By Max Koenig, Vice President @ Monit

Positive Pay has been around since the 1990s. Until CheckSync launched last year, the workflow to actually use Positive Pay had gone untouched for over 30 years. In an era where AI is reshaping industries overnight, that kind of stagnation isn't just surprising. It's a liability.

I Went Bank by Bank…and Found the Same Story Everywhere

I've spent the last several months going bank by bank to see how Positive Pay is presented to business clients. Why? Because I come from a family of business owners — civil engineers, general contractors, artists, therapists — and most of them aren't financial experts (sorry Fam!). They're brilliant at what they do. But navigating complex fraud prevention products? That's not their world.

For the last five years, I've been obsessed with one thing: fixing how financial institutions serve businesses. That means taking complex financial products and actually making them usable — not "banker simple." Real simple.

Fraud Is Exploding, and SMBs Can't Afford It

The stakes have never been higher. With the rise of AI comes a parallel rise in fraud, and small and mid-sized businesses are squarely in the crosshairs:

• Most businesses only carry about 30-60 days of cash on hand — there's no deep rainy day fund to absorb a hit.
• 90% of businesses still use checks, and 65% of fraud attempts target checks.
• A single fraud event can mean payroll risk, supplier disruption, and operational chaos.

And beyond the financial damage? Unwinding a fraud incident is an absolute nightmare. Banks are actively warning clients about this (Example: Protect Yourself from Check Fraud with These Prevention Tips) — and rightfully so. The threat is real and growing.

In Response, Banks Provide…a PDF Guide?

Here's the disconnect. Banks are talking about fraud. They're sending alerts, publishing blog posts, and enrolling clients in Positive Pay (Chase recently rebranded theirs as "Check Protection"). And then they hand those clients a PDF guide and wish them luck.

Take a look at some of the "simple" guides floating around out there (Example: Chase - Fraud Protection Services Go-To Guide). Multi-page documents explaining file formats, upload templates, and error codes. Some banks even include disclaimers acknowledging that connecting to accounting systems is complicated — and then refer businesses back to those same guides to "create a process" for themselves.

Let's call this what it is: these aren't solutions. They're homework assignments.

The playbook looks like this:

1. Enroll the client.
2. Send them a PDF.
3. Hope they figure it out.

That's not fraud protection. That's passing the buck. And if a business owner does summon the courage to call and ask for help, they're looking at a 30–60 minute phone call that never should have been necessary — for them or for the bank's treasury services team.

The Real Problem Is Adoption, Not Awareness

Banks are educating clients. That part is happening. But education and usability are two very different things. Recent data from Datos Insights makes this clear: the percentage of treasury clients actually enrolled in and actively using Positive Pay remains stubbornly low.

And that's exactly where everything breaks down. Because Positive Pay only works if:

• Files are uploaded consistently
• Data is accurate
• The process is followed every single day

That responsibility falls entirely on the business owner.

Let's Talk About That Business Owner for a Second

This person is serving customers, managing employees, dealing with suppliers, running payroll, building product, and putting out fires — all before lunch. And now we're asking them to log in, export a file, format it correctly, upload it, and reconcile it. Every. Single. Day.

I've heard bankers say, "It only takes my clients five minutes to upload the check file." Okay — but let's do that math:

5 minutes/day × 5 days/week × 52 weeks/year = 1,300 minutes — roughly 21 hours a year spent on Positive Pay admin.

Business owners have better things to do with 21 hours.

What If It Was Just One Button?

What if, instead of file exports, upload templates, and cryptic error messages, the entire setup was: Connect Your Accounting Software — and that was it?

No files. No friction. No daily task on the to-do list. Just protection running quietly in the background, doing its job.

That's not a fantasy. That's what modern technology makes possible.

Positive Pay Is Finally Evolving

For 30+ years, Positive Pay has been manual, clunky, and entirely dependent on the business owner doing extra work. That changes now.

CheckSync automates Positive Pay by connecting directly to accounting systems, eliminating file uploads entirely, and keeping data in sync automatically. The product actually gets used — because it doesn't ask business owners to do anything extra.

Banks are already moving. 10 banks are signed up for CheckSync, including Bank of Tennessee, a $2 billion asset community bank on the forefront of innovation that has consistently pushed to do better for its business clients. They're not just offering fraud protection — they're making it usable.

“In an era of pervasive and ever-increasing check fraud, Positive Pay is a powerful, critical tool in our arsenal against fraudsters. However, Positive Pay can be a bit daunting for businesses to manage, and that’s where CheckSync adds tremendous value.  By automating the check file process from 7 steps to just one, businesses no longer have to worry about file upload issues or missing a file completely. Moreover, CheckSync is driving Positive Pay adoption and usage with our current business customers, and is a great tool to encourage new businesses to enroll in Positive Pay.”

Thomas Eorgan, SVP Sales Enablement at Bank of Tennessee

This Is a Trust Moment for Banks

Your business clients trust you. They trust you to protect their money, guide them through risk, and make their lives easier — not harder. Right now, the industry has a huge opportunity.

Fraud is increasing. Business owners are overwhelmed. And Positive Pay hasn't evolved in decades.

Until now.

Don't just offer Positive Pay — make it work.

Learn more about CheckSync at monitapp.io/checksync

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