Auto finance has become more digitized in recent years. It’s something Wolters Kluwer tracks quarterly.

But there is still plenty of paper making the rounds, including checks. It’s part of the reason why three federal bank regulatory agencies this week announced a request for comment on potential actions to help consumers, businesses, and financial institutions mitigate risk of payments fraud, with a particular focus on check fraud.

The three agencies — Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Federal Reserve Board and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency — explained that for purposes of the request for information, payments fraud generally refers to the use of illegal means to make or receive payments for personal gain, including scams.

The agencies’ request focused on five potential areas for improvement and collaboration:

—External collaboration among the agencies, Federal Reserve Banks, and industry stakeholders

—Consumer, business, and industry education by the agencies and Federal Reserve Banks to educate about payments fraud

—Regulation and supervision to mitigate payments fraud, including opportunities the Board may have related to check fraud;

—Payments fraud data collection and information sharing; and

—Federal Reserve Banks’ operator tools and services to reduce payments fraud

“Because payments fraud may involve multiple institutions and payment methods, no single agency or private-sector entity can address payments fraud on its own,” the agencies said in a news release. “Therefore, (we) are seeking public comment on discrete actions, collectively or independently, to mitigate payments fraud, including check fraud, within their respective bank regulation and payments authorities.”

In addition to seeking public input, the agencies will also continue looking for additional opportunities to effectively collaborate across other state and federal agencies given the importance of interagency coordination to help mitigate payments fraud.

Michelle Bowman, who is vice chair for supervision at the Federal Reserve, added this statement.

“Today’s interagency announcement is a welcome first step in the efforts of the federal banking agencies to combat the increasing occurrence of fraud, particularly check fraud. Check fraud has grown substantially over the past several years, resulting in harm to banks, especially community banks, and the consumers and businesses who are the victims of fraud. While this has been a well-known problem for several years, efforts by regulators have been slow to advance, and seem to have done little to address this growing threat,” Bowman said.

“We need a comprehensive strategy to develop and implement an effective, coordinated approach that is focused on preventing payments fraud and assisting consumers, businesses, and supervised institutions. As vice chair for supervision, I am committed to working together with a wide range of state and federal partners, including law enforcement, to address this issue. I look forward to reviewing the public feedback in response to the request for information,” she went on to say.

The request notice can be reviewed here.