Print Solutions Magazine, February 2002 -- Security Documents

1. Start at the top. Experienced distributors say company executives often are more concerned about the overall financial security of their companies than purchasing agents and others down the corporate ladder. Usually, the higher distributors go, the better their document security suggestions are received. Target chief financial officers, controllers, auditors, accountants and loss-prevention managers.

2. Understand the usage. Depending on the environments they're used in, certain security documents require more protection than others. Documents cashed in controlled environments, such as local pet shops or music stores, should be designed differently than coupons, gift certificates or rebate checks that are mailed to thousands of customers.

3. Educate your clients. Some end users are in the dark when it comes to their risk of document fraud. On sales calls, show customers samples of security documents and articles about fraud from local and national newspapers. (Dozen of relevant articles are located on Print Solutions' web site at www.printsolutionsmag.com.) The more customers understand the potential for fraud, the more likely they'll be to ask for security features.

4. Tell recipients what to look for. Security features are worthless if the document's recipient doesn't know what to look for. For example, in the case of invisible fluorescent fibers,
verifiers must use ultraviolet lights to confirm the feature. Include information on documents that briefly explains their security features and how those features can be verified. Also, consider helping customers write letters to their document recipients providing this information. Sending samples also is helpful.

5. Explain positive pay. This service can catch fraudulent checks drawn from companies' accounts. Firms send electronic files to their banks listing checks issued and their amounts. As checks are cleared through item processing areas, banks match the checks and their amounts to the files.

This check is protected by patented Wicker 2000 void pantograph technology. The document can't be compromised by color or black-and-white printers, scanners or digital copiers. Samples courtesy of The Wicker Group, Livonia, N.Y.

6. Show rather than tell. Show clients how easy it is to manipulate unprotected documents they currently use. Then show customers how security features work. On sales calls, demonstrate how void pantographs works by photocopying documents with these features in front of your customers. Consider bringing a handheld black light on sales calls to show customers how their document recipients can detect fluorescent inks and fibers.

7. Offer secure shipping. When shipping security documents to customers, be careful not to label cartons with words such as "checks," "gift certificates" or other terms that may indicate the contents. Also, consider sealing cartons with security tape that will show evidence of tampering.

8. Layer protection. Never depend on a single security feature to protect documents. The more features a document has, the less likely it is to be targeted by thieves. Layer documents with multiple overt and covert features such as chemical reactive paper, fluorescent fibers, watermarks, microprinting, foil stamping and void pantographs.

9. Teach self-protection. Documents layered with security features won't protect clients if they don't store them properly. Negotiable documents should be kept in secure areas where access is limited, boxes should remain sealed until they're ready to be used and mechanical signing equipment should be kept in secure areas away from blank checks.

10. Find local allies. Consider community banks and police your partners in thwarting document fraud. Companies that have been defrauded aren't likely to publicize the fact, but banks may be eager to give referrals. Police also can clue you in to companies that have been defrauded.

A Proactive Approach

Distributorship Vevco Inc. stays competitive in the document security market by offering proactive, paper-based security features. "In the society we live in today, there's such a great potential for fraud that it's in your best interest to be proactive," says Vernon E. Victorine Jr., vice president of the 18-year-old firm in Naperville, Ill.

Paper-based security features are proactive, Victorine says, but most ink-based security features are reactive. "A void pantograph is a reactive safety feature because it doesn't appear until after an action has taken place," he says. "It might deter someone, but it won't stop them before they try to commit fraud." In comparison, he says, features such as watermarks are proactive because they can be detected immediately upon visual inspection and can't be duplicated on copy machines.

Victorine began selling security documents more than 25 years ago at Burroughs Corp. When he started his own firm in 1984, Victorine wanted to provide customers with the artificial watermark Burroughs used on the reverse of its Super Safety II paper, but for use on the face of documents. After finding a manufacturer who could produce the watermark, Vevco trademarked it as "Safety Secure Printing" in 1997.

Artificial watermarks, including Vevco's Safety Secure Printing watermark, are no longer secure, Victorine says. "Any ink-based safety feature has an effective life span of approximately three to five years before it becomes compromised," he says. "This includes artificial watermarks, bleed-through numbering, fluorescent inks, thermochromic inks and microprinting. That's why I prefer to use paper-based safety features....Even before you put any ink on the paper, due diligence is satisfied." Today, Vevco targets educational institutions, manufacturers and service firms when selling checks and college transcripts.

A local college came to Vevco when it wanted to ensure that transcripts it distributed to students and alumni were secure. Previously, the college printed transcripts on plain 24# bond paper with the college's name at the top of the sheet. Vevco provided the college with 30,000 8 1/2 x 11-inch, 24# transcripts that utilized Mead's Defensa™ paper and included true watermarks, chemical reactive paper, Printloc toner anchorage, and visible and invisible fibers. The face of the transcripts featured the college's logo screened in the center of the sheet, and the college's name is printed in 6 pt. type across the sheet in a random step-and-repeat design. The face also included Vevco's Safety Secure Printing logo and instructions for verifying the document's watermark. The reverse of the transcripts included information on the college's grading system, the Safety Secure Printing logo and additional details about the document's security features. The college printed the transcripts on its laser printers.

Kara S. Carpenter is assistant managing editor of Print Solutions. Email her your comments at kcarpenter@PSDA.org.