Security & Controls: Georgia Pacific Check Paper Equipped with Scratch

Georgia-Pacific Corp. says a new paper stock it has introduced for commercial and retail checks will make them easier to authenticate.

Atlanta-based Georgia-Pacific provides security check stock to major U.S. check printers, including John H. Harland Co., Deluxe Corp., and Clarke American.

The new paper incorporates a security feature called "rub-and-reveal."

When a teller scratches the back of a check, using a fingernail or the edge of a coin, and a message or logo is revealed, indicating that the check is authentic.

An icon on the front of the check alerts a teller and would-be counterfeiters to the presence of the security feature,

Georgia-Pacific is offering the special paper in made-to-order rolls.

The company worked with Nocopi Technologies Inc. to create the security stock.

According to American Bankers Association research, check fraud has increased dramatically in the last several years, largely because of desktop publishing and improvements in color copiers.

The rub-and-reveal security feature is designed to discourage duplication attempts made with these technologies, said Joe Casatelli, business manager, specialty papers, for the communication papers division of Georgia-Pacific.

Nocopi Technologies, a Wayne, Pa.-based company specializing in security printing technology, developed the special ink that reacts when friction is applied.

Through a licensing agreement, Georgia-Pacific has been made the exclusive provider of the security paper in the U.S.

The additional cost for the feature per-check will be very small, said Mr. Casatelli.

Major U.S. and Canadian check printers have already begun stepping up efforts to prevent check fraud by incorporating a number of security features into retail check stock.

The features were recommended by the Financial Stationers Association, a Washington-based trade group representing North America's largest check printers.

In its guidelines, the FSA suggests the use of such preventive measures as tiny print and special designs that cannot be duplicated by laser printers or photocopy machines.

The organization also recommends that checks with special security features carry a warning box listing those features and a standard icon - a padlock.

The FSA hopes that these features will become widely recognized by parties accepting checks and will serve as a deterrent to would-be counterfeiters and forgers.

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