Positive Pay — Synchrony Financial

Positive Pay is a fraud-prevention and check- and ACH-reconciliation solution offered through Synchrony Financial designed to help businesses protect their cash flow, reduce exposure to check and electronic payment fraud, and simplify reconciliation processes. By comparing issuer-provided payment information against presented items, Positive Pay enables financial operations teams to detect unauthorized activity, resolve exceptions efficiently, and maintain stronger internal controls across treasury and accounts payable functions.

How Positive Pay Works

At its core, Positive Pay compares a company's issued payment data with items presented to the bank for payment. The process generally involves:

• Issuing a secure file or sending payment data that lists issued checks and authorized ACH items, including check number, account number, amount, payee, and issue date.
• The bank matching presented items against the issued-file records in near real time.
• Flagging exceptions—items that do not match exactly or are not included in the issued file—for review and decision by the account holder.
• Providing an interface or automated workflow to pay, return, or hold items based on business rules or manual review.

Key Features

• Check Positive Pay: Matches presented checks to a list of issued checks and flags discrepancies by number, amount, or payee name.
• ACH Positive Pay: Validates ACH debit and credit transactions against company-authorized ACH files, allowing pre-authorization or exception handling for suspicious electronic debits.
• Payee Positive Pay: Adds an extra layer of verification by confirming the payee name in addition to number and amount.
• Reverse Positive Pay: Allows the company to review a list of items presented for payment and authorize or reject each item before settlement.
• Automated Exception Management: Configurable rules that automatically pay, return, or hold items based on thresholds, payee matching rules, and other criteria.
• Secure File Transmission and Integration: Supports multiple file formats and secure channels for transmitting issue files from ERP, accounting, or treasury systems into the bank platform.
• Web-Based Exception Portal: A centralized dashboard for reviewing exceptions, accessing image copies of items, and making timely decisions.
• Alerts and Notifications: Email and system alerts to notify designated users of new exceptions or action items requiring attention.
• Audit Trail and Reporting: Complete logs of submissions, matches, exceptions, user decisions, and settlement outcomes for internal control and regulatory reporting.

Benefits for Businesses

• Fraud Reduction: Prevents unauthorized checks and ACH debits from clearing, significantly lowering the risk of monetary loss and the operational burden of investigating fraud.
• Improved Cash Control: Ensures that only authorized payments are honored, helping to maintain accurate cash forecasting and liquidity management.
• Operational Efficiency: Automates reconciliation tasks and exception workflows, freeing treasury and accounting resources for higher-value activities.
• Customizable Controls: Business-tailored rules allow organizations to balance automation with manual review for sensitive payments.
• Enhanced Auditability: Detailed transaction histories support internal controls and regulatory compliance requirements.

Typical Workflow and User Experience

Companies typically integrate their payment issuance processes with Synchrony’s Positive Pay either through batch file uploads from their accounting or ERP systems or through automated secure file transmission. Once the issued payment file is received, Synchrony matches incoming presented items against the file. Items that fully match are paid automatically; exceptions appear in the online portal where authorized users can review item images, compare details, and take one of several actions—pay, return, or investigate further.

The web portal is designed for clarity and speed of decision-making. It includes search and filter capabilities, bulk action functionality for high-volume environments, and role-based access so that segregated duties can be enforced across users and departments. Time-stamped entries and an immutable audit trail help ensure that every decision is documented for compliance and internal review.

Integration and Implementation

Positive Pay is built to integrate with common treasury management practices. Synchrony supports multiple file formats and file-delivery methods to accommodate different ERP and payment processing systems. Implementation typically involves establishing secure transmission protocols, mapping the required data fields, testing sample files, and configuring exception rules and user roles. Training and documentation are provided to help teams adopt the service quickly and consistently.

Security and Compliance

Security features include encrypted file transmission, multi-factor authentication for user access, role-based permissions, and detailed logging of all actions. The service is designed to align with common regulatory and audit requirements, providing the transactional visibility and documentation needed for internal control frameworks.

Reporting and Analytics

Comprehensive reporting tools allow treasury teams to monitor exception volume, fraud trends, and decision timelines. Analytics can be used to refine rules, reduce false positives, and detect emerging patterns of fraudulent activity. Custom reports can be scheduled or generated on demand to support reconciliation, audit, and operational performance reviews.

Who Should Use Positive Pay

Positive Pay is ideal for mid-sized and large organizations that issue checks or ACH transactions and require stronger controls over outgoing payments. It is particularly beneficial for companies with high payment volumes, decentralized payment issuance, or elevated fraud exposure. Organizations seeking to standardize treasury operations, improve reconciliation accuracy, and mitigate financial risk will find Positive Pay a foundational component of their cash management strategy.

Getting Started

Onboarding typically involves a brief discovery period to understand payment flows and system capabilities, configuration of file formats and rules, testing, and user training. Once implemented, ongoing support, maintenance, and optional tuning of exception rules help organizations get the most value from their Positive Pay deployment.

Conclusion

Positive Pay through Synchrony Financial provides a robust combination of automation, controls, and visibility that helps organizations protect cash assets, streamline reconciliation, and strengthen defenses against check and ACH fraud. With configurable rules, secure integrations, and a user-centric exception management portal, Positive Pay is a practical solution for businesses seeking to maintain tighter control over their outgoing payments and reduce the operational burden associated with payment exceptions.

Address Bank: Stamford, Connecticut, U.S.
Bank: Synchrony Financial
Headquarters: Stamford, Connecticut
Products: Payments & Treasury
Type: Positive Pay