What procedures should we follow to verify that the banking information provided by a vendor for electronic payment (ACH) is the actual vendor bank account and not a personal account?
“You ask a very important question. Yes, there are steps you can and should take when setting up a vendor for ACH payment to ensure that you have correct account information and avoid rejection due to incorrect account information or fraud. Many organizations request a voided or cancelled check from the vendor to collect the bank and account information. Have the bank confirm the account number provided by the vendor employee. It is a good practice to pre-note or send a test payment (often there is no payment involved, but some companies send one dollar or even a cent) to the account and confirm with the bank that it was received to the correct account.
