Due to increased incidents of theft and fraudulent alterations of state-issued warrants, the General Accounting Office (GAO) strongly encourages state agencies to pay vendors by ACH/EFT. State agencies can also pay vendors via the agency’s US Bank P-Cards if appropriate, but must follow the state procurement guidelines and policies. 

When doing business with new or established vendors, request they complete and submit an Automated Clearing House (ACH) Authorization form (GAO-618) to the GAO. The statewide infoAdvantage FIN-AZ-AP-N645 Vendors Eligible for ACH/EFT Payments report assists agencies with identifying vendors that are setup to receive ACH/EFT payments from AFIS.

There are no guarantees that fraudulent claims with the state servicing bank will be honored and approved. The best way to ensure vendors are paid promptly and successfully is to issue payments by electronic means other than warrants.