Protect Your Business from Check & ACH Fraud

Check fraud has grown into a major issue for businesses and with the increase in online payments, it’s important for you to take the necessary steps to protect your business from any methods of fraud. With the right precautions, it’s possible for you to significantly reduce the risk of check and ACH payment fraud. Peoples Security Bank is here to help you understand how check payment fraud works and ways for you to prevent it so you can enjoy peace of mind when it comes to payment security.

What is Check & ACH Fraud?

Check fraud is a crime that involves the illegal use of a check. This can be an individual forging a check that is in someone else’s name or writing a fraudulent check. Usually, check fraud involves someone attempting to purchase something using a check that has been stolen or altered. A fraudulent check can appear to be a business as a personal check, cashier’s check, money order, or a check that was delivered to you electronically.

How Check Fraud Happens

Stolen and counterfeit checks are a common way to commit check fraud and it’s often difficult to detect. Criminals will use stolen and counterfeit checks to steal funds from your business account by altering the payee, dollar amount, and even the check number. In most cases, they use them to pay for merchandise or it can involve overpayments and cashback requests that can leave business owners out thousands of dollars.

Using Positive Pay to Prevent Check & ACH Payment Fraud

Peoples Security Bank offers a solution called Positive Pay to business customers to help prevent check & ACH fraud. With Positive Pay, you can significantly mitigate the effects of check & ACH payment fraud. It’s meant to compliment your internal security measures. Positive Pay enables a business to stay one step ahead of criminals and protect its cash flow. Implementing strategies today to ensure protection in the future means less room for financial loss. Here’s how Positive Pay would be beneficial to you and your business:

• Utilize our secure online banking system for processing and setting up alerts
• Streamline the process for more efficient handling of fraudulent checks and ACH items
• Increase the control you have over check payments and ACH items posting to your account
• Safeguard against fraudulent activity by blocking unauthorized electronic transactions
• Check Positive Pay verifies the payee, date, dollar amount, and check number against previous checks you’ve written. Any discrepancies will allow you to review a possible fraudulent check to either pay or return it.