Enhanced Protection for Your Business: First Utah Bank’s New and Improved Positive Pay
New Positive Pay Service Now Available
Operating a successful business means protecting yourself from fraud at all times, which is why First Utah Bank has always provided the most up-to-date fraud protection tools. And to help our customers add another layer of defense, we’re excited to announce improvements to our Positive Pay services.
Until recently, First Utah Bank offered check positive pay as a standalone service to help businesses prevent check fraud. This service has been highly effective in deterring check fraud and remains completely free for our customers. But, fewer businesses are writing paper checks these days.
We’ve now added ACH Positive Pay to our services, creating a complete system of fraud protection that covers both check and electronic payments. Both services work through a single, redesigned interface that’s easy to use.
Why ACH Positive Pay Matters for Your Business
This is an important fact all business owners should know: companies have only one business day to send back an ACH payment. Given this tight timeframe, ACH Positive Pay is an essential piece of protection for any business.
Modern technology makes this protection more important than ever before. Today’s cybercriminals don’t just steal credit card numbers or send fake emails. They research businesses extensively, studying vendor relationships, payment patterns and employee communications through social media and data breaches. Fraudsters move quickly to get as much money as possible before they’re noticed. This makes early detection critical.
For comprehensive protection against all types of business banking threats, explore our complete treasury management security solutions.
The reality is, most business owners are too busy running their companies to monitor their account activity daily. An estimated 61 percent of all cyber attacks target small businesses, and no business is too small to be immune. This is why proactive protection like Positive Pay is so valuable. Rather than trying to detect fraud after it happens, you prevent unauthorized access from the start.
ACH Positive Pay: Stop Electronic Fraud Before It Happens
ACH Positive Pay works differently from check positive pay because there’s no physical check involved. Instead of verifying individual transactions, ACH Positive Pay allows you to create a “whitelist” of trusted entities authorized to debit or credit your account. Think of it as creating an approved list for your business banking account.
During setup, you can add all of your trusted vendors, suppliers and partners at once, or build your whitelist gradually. The more selective you are about who can access your account, the better your protection. You can also set payment limits and expiration dates for authorization, giving you even more control. Once your whitelist is set up, the system runs itself. If an unknown individual tries to debit your account, you’ll get a notification asking you to approve or deny the transaction.
Enhanced Check Positive Pay: Streamlined Interface, Zero Cost
If your business still writes checks (and many Utah businesses do), check positive pay should be an important part of your fraud prevention plan. This is an automated service that helps banks detect fraud by matching your issued checks with checks presented for payment. The dollar amount, check number, and payee must all match, or the check is flagged and you are notified.
When you issue checks, you provide First Utah Bank with check information through online banking. You can upload your check data via spreadsheet or enter each check individually — whatever works best for your workflow.
If someone tries to cash a check that doesn’t match your submitted information, you’ll get an immediate email alert. You can then log into the system and choose either “Pay” or “Return.” Please note: We strongly recommend choosing “Return” if a check doesn’t match your file. If for some reason you can’t respond to the alert, your default decision will guide the bank.
If a vendor calls asking about a payment, you can look up any check number in the system to verify its status. You can even void checks directly through the interface, saving time and preventing potential problems, and ensuring you have an accurate record of the status of each check issued.
Get Complete Fraud Protection Starting Today
Check positive pay remains free for our customers, while ACH Positive Pay costs a nominal monthly fee — minimal compared to potential losses from just one successful fraud attempt. And if you’re already using our original check positive pay service, you’ll love the improved interface and seamless ACH protection integration.
If you’re new to Positive Pay, we’d be happy to walk you through both services and help determine the right protection level for your business. Whether you’re a small local retailer writing checks to suppliers or a growing technology company managing dozens (hundreds) of ACH transactions, we’ll help configure Positive Pay services to match your specific situation.
Ready to enhance your business protection with our improved Positive Pay services? Contact our Treasury Management team today, or visit any of our convenient Utah locations to learn more. Your business worked hard to earn its reputation and resources. Let us help you protect them.