Print
Solutions April 2006
Security
Documents
Ensuring
Security
Last
August, Steve Moley landed a check
order from an insurance company
following a set of circumstances
that will sound quite familiar
to most experienced distributors:
Some of the insurance company’s
checks were counterfeited, and
the company’s bank said
it didn’t meet due diligence
requirements by incorporating
adequate security features in
its checks. Panicked, internal
auditors at the insurance firm
sought more secure checks, so
they asked everyone in the company
who works with printers to suggest
vendors.
“Until
that time, they were satisfied
with their existing vendor,”
says Moley, owner of The Proper
Printer Inc., a distributorship
in Camp Hill, Pa. “Ironically,
only when someone gets burned
do they want to beef up security.”
Moley
had been supplying the marketing
director at the insurance company
with envelopes, plastic ID cards,
commercial printing and other
products. She recommended The
Proper Printer to the insurance
firm’s financial department,
which asked Moley to review its
current checks and make a proposal.
“It
was no surprise to me that someone
took the opportunity to counterfeit
the check,” says Moley.
“It was a plain Jane check—24#
white bond and printed with black
ink.” The check had no security
features. In addition, the insurance
company didn’t store and
track checks sufficiently: Boxes
of blank check stock were accessible
to many employees.
Moley
says the company was “tight-lipped”
about the counterfeiting details
and didn’t reveal the amount
lost or whether the perpetrator
was an employee or an outsider.
But he wanted to offer solutions
for as many fraud scenarios as
possible in his proposal. He called
his customer service rep at The
Flesh Company, a manufacturer
of security documents based in
St. Louis.
The
manufacturer put together a sample
packet depicting approximately
15 security features and explaining
their benefits. For instance,
one sample included thermochromic
ink and described how the ink
changes color when exposed to
heat. “It was very easy
for my customer to understand
how a variety of security features
work,” says Moley.
The
insurance company opted for several
overt and covert security features.
It ordered 110,000 81Ú2 x 11-inch
laser checks from The Proper Printer.
The check portion appears in the
center, with a voucher on the
top and bottom. It’s printed
on 24# white DocuCheck® security
paper, which features a true fourdrinier
watermark, visible fibers randomly
embedded on both sides of the
paper and invisible fluorescent
fibers that show up only under
ultraviolet light.
The
Flesh Company added a void pantograph
that appears if someone tries
to photocopy the check. It also
printed warning bands on the top
and bottom of the check, noting
that the document includes thermochromic
ink, a colored background and
a true watermark. The warning
bands are connected by vertical
microprinted lines on the left
and right sides of the check.
The microprinting includes an
abbreviation of the insurance
company’s name. The back
of the check contains a complete
list of the check’s security
features and red consecutive numbers
for better inventory control at
the insurance firm.
The
entire project, from Moley’s
first conversation with the financial
department to delivery of the
checks, took approximately six
weeks. His ability to offer numerous
options for a secure document
benefits not only the insurance
company, but The Proper Printer
as well. “I think it will
open up more doors for me because
I provided solutions,” says
Moley.
—Susan
Keen Flynn
Ask
about a check’s age. “Sometimes
companies use checks that have
been in existence for 10, 15 years,”
says Steve Moley, owner of The
Proper Printer Inc., a distributorship
in Camp Hill, Pa. “If companies
haven’t had any problems,
nobody looks at [the laser checks]
they started with.” But
the older the check’s design,
the more likely it doesn’t
include adequate security features.
Involve
the bank in meetings. Moley
provided checks for an insurance
company that was hit by fraud.
“They were told by the bank
and internal auditors that they
needed to beef up security features,”
he says. To ensure that clients
are meeting due diligence in the
eyes of their bankers, consider
including bank representatives
in a conversation where both parties
can discuss security options.
In addition, you can train bank
employees on how to look for covert
features, such as fluorescent
fibers and microprinting.
Encourage
custom designs. There are
lots of stock options for security
documents. But a custom document
can provide added security in
addition to enhancing a customer’s
image. For instance, clients can
include a screen or step-and-repeat
pattern of their logo in the background.
