Preventing check fraud using Safe Pay in Dynamics GP

Although writing physical checks is slowly becoming a thing of the past, check fraud prevention is more important than ever. In 2018, the American Bankers Associated estimated that attempted check fraud surpassed $15 billion. So, what can businesses of any size do to buckle down on their financial security?

Fraud prevention measures may sound time-intensive and difficult to implement, and you may be wondering, “are there any easy steps I can take to prevent check fraud?” Luckily, the answer is yes! Something as simple as having separate people complete different parts of the check approval process—or simply ensuring the person who writes the checks is not the one who approves them as well—is a simple yet highly effective tool to ensure that there’s a second set of eyes on every step of the approval process. Establishing and following procedures standardizes the approval process to ensure proper steps are taken when creating and processing outbound checks.

You can also utilize Safe Pay features in Dynamics GP as an added layer of verification for outbound checks and payments. We’ve published a blog laying out the importance of fraud protection and how to utilize Positive Pay features in Business Central, so be sure to check that out for more in-depth information. Safe Pay has the exact same functionalist as Positive Pay, it’s just configured a little differently in GP.

How Safe Pay works

Safe Pay allows you to generate a file to send to your bank to use when approving outbound checks. Safe Pay works for checks, as well as ACH or electronic fund transfer (EFT) payments generated out of GP—but it is mostly geared toward the check approval process.

Safe Pay generates a file of the outbound checks, electronic fund transfers (EFT), and ACH payments that were created in GP. After processing and posting checks, users can navigate to the Safe Pay feature and generate a file which will automatically pull checks that have been posted since the last file was generated.

Another thing to note is that Safe Pay functionality is included in GP licensing, but it may not be auto-enabled. Check in with your GP Partner to have their GP team enable and configure this functionality for you. Safe Pay can be accessed in the Financials module (where most banking activities take place anyway), and then by navigating into Routines—to set it up for the first time, head to Configure.

Once Safe Pay is set up, it’s quite straightforward to use, not to mention an easy practice to incorporate into the check running process. Note that the Safe Pay feature can generate several different file types, so be sure to check which file type your bank accepts select the proper type when generating the file. Here’s another tip: you can add Safe Pay to your Quick Links window on the GP home page for easy access.

Get started

When it comes to the financial security of your business, there’s no such thing as being too careful. We highly recommend every business of any size look into their options and add check protections to your security routine. If you’re looking for a Microsoft Partner who will be proactive about your business needs, get in touch with us.