraud into an art form. They rob mail couriers and break into letter collection boxes for the envelopes that contain checks that they alter or copy to commit theft.

Many businesses are not aware they are victims of check fraud until a vendor contacts them to inquire about a delinquent account, although the check was mailed and paid weeks ago.

It is time to fight back with Positive Pay,

What Is Positive Pay?

  • Businesses provide their bank with a file of written/issued checks that include check numbers, amounts, and payees (whitelist).
  • As the check clears, the receiving bank compares it against the whitelist.
  • If a discrepancy is found the check is flagged as an “exception.”
  • Account owners use Positive Pay to ensure that only authorized checks are paid.
  • Unreviewed items are treated according to the chosen default action.

Bank Liability

Businesses have historically had 30 days after a bank statement date to examine their account activity and shift the liability to the bank for unauthorized checks.

Meanwhile, banks have only one banking day to return most fraudulent checks to the bank of first deposit.  This tight window and deadline mismatch cause both businesses and banks to lose too much money to rampant check fraud.

Positive Pay brings bank customers into the process of identifying fraudulent items within the interbank return deadline.

The window to report unauthorized ACH activity is already very tight – one banking day after posting.  Positive Pay can be used for ACH items as well as checks.

Reasonable Promptness – The Window is Shrinking

To encourage adoption of Positive Pay, SBSU is modifying the definition of Reasonable Promptness – the window of time for customers to report unauthorized items and shift liability to the bank. The new definition is as follows:

Before 3:00 P.M. Mountain Time on the same banking day the transaction item (e.g., check) is posted to your account.

The new Reasonable Promptness definition is effective upon the earlier of any of the following events: (1) the date indicated in a notice from the bank, (2) the date of account opening if account disclosures indicate immediate effectiveness, or (3) the date of Positive Pay Activation.

If one company account is subject to the new Reasonable Promptness definition, all accounts are subject regardless of Pos Pay adoption by the company.

Enroll in Positive Pay to protect your business from preventable losses.

Deadlines

Once the system is activated, 10:00 AM is the time to remember.  It is deadline by which account owners should have logged into the Positive Pay system and reviewed exception items queued for review. An exception is a check or ACH item that does not match the whitelist.

While 10:00 AM is important, 3:00 PM is the absolute deadline for notifying us to return an unauthorized item on the day that it is posted to your account. The bank will always try to return fraudulent items even after 3:00 PM to reduce customer losses but may not be successful.

Schedule

Time Banking Day Event (All times listed in Mountain Time)
10:00 AM Daily Decision Deadline: Deadline by which customer must notify Bank of its Return Decision for Exception Items on the same banking day that Bank has Exception Item(s). Bank will rely upon Company’s Disposition of Unreviewed Items selection if Company fails to provide Decisions by this time.
3:00 PM Reasonable Promptness Deadline at which Customer Accepts Liability: The time at which Customer accepts all liability for items paid to Customer’s account(s) covered by this Agreement on the banking day the item posts to the account(s).
5:00 PM Data Submission Deadline: Deadline for Customer to submit Check Data or ACH whitelisting via the specified Online channel to screen pending items and reduce next-day exception items. Files or updates received by the Bank after 5:00 PM will be processed on the next banking day. Customer may send more than one file per day.
Banking Day A day the bank is open to the public for carrying on substantially all Banking (other than Saturday, Sunday, or federal holidays).

A check that has been rejected and returned at 10:00 AM cannot be un-rejected and paid. It must be deposited again after it is received by the depositor.

Default Action

SBSU needs to know what to do with checks/items if the account owner fails to log in to review exception items by 10:00 AM. A default action for unreviewed exceptions will be chosen during Positive Pay setup.

SBSU recommends selecting “Pay Unreviewed items”.  This is because fraudulent items are generally few in comparison to legitimate items.

The default may be changed to “Return Unreviewed Items” during setup or afterwards, at the account owner’s discretion.

Positive Pay for ACH may also be activated during setup, although the initial focus will be upon checks.

The entire Positive Pay Agreement is found here. It contains the Terms and Conditions that govern the Positive Pay program.

Next steps are as follows:

  • Click Enroll in Positive Pay
  • Input the requested information.
  • Click Submit.
  • Schedule an appointment for setup (setup is conducted via phone).
  • Prepare a list of users at your business who are authorized to assist.
    • Name
    • E-Mail
    • Cell phone number.

Bank Contact Information
State Bank of Southern Utah
Attn: Positive Pay
377 N Main
Cedar City, UT 84721
(435)865-2394 / online@sbsu.com  (include Positive Pay in the Subject line)
Enroll in Positive Pay and Schedule Setup
(set up conducted via phone)