Treasury checks don't get a lot of attention. They're not flashy or high-tech. They're just paper instruments that the federal government sends to Americans for everyday purposes like tax refunds, Social Security payments, and veterans' benefits. But for years they've been a soft target for fraud.
That's why, when the Treasury made its Check Verification System API available with payee name matching included, we moved quickly. In February 2025, we launched a free web-based TCVS tool for financial institutions. By May 2025, we had a full REST API live alongside a simple-to-navigate user interface. Our reasoning was simple: if the government gives you real-time check verification infrastructure, you should make that infrastructure as easy to use, widely available, and free. Treasury deserves real credit for including payee-name data. Without it, the API would mainly confirm that a check is structurally valid; with it, institutions can verify that the check is going to the intended recipient, which is where fraud prevention starts.
We're now approaching one million verifications: nearly a million times where a financial institution received a real-time answer from us about whether the Treasury check in front of them was legitimate. Some of those checks were fraudulent. Without verification, some portion of that fraud would have worked, and taxpayers would have paid the price.
A Shared Fight Against Treasury Check Fraud
Today, there are more ways into TCVS, and more institutions are putting them to use. The American Bankers Association recently announced that its own TCVS access point -- launched in June 2025 to help member banks avoid direct API provisioning -- is now passing 105,000 verifications across 718 institutions. That's a meaningful contribution. More institutions running verifications means more fraud stopped, and the collective volume across the industry is growing toward something that actually moves the needle on check washing and counterfeiting at scale.
Treasury is already phasing out paper checks, but the transition will take time. For now, millions of checks will still be issued and will still need to be processed safely. The fraudsters know the window is closing -- and will try to exploit it while they can. Verification must remain a priority until paper checks are gone.
No single company or institution can solve check fraud alone. It requires the Treasury to make good data available, vendors to build accessible tools, financial institutions to actually use them, and trade associations to help smaller players get on board. We're proud of the volume of checks we’ve verified, and we're glad the rest of the industry is moving in the same direction.
If you haven't connected to TCVS yet, our API is free. There's no good reason to wait. Learn more here.
