Don’t Walk the Walk without Talking the Talk!
"This Check Clears Positive Pay" Warning Band Helps Deter Fraud

When it comes to Document Security, the name of the game is Due Diligence and Fraud Deterrence.  If you’ve incorporated ample security features into your documents, you’ve got the Due Diligence angle covered, but many times, we find that making it known that your documents are protected is every bit as important.

To put it another way, the customer who uses every available security feature on their laser check stock is unlikely to be held financially responsible when fraud occurs.  However, the customer who makes their security features known may be less likely to experience fraud in the first place, much as the car with a flashing alarm and a well-placed Anti-Theft decal is less likely to be targeted by a thief. 

With this in mind, Relyco has begun recommending a new security feature be combined with an old one to create a strong defense against fraud.  The “old” security feature is Positive Pay.  Whenever we’re asked our opinion on the very best, most fool-proof security feature available on the market today, our answer is and always has been “get Positive Pay.”  This is a simple but effective system of supplying your bank with a list of checks that have been written, and having them check deposited checks against that list. 

One problem with Positive Pay, especially in instances of check duplication, is that when the “fake” check is deposited prior to the “real” one, the thief can still get their money.  In the end, your company will almost certainly be found faultless, but you will nevertheless have an employee, customer or vendor who tries to deposit a legitimate check, only to be told that it has already been deposited and can therefore not be processed.

To avoid this potentially embarrassing situation, we recommend combining Positive Pay with a Warning Band that indicates that Positive Pay is in fact in use.  Typical wording for such a warning can be a simple as “This Check Clears Positive Pay” printed along the top of your check, but the message to the thief is clear: “This check is secure – pick another one to tamper with!”

The best news about Warning bands is that they can typically be added to your existing check design at no extra cost to you.  For more information about incorporating Warning Bands into your document security arsenal, talk to your Relyco representative, or call us at (800) 777-7359.  We’ll be happy to help you put the squeeze on fraud!