US banking · checked 20 October 2026
Positive Pay for small businesses
Positive Pay is a bank service that checks payments out of your account against a list you approved, and holds anything that doesn't match. It's the standard defence against forged and altered checks. In the AFP's 2025 survey, 79% of organisations reported attempted or actual payments fraud in 2024, and 63% reported check fraud.
The four types
| Type | How it works | Stops |
|---|---|---|
| Check Positive Pay | You send the bank a file of checks you issued (number and amount). Checks that don't match are held for you to approve or reject. | Counterfeit checks, altered amounts |
| Payee Positive Pay | Adds the payee name to the match. | Real checks with the payee name changed |
| Reverse Positive Pay | The bank sends you each day's presented checks and you approve or reject them. | The same, but if you miss the review window, checks can clear by default |
| ACH Positive Pay / debit block | ACH debits from companies not on your approved list are held or rejected. | Unauthorised direct debits from your account |
What it costs and what it takes
- Banks typically charge about $30 to $150 per account per month, with payee matching or ACH filtering sometimes extra. Some include it in business or treasury packages, so ask.
- Someone has to upload the issued-checks file every time you write checks, and decide on exceptions before the bank's daily cut-off.
- Ask the bank to return unreviewed exceptions by default, not pay them.
What Positive Pay doesn't stop
Positive Pay checks payments you didn't make. It does nothing when you willingly pay a fraudster, because the payment is on your approved list. That's the "supplier changed bank details" scam: a fake or hacked email asks you to send the next invoice to a new account, and you do.
For that you need a different control: verify every bank-detail change by calling back on a number you already had, have a second person approve it, and hold the first payment until it's checked. Vendor emailed new bank details? What to do.
A simple fraud set-up for a small business
- Check Positive Pay (payee version if offered) on any account that writes checks.
- ACH debit block or filter on accounts that shouldn't be debited.
- A written bank-detail change policy. Free form and policy.
- A yearly clean-up of your supplier list. Vendor master file audit.
Sources: AFP 2025 Payments Fraud and Control Survey (79% and 63% figures), as reported by Corpay, What is Positive Pay? (also the types, cut-offs and typical pricing). Read 20 October 2026. Ask your bank for its own terms and fees.
Check a suspicious email free Set up call-backs and approvals