Suspected Check Item in Positive Pay

This issue occurs when a client reports that a check was flagged by their bank as a suspected item and asks why it did not go through Positive Pay.

In some cases, the client may also ask support to confirm whether all checks are still being transmitted through Positive Pay and whether any other checks were affected.

This article explains how to investigate the issue, how to interpret conflicting findings between Aclarian and the bank, and when to escalate.

Symptoms

Clients may report one or more of the following:

• “A check was identified by the bank as a suspected item.”
• “Why didn’t this check go through Positive Pay?”
• “Please confirm that all checks are still going through Positive Pay.”
• “If other checks didn’t go through Positive Pay, please identify them.”
• “The bank says they never received the Positive Pay file for this check.”

What may cause this issue

There are at least two possible explanations when this issue is reported:

1. The check was included in the Positive Pay file generated by Aclarian, but the bank flagged it due to scanning, matching, or validation on their side.
2. The bank may not have received the file for that specific check, even though Aclarian’s review showed the file was successfully transmitted to the SFTP location without errors.

Because of that, this issue may involve more than one handoff point:

• Aclarian file generation
• SFTP transmission
• bank-side receipt or processing

How to investigate

Step 1: Confirm the client’s request

Review the client’s message and identify:

• the check in question
• whether they are asking about a single suspected item or all Positive Pay checks
• whether they want root cause, confirmation of transmission, or confirmation of broader system impact

Step 2: Check whether the check appears in the Positive Pay file

Review the Positive Pay file generated by Aclarian and confirm whether the check is included.

If the check appears in the file, that means Aclarian generated the record for transmission.

Step 3: Review the transmission status

Check whether the Positive Pay file was successfully transmitted to the SFTP location.

If transmission was successful and only one check was flagged, note that a broad file transmission failure is less likely, since a full transmission issue would typically affect all checks in that file rather than just one.

Step 4: Compare Aclarian findings with bank findings

If the client or bank reports that no Positive Pay file was received, compare that statement with Aclarian’s internal findings.

If Aclarian shows that the file was generated and transmitted successfully, but the bank says the file was not received, document that discrepancy clearly before escalation.

Step 5: Determine whether other checks were affected

If the client asks whether all checks are still going through Positive Pay, verify whether the issue appears isolated or broader.

If no evidence shows that multiple checks were affected, treat the case as a potentially isolated exception until further bank-side confirmation is received.

Resolution guidance

If Aclarian confirms the check is present in the Positive Pay file and the file was transmitted successfully, support should explain that the issue may not have originated in Aclarian’s file generation process.

At that point, the client should be advised to work with the bank to determine why the item was flagged or why the bank believes the file was not received.

However, if the bank explicitly confirms non-receipt of the file and the client asks how to prevent it from happening again, the case should not be treated as fully resolved without additional internal review.

Support guidance

When handling this issue:

• confirm whether the check appears in the Positive Pay file
• verify whether the file was transmitted to the SFTP location successfully
• document any mismatch between Aclarian findings and the bank’s findings
• clarify whether the issue affected one check or multiple checks
• avoid concluding that the bank is solely responsible if the client provides evidence that the bank never received the file

This issue may require coordination across support, treasury workflow review, and engineering if the transmission chain cannot be fully validated.

Real-world example

A client reported that a check had been identified by the bank as a suspected item and asked why it did not go through Positive Pay.

Support first confirmed that the check was included in the Positive Pay file generated by Aclarian.

Support later confirmed that the file containing the check was successfully transmitted to the SFTP location without errors and advised that the client follow up with the bank, since only one check had been flagged.

The client then returned with bank feedback stating that the bank had verified it never received a Positive Pay file for that check and asked how to identify the issue, prevent recurrence, and determine who is responsible for ensuring correct delivery from SFTP to the bank.

Client response template

Hi [Client Name],

Thank you for your patience while we reviewed the suspected check item.

We confirmed that the check in question appears in the Positive Pay file generated by Aclarian, and we also verified that the related file was transmitted to the SFTP location without any reported errors. Based on that review, there is no immediate indication that the check was omitted from the Positive Pay file on the Aclarian side.

However, we understand that the bank has indicated they did not receive the file for this check. Because of that discrepancy, the next step is to review the handoff between file transmission and bank receipt in more detail. If needed, we can continue investigating this with additional internal review.

If you have confirmation from the bank about the timing, file receipt, or any related transmission details, please share that information and we can use it to narrow down the source of the issue further.

Best regards,
[Your Name]
Client Support Team | Aclarian, LLC

Quick reference

When to escalate

Escalate when:

• the bank states the file was not received, but Aclarian shows the file was generated and transmitted successfully
• the client asks who is responsible for the SFTP-to-bank delivery path
• multiple checks may be affected
• the issue needs deeper validation of file transmission, SFTP delivery, or downstream bank processing