Leaders Bank "Positive Pay" Fraud Prevention Tool Delivers Positive Payback to Customers

            Imagine the following scenario. Your supplier contacts you about a payment that’s two weeks late. You know the check was mailed on time, and when you call the bank, you’re told that the check number has cleared. But your supplier insists they never received the check. Now, they’re holding up your next shipment until you issue them a new check. When your bank statement arrives, you pull the canceled check as proof of payment, but find it was made payable to someone else for an extra $1,000. Your only option is to take it up with the bank’s fraud department, which means spending time filling out reports and making more calls—to make matters worse, you’re experiencing production delays due to lack of supplies, when you could be growing your business.

Managing cash flow is vital to business success. A component of every company’s treasury management strategy should be mitigating the risk of check fraud. Check laundering and other fraudulent activities are a real threat to today’s businesses, which are relying on their banks to take leadership roles in theft prevention with responsive solutions. Commercial customers expect banks to stay a step ahead of criminals, which means offering innovative check fraud prevention tools that are simple to understand and use.

            One bank leading the effort against check fraud is Leaders Bank in Oak Brook, Illinois, a bank that specializes in serving private business owners, their families and other entrepreneurs. On the cutting-edge of commercial banking, Leaders Bank offers an extensive menu of treasury management services and tools. One of Leaders’ innovative solutions is “Positive Pay,” an easy-to-use web-based fraud prevention and account reconciliation tool that gives customers total control over check disbursements.

            “With Leaders Bank Positive Pay, a company’s vulnerability to check fraud plummets,” said Rob Brucato, SVP of Treasury Management Services, Leaders Bank. “By pinpointing potentially fraudulent transactions before final payment decisions are made, Positive Pay gives Leaders customers more security, boosts efficiency with automated check matching, and avoids the staggering costs of check fraud. The bottom line is that Positive Pay delivers a positive benefit to Leaders customers.”

            How does it work? Customers send check issue information through the Internet banking service directly to Leaders Bank, which conducts an automated check matching process that saves time and safeguards funds. Positive Pay electronically matches each check amount and check number presented for payment to the list of checks issued from the customer. If the check amount and check number match, Leaders Bank authorizes payment. If a discrepancy is identified, Leaders Internet banking service flags the suspect item and quickly alerts the customer, who can then opt to make a “pay” or “no pay” decision. By putting control back into customers’ hands, Leaders Bank is restoring confidence in commercial banks’ abilities to fight fraud, improving companies’ treasury management practices, and helping more businesses succeed—now that’s positive payback.

For more information about Leaders Bank treasury management and Positive Pay services, call 630-572-5323 or visit www.leadersbank.com.