Positive Pay — Atlantic Union Bank

Positive Pay from Atlantic Union Bank is a modern, proven fraud-prevention and cash-management service designed to protect your business against check and electronic payment fraud while simplifying daily reconciliation. Combining automated verification, flexible exception handling and integrated reporting, Positive Pay helps treasury teams maintain control over outgoing payments and incoming clears without interrupting normal cash flow operations.

What Positive Pay Does

Positive Pay is a proactive matching system that compares items presented for payment against a list of authorized checks and ACH transactions submitted by your company. When an item presented by a bank for payment does not match the information you provided — such as check number, payee name, account number or dollar amount — it is flagged as an exception. You receive actionable information to pay, return or investigate that item, minimizing losses and reducing the time your staff spends on manual reconciliation.

Key Features

• Check Positive Pay: Submit issued check details (check number, issue date, payee and amount). Items presented that do not match are identified for review.
• ACH Positive Pay: Monitor and validate ACH debits against approved ACH files to stop unauthorized or altered electronic withdrawals.
• File Upload and Integration: Flexible file formats and secure file transmission options including direct integration with accounting and ERP systems for automated file delivery.
• Real-Time Exception Handling: Receive timely alerts for exceptions through the bank’s online platform, secure portal or integrated treasury dashboard.
• Role-Based Access and Dual Approval: Granular user permissions and multi-level approval workflows to ensure separation of duties for decision-making on exceptions.
• Audit Trail and Reporting: Full audit history, detailed exception reports and summary analytics to support internal controls, compliance and reconciliation.
• Custom Business Rules: Establish tolerance thresholds, payee verification rules and filters to align the service with your company’s risk appetite and cash-management policies.
• Alerting and Notifications: Configurable notifications by email or secure message to ensure responsible staff are promptly informed of items requiring action.

How It Works — Simple Workflow

1. Submit Issued Items: Each business day, you provide a file containing authorized checks and ACH transactions issued by your company.
2. Automated Matching: When items are presented for payment, the system compares them against your issued file based on predefined matching rules.
3. Flag Exceptions: Items that fail to meet matching criteria are flagged as exceptions and routed to designated users for review.
4. Decide and Approve: Authorized users review exception details and choose to pay, return or hold items. Decisions are logged for audit and compliance.
5. Reporting and Reconciliation: Exception outcomes and item-level details are archived in reports to streamline account reconciliation and support internal controls.

Benefits for Your Organization

• Reduce Fraud Losses: Stop unauthorized checks and ACH debits before they clear, significantly lowering direct losses and recovery costs.
• Strengthen Internal Controls: Enhance separation of duties and provide a verifiable audit trail to meet corporate governance and audit expectations.
• Save Time and Resources: Automate manual reconciliation processes and reduce the volume of time-consuming investigations.
• Protect Cash Flow: Preserve working capital by preventing unexpected outflows and maintaining accurate projected balances.
• Improve Regulatory Compliance: Maintain documentation and exception resolution history to support regulatory and internal compliance reviews.
• Scalable to Your Needs: A solution that fits businesses of various sizes and can be scaled as transaction volumes grow or payment channels evolve.

Security and Reliability

Atlantic Union Bank’s Positive Pay service is built on secure transmission protocols and enterprise-grade controls. File transfers are encrypted, access is governed by strong authentication and user activity is logged for full traceability. Multi-factor authentication and role-based permissions help ensure only authorized personnel can submit files or act on exceptions. The service is supported by bank operational controls and monitoring to ensure timely processing and resiliency.

Implementation and Support

Implementation is tailored to your organization’s technology and operational needs. Typical steps include:

• Account setup and administrator configuration
• Definition of matching rules, exception thresholds and approval workflows
• Integration planning for file transmission or API connectivity
• Testing with sample files and validation of exception routing
• User training and documentation for ongoing administration

Dedicated treasury service professionals provide onboarding assistance, best-practice guidance and ongoing support to ensure the product is optimized for your risk profile and cash-management processes.

Who Should Use Positive Pay

Positive Pay is valuable for any organization that issues checks or authorizes ACH debits and seeks to proactively manage payment risk — from small businesses to large corporations and public entities. It is particularly beneficial for companies with centralized treasury operations, high check or ACH volumes, or those operating in industries with elevated fraud exposure.

Conclusion

Positive Pay at Atlantic Union Bank delivers a practical, robust defense against check and ACH fraud while simplifying reconciliation and strengthening internal controls. By combining automated matching, configurable rules and secure workflows, the service empowers your finance and treasury teams to make timely, informed decisions about payment exceptions and to protect company assets with confidence.

To learn more or begin implementation, contact your Atlantic Union Bank representative for product details and next steps.

Address Bank: Richmond, Virginia
Bank: Atlantic Union Bank
Headquarters: Richmond, Virginia
Products: Payments & Treasury
Type: Positive Pay