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How does Positive Pay work at Centime?

Learn how to set up and manage Positive Pay in Centime, including required permissions, bank account setup, file format specifications, and automated file delivery via SFTP. Ensure secure and efficient fraud control for your payments.

Required Permissions: 

  • Manage Positive Pay: to download files
  • Activate and manage integrated payment and credit solutions: to set up positive pay for bank accounts

Navigation: Settings > Fraud controls > Check Positive Pay > Positive pay setup

Positive Pay Options

Centime offers two methods for using Positive Pay to help protect against check fraud:

  1. Manual Positive Pay: This option allows you to generate Positive Pay files daily and manually download them from Centime. You can then upload these files to your bank to verify checks.
  2. Automated Positive Pay via SFTP*: If your bank supports automated file transmission, you can set up Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) to automatically send Positive Pay files to your bank, reducing manual effort and improving efficiency. Before setting up SFTP, you must first generate and manually download Positive Pay files to ensure the correct file format.

You can choose the method that best suits your needs, with the option to start with manual file uploads and transition to automated delivery once your bank is set up for SFTP.

* This requires the support and collaboration of your bank to set up. Your bank may charge a separate fee for this service (Centime does not).

 

Requirements for Manual Positive Pay 

In order to automatically generate a check positive pay file, you must first: 

  • Connect your bank account to Centime 
  • Apply for checks and begin sending payments 

Confirm file requirements 

To enable check positive pay, you must first contact your bank. Your bank will provide you with requirements for the file. Once confirmed, reach out to your Centime Customer Success manager and provide the full requirements, including: 

  • File format: ex. TXT, CSV, XLS 
  • File fields and format: Check number, Payer, Date, Amount etc. 
  • Share an example 

Generate Positive Pay files and download them

Once your bank is set up for positive pay by the Centime team, you will be able to see all bank accounts under that Bank. You can then enable those accounts for positive pay.

Positive pay files are generated daily as long as checks are sent that day. You can immediately begin manually downloading and sharing these files with your bank.

Automated Positive Pay via SFTP

If your bank supports automated Positive Pay file transmission, you can set up Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) to securely transfer files directly from Centime to your bank. This eliminates the need for manual uploads while ensuring encrypted and authenticated file transfers.

Example project plan (details will vary by bank):

  1. Identify a Bank Contact – Since Centime will need to work directly with your bank to set up SFTP, designate a key contact at the bank to facilitate the process.
  2. Review and confirm project plan - Confirm the following requirements with the bank and identify any adjustments. Set completion date to endure alignment. 
  3. Bank Creates SFTP Folder – Since the file format has already been confirmed, your bank must create an SFTP folder for Positive Pay and provide the necessary details, including:
    • Hostname – Bank server for file transmission
    • Port – For SFTP connection
    • Authentication - ssh key or username & password 
    • Destination Directory – Location where Centime will upload Positive Pay files
  4. Enter SFTP Credentials in Centime – Once the details are provided, enter them into the Centime UI and notify your Customer Success Manager.
  5. Send a Test File – Centime will initiate a test file transfer to verify connectivity and ensure the file format is accepted.
  6. Bank Confirms Successful Transfer – The bank must confirm that the test file was received and provide instructions on how Centime can access or verify this confirmation.
  7. Bank Activates the SFTP Folder – After successful testing, the bank must transition the SFTP folder from test mode to active status.
  8. Verify First Live Transfer – Once the folder is live, Centime will send the first live file. The bank must confirm where to check the successful transfer.
  9. Go Live & Disable Manual Uploads – Once confirmed, the client can discontinue manual file uploads, and automated Positive Pay will be fully operational.

If any connectivity issues arise, such as the need for IP whitelisting, Centime will work with you and your bank to resolve them.