Positive Pay
Quick Start Set-up Guide
2 EASY STEPS TO FRAUD PROTECTION
The following information will help you get up and running with Positive Pay quickly and easily. With Positive
Pay, you provide us with information about the checks you write. When each check is presented for payment,
we compare the information you gave us against the physical check. If the information doesn’t match, it’s
flagged for your review before we pay it.
STEP 1: Tell us the checks you've written.
STEP 2: Review questionable items.
Let’s get started!
www.wfbi.com
2015/6/10
STEP 1: YOUR CHECK INFORMATION
To begin the process, we need to understand how to read your check information accurately. To do that, you will need
to upload your check information to us. You have two options to upload your check information.
Option 1: A
dd items individually. This is an easy way to upload a few items quickly by entering the
check information into Online Banking.
Option 2: Import a data file containing multiple items. This is the fastest way to accurately upload
multiple items by uploading a specially-formatted file to Online Banking.
To make getting started easy and stress-free, your WashingtonFirst Bank account representative will guide you through
the process.
If you're a self-starter or just looking for guidance on either option, step-by-step instructions begin on page 5.
STEP 2: REVIEW YOUR QUESTIONABLE POSITIVE PAY ITEMS
The ITEM REVIEW process is the heart of Positive Pay. When an item is presented for payment, we'll compare it to the
information you provided in Step 1. If it doesn't match, or you didn't give us information about it, we'll flag it and send
an email asking you to review it. You're in control and will decide whether or not the item will be approved (paid) or
disapproved (returned).
a. To begin the Positive Pay review and approval process, select REVIEW from the Positive Pay menu.
b. Select the appropriate ACCOUNT from the drop-down menu, or choose ALL to display all items available for review.
c. Click SUBMIT to display the items for the account selection you chose.
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d. If you have permission to make payment decisions, you can click on the CHECK NUMBER to view images of your
checks as they've been presented to the bank. This allows you to inspect the complete check for any alterations
that may have been made since you wrote it.
e. Review each item, and decide if you want to APPROVE the item as presented, RETURN it, or simply take NO
ACTION until you've researched the discrepancy more.
• Select an action for each item and click PROCESS ITEMS.
• If you APPROVE an item before the daily deadline, it will be paid.
• If you RETURN an item before the daily deadline, it will not be paid. It will be returned unpaid and your
account credited for the item.
• If you take NO ACTION on an item before the daily deadline, we will follow the default decision selected in
your Positive Pay Rider set up form; we will either "Return All" or "Pay All" items.
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STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS FOR UPLOADING CHECK INFORMATION
Option 1: Add items individually
a. To enter your items into Positive Pay individually, select ITEMS from the Positive Pay menu, then click ADD ITEMS, or
from the Positive Pay Overview screen, navigate to the ADD ITEM section.
b. Enter the following information for each item:
• Select from which Account the item was written
• Enter the Check Number
• Enter the date the item was issued
• Enter the amount of the item
• Enter the Payee
• Enter the Reference Number if applicable (Invoice Number, for example)
• Select the item type
c. When you’ve completed your item entry, click ADD ITEM. Your issued item is now stored in the Positive Pay system.
Please note that the Payee and Reference Number fields are not included in the automated comparison process
when a check is presented for payment, as they cannot be read by the system.
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Option 2: Import a data file containing multiple items
Before importing a data file, you will need to prepare a template that tells our system how the data in your file is
organized. We'll provide you with a standardized template, help you create a customized template that matches the
format of your check-issuance or accounting software, or you can follow the steps below to create one yourself. Your
data file must have the columns shown below. Valid values are shown.
• Item Type: Valid values are I (capital letter I for Issued) and V (capital letter V for Void)
• Check/Item/Transaction Number: Valid values are numeric only
• Account: Valid values are the numeric account number enrolled in the service
• Amount: Valid values are the numeric amount, no commas, and two-place decimal
• Date: Valid values are numeric dates formatted as mm/dd/yyyy
• Payee and/or Reference Number: Valid values are numbers, letters, symbols and spaces
Based on the organization of the data in your file, prepare a template.
a. Open your data file containing the check information. SAVE IT AS a .CSV, .PRN or .TXT file.
b. Log into our Online Banking site.
c. Select IMPORT TEMPLATES from the Positive Pay menu.
d. Click ADD TEMPLATE on the right side of the Template List menu bar.
e. Begin by attaching a file from your software program that represents the type of file that will be imported through
this new template.
