From risk to realignment: Fighting check fraud in commercial receivables

Videos and Webinars

Check fraud isn’t going away. It’s evolving. And financial institutions are increasingly in the crosshairs. Learn how to realign receivables to fight fraud and future-proof your payment operations.

June 5, 20256 mins

The fallout? Higher losses, more exception handling, and strained internal teams.

Protecting against fraud isn’t just about catching fakes anymore. It’s about rethinking how we process, balance, and manage receivables. Especially since about 40% of B2B payments are still made with paper checks.

Check fraud by the numbers

Check fraud risk is real and growing. Risk trends are supported by hard data that paints a troubling picture for financial institutions:

Check fraud reports nearly doubled between 2021 and 2022, with increases driven by organized fraud rings and rising mail theft. Unsurprisingly, financial institutions were primary targets.
High-volume mail theft from mail receptacles surged 139% from 2019 to 2023, highlighting the mounting risks associated with mail-based financial transactions.
Business check usage increased in 2024, with 73% of firms reporting they made payments by check—up from 68% the previous year—despite the push for digitization.

At the same time, financial institutions face increasing pressure. Staff turnover is leaving operations teams stretched thin, while clients expect faster, digital-first service and regulators demand stronger risk controls.

We are at an inflection point. The systems that worked even a few years ago won’t necessarily carry institutions forward. This critical observation underscores a key reality: checks aren’t disappearing overnight. Financial institutions must continue to support them while modernizing how they manage, secure, and reconcile those payments.

Financial institutions respond

Leading institutions are taking proactive steps now, not waiting for check volumes to vanish. There is a clear shift in focus to modernizing receivables and combating check fraud at scale. Leaders nationwide are realigning operations to reduce fraud risk, improve efficiency, and support clients more effectively by:

Digitizing check processing
Deploying SaaS-based receivables tools and APIs
Outsourcing lockbox operations
Streamlining reconciliation and digitizing receivables

Each of these steps helps protect check-based revenue streams while building resiliency against fraud and operational volatility.

Smarter check handling is the real goal

This isn’t about eliminating checks—it’s about managing them smarter, faster, and more securely.

Video | Unlocking the power of AI and automation in remittance and check processing

Automation and strategic outsourcing are helping institutions handle checks with greater precision and speed, without sacrificing control or customer experience.

Iron Mountain for payment management solutions

Iron Mountain’s comprehensive products and integrated solutions provide seamless receivables management across payment channels and empower financial institutions, fintechs, and businesses to streamline processing and drive growth.

Leveraging our unparalleled footprint of Digital Supercenters, Iron Mountain provides outsourced lockbox services (upfront mail/check receipt & digitization) and simplified operations with intelligent document processing (IDP) to extract and validate data.

Together, we deliver unmatched scale, security, and efficiency for your business.

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