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Wednesday, September 16, 2026/Categories: News/Blog, Bank News, Business Resources
Imagine arriving at work on a Monday morning only to discover that several fraudulent checks have cleared your business account. The money is gone, and recovering it can be time-consuming, stressful, and costly.
Unfortunately, check fraud is becoming increasingly common for businesses of all sizes. The good news? There is a simple way to help protect your accounts and your hard-earned money.
Positive Pay is a fraud prevention service designed to help businesses detect potentially unauthorized checks and ACH transactions before they post to the account.
Think of it as an extra layer of security for your business banking.
When you issue checks, you upload a list of approved checks - including details like the check number, dollar amount, and payee name - to Community First Bank's Treasury Services system. As checks are presented for payment, Positive Pay automatically compares them against your approved list.
If something doesn't match, the transaction is flagged as an exception, and you're notified. You then decide whether to approve or return the item before it clears your account. ACH Filters can be for both debits and/or credits to the account, it is not just limited to debits.
While many people assume checks are disappearing, they remain a popular target for fraudsters.
Criminals have become increasingly sophisticated, using technology to create counterfeit checks or altering legitimate checks that have been stolen.
Without a system in place to verify transactions, fraudulent items can slip through unnoticed until it's too late.
Imagine a criminal steals a legitimate paper check your business mailed to a vendor. Using a process known as “check washing,” they erase the original payee name and dollar amount, then replace them with their own information and a larger amount.
Without Positive Pay, the bank may not have an approved list of check numbers, amounts, and payees to use for comparison. The altered check may be processed as legitimate if the alteration is not detected, potentially resulting in a significant loss to your business.
With Positive Pay, the check would be compared against the information your business submitted when the check was issued. If the payee or amount doesn’t match, the check is flagged as an exception, giving you the opportunity to review it before the funds leave your account.
According to the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP), checks continue to be one of the payment methods most frequently targeted by fraud. In its 2025 Payments Fraud and Control Survey, 79% of organizations reported experiencing attempted or actual payments fraud, while 63% reported check fraud specifically. These findings highlight why businesses should take a proactive approach to protecting their accounts.
For a deeper look at current fraud trends and prevention strategies, visit the AFP's resource on payments fraud:
Payments Fraud | Detection and Mitigation Strategies
Many business owners are surprised to learn that Positive Pay can also help monitor ACH transactions.
With ACH filtering, your business can establish rules that determine which electronic debits are allowed to post to your account. You can:
Create an approved vendor list
Set transaction limits
Automatically allow or reject certain debits
Receive email or text alerts when ACH activity occurs
This gives you greater control over both paper and electronic payments.
Fraud prevention isn't just theoretical; it delivers real-world results.
From January through May 2024, Positive Pay identified and helped prevent approximately $244,000 in suspected fraudulent check activity for Community First Bank customers.
Those are dollars that stayed where they belonged: in local businesses and communities.
One local business customer reported:
"We were recently targeted by a sophisticated fraud attempt, but thanks to Positive Pay, the fraudulent checks were flagged immediately and never cleared. The peace of mind knowing that we can proactively monitor our accounts and protect our assets is invaluable."
Positive Pay is a powerful tool, but businesses can strengthen their protection even further by reducing their reliance on paper checks.
Electronic payment options such as:
can help streamline operations while minimizing opportunities for fraud.
If your business writes checks, receives ACH transactions, or simply wants stronger protection against fraud, Positive Pay is worth considering.
A common consideration we hear from businesses is concern about adding extra steps to their processes. However, many organizations are already completing most of the work when issuing checks. In fact, most accounting and treasury management systems can easily generate a Positive Pay file that can be uploaded in just a few minutes. That small additional step - often less than five minutes - can significantly reduce the risk of fraud and deliver meaningful cost savings over time.
The service is easy to implement, simple to manage, and can help prevent financial losses that far exceed its monthly cost.
When it comes to fraud prevention, the best time to act is before a problem occurs.
Community First Bank can help determine whether Positive Pay is a good fit for your business and customize a solution that meets your needs.
Contact Community First Bank’s Treasury Services Officer to learn how Positive Pay can help safeguard your business from fraud:
Alyssa Kilcoyne
608-448-4671
Contact Alyssa
Positive Pay services are subject to applicable service agreements, cutoff times, and account requirements. Businesses should continue to monitor account activity regularly.