Commerce Bank and Trust says it has spotted $250,000 in potentially fraudulent checks since it installed an anti-fraud product from Goldleaf Financial Solutions Inc.
The Brentwood, Tenn., software company introduced its WinGuard check authentication software Monday. Commerce, a Topeka, Kan., bank, began testing it a few months ago.
WinGuard was designed to authenticate anyone who tries to deposit or cash a check rather than just the check itself. Goldleaf said most other vendors' anti-fraud applications focus on the check only.
The vendor said the real-time application evaluates customers' names, driver's license numbers, and any aliases, as well as account and check numbers. WinGuard runs on a browser, it said, and does not need to be installed at a branch, which makes it fast and cost-effective to get up and running.
Commerce said it noticed a drop in fraud losses within a few weeks of installing the software; the potential losses it has prevented are more than 10 times the price of the software, it said.
WinGuard works on three levels, Steve Huff, a Commerce senior vice president, said in the Goldleaf press release. "It identifies individuals the bank considers as potentially risky persons, it recognizes checks identified on the FDIC special alerts list, and it spots fraudulent items," he said.
