How to Avoid ACH Fraud or Payments Fraud

Unfortunately, it’s no longer a matter of “if,” but rather “when” payments fraud will impact your business.


As you look at your payment strategy, does it minimize your risk to fraud? Like many businesses, your strategy may be highly focused on check payments, the most compromised payment type. Sixty-six percent of businesses said their companies experienced check fraud as part of the 2021 Association of Financial Professionals Payments Fraud and Control Report. While other payment methods have been targets, the risk significantly decreases with others; a breakdown is below.

rates of payment fraud

Tools and Best Practices to Protect Your Business from Fraud

Don’t stress – by having a payments strategy that focuses on mitigating these risks, paired with industry-leading fraud tools, you can safeguard your business while still generating returns to the bottom line.

  • Prevent ACH fraud with ACH Positive Pay and daily reconciliation to identify and return unauthorized ACH debits and credits.
  • Leverage electronic payments and commercial card for additional controls and restrictions.
  • Integrated Payables builds efficiencies as this single payment solution handles all payment types: check, ACH and virtual card; and facilitates flexible payment processing from one easy-to-use platform.
  • Detailed reporting can help you more quickly identify and react to fraudulent activity.

Having a diversified payments strategy that incorporates multiple payment methods to pay your vendors not only mitigates the risk of fraud, it can result in major returns and efficiencies for your accounts payable department. With a strategy that includes a variety of payment methods such as electronic ACHs, Commercial Card Programs (including virtual cards), your company would be working to create greater efficiencies, free up cash flow, and generate safer, more secure payment transactions than traditional check payments.

At Dubuque Bank & Trust, a division of HTLF Bank, we want to help you cultivate a successful business by optimizing your payments strategy. Partners work together, and we’re ready to help move your company forward with informed clarity and confidence. Reach out to us and we’ll get started today!

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