Positive Pay

Understanding Check Fraud

Banks are experiencing losses 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 – checks that they alter or copy to steal your money.

Many people 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.
• As a check clears, the receiving bank compares it against the issued check file.
• If a discrepancy is found—such as wrong amount or payee—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 default action chosen by the business.

Bank Liability – The Window is Shrinking

Before the Internet and Positive Pay, banks gave customers time to receive mailed statements, review cleared checks, and shift liability to the bank if a fraudulent item was paid – generally 30 days from the statement date. That lengthy window, however, exceeds the interbank return deadline by far and causes unacceptable losses for banks, including SBSU, when check fraud is not caught immediatley.

Preventing losses means that SBSU and check writers must work together to identify and return fraudulent checks within one banking day of receipt. To do that, two things are required: (1) Positive Pay, and (2) timely action by check writers.

You should have received a letter from SBSU that includes a date when your company will be required to report fraudulent items by 3:00 PM on the day those checks appear in your account. You will need Positive Pay to quickly identify fraudulent items and avoid losses.

Enroll in Positive Pay by clicking the link below and filling out the form. It is offered at no monthly fee.

The Bottom Line

1. Click the button below to start the enrollment process.
2. You will receive a DocuSign link via email within five banking days.
3. Complete the Agreement.
4. You will be contacted shortly thereafter to complete the setup process.