Fraud Mitigation Tools• Northrim Bank

Fraud Mitigation Tools

Safeguard your business from fraud

 

Businesses continue to be targets of fraud schemes. According to Point Predictive, the amount of check fraud this year is estimated to total more than $24 billion, and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network sees no indication check fraud is going to subside anytime soon. We encourage you to be aware of the dangers and take advantage of services that can help protect your business.

Positive Pay

Positive pay is a fraud-mitigation service that gives you the power to easily monitor your accounts for unauthorized checks or ACH debits and streamline your reconciliation process. It helps detect and prevent unauthorized debits from a business account by comparing items being debited from the business account to a list of issued checks or established Automated Clearing House (ACH) rules.

 

Two Types of Positive Pay

 

Check

This service helps defend against both counterfeit and altered checks, comparing checks paid to those provided in an issue file, more commonly known as the outstanding check register. An issued check database lists all of the checks written against your account and includes amount, serial number, issue date and payee name; therefore, identifying a fraudulent item is automated for you.

How it works
  1. Business imports issued check information to Northrim Business Online Banking.
     
  2. When a check is presented for payment, Positive Pay automatically compares information on the check with the imported list of issued checks.
     
  3. Any check that does nor match the list or is unreadable is presrnted for exception review through Business Online Banking. Business can make a decision to both approve and pay the item, or to reject the item and not allow it to be paid from the account. 

ACH

Works with payment rules your business establishes. An ACH Positive Pay payment rule is defined by the ACH originating ID number, standard entry code and dollar amount; therefore, preventing future exceptions from originating companies.

How it works
  1. Business creates a list of trusted vendors and sets parameters for ACH debits amount, frequency, etc.
     
  2. When a debit is presented for payment, Positive Pay automatically compares the item against the list and parameters.
     
  3. Any ACH transaction that does not match an existing rule is presented for exception review through Business Online Banking. Business can make a decision to both approve and pay the item, or to reject the item and not allow it to be paid from the account.

When approving, the user is presented with a quick link to easily create a new rule for new vendors.

 

How-To guides are available for common Positive Pay actions.

Reduce your exposure to check and AHC fraud with Positive Pay. Contact us today at (907) 562-0062 for more details.

Integrated Payables

 

Streamlining your payment process with enhanced security controls is essential in reducing the risk of fraud and the reputational and financial damages that go along with it. Learn more about how Integrated Payables can benefit your business.