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    What is Check Fraud?

    Check fraud can refer to several types of fraud that involve writing bad checks, stealing and altering checks or forging checks. Check fraud linked to mail theft has surged as criminals have been increasingly targeting mailboxes to commit check fraud. Last year reports of check fraud filed by banks nearly doubled to 680,000 from 350,000 in 2022. Criminals are stealing signed checks from postal boxes, then using common chemicals to remove the dollar amount and the name of the "payee," or recipient. They then rewrite the checks for a new recipient and a larger sum, often hundreds or thousands of dollars more, before cashing the check. Last year, 65% of US businesses fell victim to fraudulent checks. Don't be their next victim, let us at FSCB help you combat fraud.  

    Secure Your Payments with Positive Pay

    Your business needs the ability to make payments in a variety of ways. Positive Pay is an Account Reconciliation Process that allows your business to manage risk and protect your accounts by requiring your check and ACH information to be validated before clearing your accounts. Positive Pay will actively monitor checks presented on your account. Simply upload your checks’ verification data into the Positive Pay system in online banking. 

    How Does it Work? 

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    Manually enter or upload a file that contains check Verification Data - Item Number, Amount of Item, Payee Name, and Date of Item.  

    approval-Nov-16-2023-08-11-06-2338-PMApprove checks to be entered in the system through Online Banking. You must upload the check information before the check is expected to be cleared/processed. 

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    Checks presented at an FSCB branch will be validated at the front line based on verification data provided. Checks processed at other financial institutions will be validated through overnight processing. 

     

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    An Exception Item occurs when the check processed does not match any one of the four pieces of verification data provided. Exception Items are available for review by 8 AM and must be validated by 11 AM through online or mobile banking. 

     

    Benefits of Using Positive Pay 

    Reduce Risk

    • Minimize the amount of checks you're writing and mailing
    • Don't leave checks in your mailbox awaiting pickup overnight, use a drop box if available
    • Switch to ACH, Card, and other electronic payments for bills and direct deposits
    • Move your payables to a separate checking account to protect your funds
    • Reconcile your accounts daily, at least looking at the checks and specifically the payee to make sure they are valid  

    Secure Steps

    • Easily upload your checks through software and/or manually enter check information through Business Online Banking.
    • Positive Pay makes sure to validate all four components of a check: item number, amount of item, payee name, and date of item. 
    • If presented at an FSCB location, the teller will verify the check against the verifiable data provided. If the check presented does not match, processing is then haltered/refused and awaits your verification.
    • If a check is processed at any non-FSCB bank: 
      • An overnight processing system will validate checks. 
      • Exception items will then be posted to your business's digital banking for you to validate
      • Exception items must be validated by 11 AM the day they are posted to be paid or returned.

    Enrolling in Positive Pay

    Visit your local branch or schedule an appointment with our Business Services team below to enroll and learn more. 

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    First State Insurance Agency and First State Financial Management products are: not a deposit, not FDIC insured, not insured by any government agency, not bank guaranteed and may decrease in value.