Erie County Times

The Pennsylvania Treasury Department will be more secure now that the state’s General Assembly approved the 2022-23 state budget. The budget included a fiscal code amendment intended to help stop fraud, involving protocols called the Account Verification System (AVS).

According to a press release on July 12, Act 54 of the 2022 budget authorizes the Pennsylvania Treasury to require implementing electronic payment security protocols known as AVS. Attorney General Stacy Garrity called it a “significant step forward” in detecting and preventing fraud.

“This is a powerful new tool in the never-ending fight against identity thieves and other criminals,” Garrity said. “States have been targeted by fraudsters throughout the pandemic. The Pennsylvania Treasury Department works around the clock to ensure that taxpayer money is spent appropriately and doesn’t fall into the hands of criminals. I want to thank the General Assembly and the Governor for including this language in the Fiscal Code to improve payment security statewide.”

The AVS uses bank account information and various identity data fields to confirm that a legitimate payment is occurring. The Treasury is developing a list of electronic payment security vendors that are “qualified, experienced and capable of providing such services. The list will be updated every two years by the Treasury.

Within 18 months of the law being in effect, all boards, commissions and agencies that the Treasury makes payments with must choose a vendor.

If there are issues identified, the AVS responds with coded indicators to stop the payment or work to find more information. This leads to the agency that originated the payment determining if it is fraudulent or if there is need for information, such as a bank account number, to be corrected. Otherwise, the payment is processed once the AVS review is finished.

Garrity thanked members of the legislature who helped put together the language of the fiscal amendment. This included Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman, House Speaker Brian Cutler, Senate Majority Leader Kim Ward, House Majority Leader Kerry Benninghoff, Senate Appropriations Chairman Pat Browne and House Appropriations Chairman Stan Saylor.

“In particular, I spoke to Senator Corman and Representative Saylor often over the past few weeks,” Garrity said. “I also reached out to Governor Wolf directly, and I thank him for his support of this important initiative. Criminals trying to steal money from hardworking taxpayers never stop – and neither will we. This is a great step forward to increase our already robust security measures.”

Corman said that taxpayers deserve peace of mind in knowing that taxpayer funds are being protected against fraud and abuse. 

“This new tool will provide a critical layer of protection to support our shared goal of safeguarding taxpayer dollars,” Corman said. “I appreciate Treasurer Garrity’s leadership in advocating for this new system to prevent financial crimes against our Commonwealth.”

Representative Saylor praised the work of Treasurer Garrity, saying that he appreciates her leadership and the work she has done to protect against those trying to steal from taxpayers.

“Unfortunately, the number of criminals seeking to defraud taxpayers has been on the rise throughout the country,” Representative Saylor said. “As leaders, our job is to protect taxpayer dollars and ensure that they are used for appropriate purposes. Treasurer Garrity gets that.”

The following state agencies have either implemented or will be implementing AVS soon: The Department of Revenue, the Office of Administration, the Liquor Control Board and the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency. The U.S. Department of the Treasury also uses AVS for accounts payable.