Positive Pay Targets Payee Name
Check Fraud at the Teller Line
Despite the many check-fraud prevention tools available
from banks, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
reports that each day criminals write 1.2 million
fraudulent checks and that check fraud losses amount to
more than $20 billion a year.
If the technology exists to guard against check fraud, why
are these numbers so high?
One reason: Companies often don’t take advantage
of prevention tools until they have experienced check
fraud and the associated headaches. As a result,
U.S. Bank has made customer education a
cornerstone of its check-fraud prevention efforts.
information to our check-presentment data and
generate a Positive Pay Exceptions Report. You
“We have held a number of seminars to educate
customers about fraud and introduce them to resources
that can prevent hassles that a fraud experience
causes,” says Michele Johnson, Product Manager.
The Positive Pay service is continually evolving to
thwart criminals, who are always looking to outsmart
the system. For instance, since bank tellers were
only able to verify check serial numbers and dollar
amounts, criminals began leaving the valid serial
numbers and dollar amounts intact while altering the
payee field—allowing them to cash the checks. This
is sometimes known as “payee name” check fraud.
Best protection: Positive Pay
“Without a doubt, Positive Pay is the tool that offers
our customers the most effective protection from
check fraud, and last year we worked to make our
product even stronger,” Ms. Johnson says.
review the exception information and decide which
items you want paid and which ones you want
returned.
By matching the serial numbers, dollar amounts and
account numbers of issued checks with those that
have been presented for payment against your
account, Positive Pay acts as a filter to catch
unauthorized transactions.
Teller Payee Positive Pay
Now there’s a way to minimize the risk of payee
name fraud. Teller Payee Positive Pay is U.S. Bank’s
new optional enhancement to Positive Pay. This
enhancement allows payee name information to be
verified on checks before they are cashed at the
teller line.
When you use Positive Pay, each day that your
company issues checks, you create and transmit a
check issue file to U.S. Bank. We match your file
To make this possible, customers use a new
transmission file format that allows them to include
payee information in their issue file.
® 2005 U.S. Bancorp
U.S. Bank Treasury Management Forum eNewsletter
Now U.S. Bank tellers can verify dollar amount,
serial number and payee names on all checks
cashed at the teller line for those companies that
sign up for the enhancement.
To request Positive Pay or the Teller Payee Positive
Pay enhancement, contact your Treasury
Management Sales Consultant or Relationship
Manager.
The time it takes to use Positive Pay and Teller
Payee Positive Pay is small compared to the time
you will spend if your company is hit by a successful
check fraud attack. “If there is fraud on an account,
you must close the account, order new checks and
reroute electronic payments,” Ms. Johnson explains.
“By introducing customers to check-fraud prevention
tools such as U.S. Bank Positive Pay and Teller
Payee Positive Pay, we hope to save them time and
money.”
® 2005 U.S. Bancorp
U.S. Bank Treasury Management Forum eNewsletter