• Select whether or not to Import the Attached File. YES indicates the data will be imported, and NO means
the Attached File will be used only as a guide without importing the data.
• Give the template a name.
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• Define the number of header rows and footer rows (including blank rows at the top).
• Determine whether your data already contains decimal points, and select YES/NO to Input Decimals into
Amount accordingly.
• If the data file has Text Qualifiers, such as quotation marks, indicate what qualifier is used.
• Choose the File Format. If it is, for example, a comma delimited file, select the empty box and enter a comma.
• Click NEXT.
f. Now you will “map” the data from your attached file to determine the way data is read into the template.
• Match all the data columns in your import file to the appropriate column in Positive Pay. For example, if the
account type is in the fourth column of your import file, type a “4” in the box.
• Mask Format allows you to "hide" some of the information for security purposes. For example, if you enter
"xxxx3456," the template will drop the first four characters of the Account Number, and read characters five
through eight.
g. Next, tell Positive Pay what type of file data this template will control.
• Enter the code your accounting software assigns to each type of data and the type of item associated with
that code – ISSUE CHECKS, ITEM STOP PAYMENTS, or VOIDS.
• Choose the value for the code, then click ADD.
• If the files will have multiple types, you can enter codes and values for each.
h. Click CREATE TEMPLATE. The template will now display in your template list and be available for future imports. If
you chose to import the attached file, the data will be imported into Positive Pay.
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Now that you've formatted an upload template and your data file is prepared, you are ready for BATCH
IMPORT of your check data.
a. Click IMPORT A FILE from the Positive Pay menu.
b. Use the BROWSE button to locate the data file you are importing.
c. Choose the designated Template for this file that you have created, and click NEXT.
d. Next, a FILE IMPORT SUMMARY screen will display information about the dollar amount and number of items
imported, along with any “Import Exceptions” that need to be corrected or deleted.
• To correct an item, click the EDIT icon to change the information on the item. Click SAVE ITEM when finished.
• To delete them, click the DELETE icon to remove it from the upload.
When you've finished correcting or deleting each exception, the items inside your imported file will now appear
within your items list.
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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1. How will I know if I have items to be reviewed?
You’ll receive an early-morning email on the days you have items to review. You may also perform an item review
search within Online Banking.
2. What do I need to do to review items? What happens if I don’t?
After logging into Online Banking and doing an item review search, you’ll need to either approve or disapprove
each item before the 11:00am ET daily deadline. Any items that aren’t approved or disapproved by that time will
either be returned or paid, based upon the default election selected at set-up.
3. I ’m getting errors when uploading (importing) batch files. What do I need to do?
Most import errors are caused by the formatting of the information in the file. Common formatting issues are:
• The columns in the file are not in the same order as the import template settings
• The date format is incorrect
• The file has rows of data that are not checks, such as ACH items
• The amount fields have commas or periods which weren’t defined in the import template settings
• The file is not saved in a .CSV, .PRN or .TXT format
How you fix the errors depends upon whether the file “uploaded but contained exceptions” or "was not imported
because the exception limit was met or exceeded.” If the message was:
• File [Name] contained [#] exceptions, then the file was accepted, however, there were items that were
not imported. Follow the steps in this guide to CHANGE IMPORT EXCEPTIONS. There won't be more than 15
import exceptions to correct. If there had been more, the file would not have been imported.
• Import exception limit met or exceeded, file [Name] was not imported, then the file was NOT accepted.
Review the formatting of the information in the file and the file's format. After correcting any formatting
issues, try uploading the revised file.
For further assistance, please give us a call on 703-840-2410 to be directed to customer support.
TERMS
Familiarize yourself with some basic terms we use throughout the set-up process.
Item: Typically a single check to be processed.
Batch: Multiple checks issued in one file.
Template: The "template" is a reusable form that holds your data.
Delimited: A character used to separate spreadsheet data in a text file. The most common delimiters are tabs,
commas and semi-colons.
Import Exceptions: When you import a file, there may be some "Exceptions." These are usually caused by invalid
data such as file formatting or typographical errors.
Data Mapping: The process of matching columns in a spreadsheet to the fields of a template. For example, the Date
column in a spreadsheet is matched to the Date field in the template so imports are accurate.
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