2 Director’s Corner

3 Department of the Interior Engagement 

Leads to Interest in OPI Services

3 Chief Financial Officers Council’s 

Knowledge Sharing and Best Practices

3 PRAC Report on Analytics Project with 

DNP

4 Payment Integrity Tools in Action: FEMA 

Use Case

5 The IRS & OPI Meet in Philadelphia

5 Introducing, New Outreach Editor

6 OPI Explores Additional Data Sources 

to Tackle Improper Payments

7 Screening Multiple Records Against 

DNP Portal Data Sources

8 Resource Library

9 Announcements and Survey

10 Agency Contact List

CONTENTS
Director’s Corner

PG. 2

Hello, I’m Tammie Johnson, Acting Manager, Do Not 

Pay Outreach and Business Processes. Our director, Sarah 

Stricevic, generously offered this space to me to introduce 

myself. I have worked in the federal government for almost 

37 years, and I have seen a lot of change. A few years ago, I 

worked with the Veterans Affairs to Seek to Prevent (STOP) 

Fraud, Waste, and Abuse on a series of projects to strengthen 

their payment integrity programs. I also led the development 

of the Antifraud Playbook (see Playbook tips on right) for the 

federal government, co-issued by Fiscal Service and the CFO 

Council. This work gave me a passion for payment integrity. 

We (the leaders of agencies, program managers, risk 

management personnel and caseworkers, Fiscal’s Office of 

Payment Integrity, Office of Management and Budget, and the oversight community) –

really everyone – have a responsibility to identify, prevent and recover improper payments. 

I believe that we are better together when tackling these complex payment issues.

In the last two issues of the Payment Integrity Journal, we described the Office of Payment 

Integrity (OPI), which combines Do Not Pay (DNP) and the Payment Integrity Center of 

Excellence (PICOE), to provide federal agencies and federally funded, state-administered 

programs the tools they need to determine eligibility and prevent improper payments. The 

Payment Integrity Journal will continue to provide information and resources on our services 

and how they are being used across the government. In this issue, you will see an article 

highlighting the Chief Financial Officers Council’s Knowledge Sharing Library (see link 

and article on p. 3), learn how to screen multiple payments in the DNP Portal (see Screening 

Multiple Records Against DNP Portal Data Sources on p. 7), and more. 

Check out our Announcements (see p. 9) to see where we and others will be speaking about 

payment integrity. I encourage you to share this Journal with others within and outside your 

organization. Share your successes as they can help others. Let us know if you have needs or 

challenges you want to discuss or ideas of what can be done to improve payment integrity. 

We look forward to hearing from you. 

TAMMIE JOHNSON

Acting Manager, DNP Outreach 

and Business Processes

Tips from the Antifraud Playbook

that can be applied to preventing 

improper payments:

• Improper Payments is not a four-letter word! 

Discuss your identified improper payments 

and risks so you can address them.

• When you are thinking about your risks, 

“think like a fraudster.”

• Take advantage of resources available to you. 

OPI is here to support you throughout the 

payment lifecycle.

• Build on what you already have and what 

others have done. Don’t reinvent the wheel, 

just adjust as needed.

• If you see something...say something...do 

something!

• No program is perfect. You can (and should) 

make continuous improvements.
In February 2023, the Office of Payment Integrity (OPI) presented at the Department of the Interior’s 

(DOI) Financial Management Workshop. The Workshop provided an opportunity for internal 

employees from various divisions to learn and share information about functions related to financial 

data and data integrity, reporting, financial strategic planning and systems, and more.

The first topic was centered around the upcoming merger of the Payment Integrity Center of 

Excellence (PICOE) and Do Not Pay (DNP) into the Office of Payment Integrity to maximize the 

customer experience. During the presentation, the speakers discussed OPI’s ability to stop, prevent, 

and recover improper payments through the use of its cross-government data and supporting payment 

integrity tools. OPI also reviewed their investigative solutions and proactive fraud pipeline, and 

presented the process for how customers typically engage with OPI.

There were 173 individuals in attendance and OPI received 

many glowing remarks about the presentation and the 

breadth of our services. 

DOI’s Accounting Operations Services Division within their 

Financial Management Directorate reached out requesting 

information on how to get started using the Account 

Verification Service (AVS). As a result, OPI provided a 

separate overview with the Division, and they expressed 

interest in moving forward with acquiring AVS. 

PG. 3

Did you know that the Chief 

Financial Officers Council has a 

Knowledge Sharing library, covering 

a broad range of topics, training 

modules, videos, and more? 

This includes a payment integrity 

library where your agency can access 

articles on best practices for the quest 

of mitigating risk in payment integrity. 

We encourage you to check it out and 

use this information as another tool 

to assist you in meeting your payment 

integrity needs. 

If you have resources that you would 

like to share with the payment 

integrity community, please contact us 

at: OPI.Outreach@fiscal.treasury.gov.

Chief Financial 

Officers Council’s 

Knowledge Sharing 

and Best Practices

Department of the Interior Engagement 

Leads to Interest in OPI Services

PICOE DNP

OPI

The Pandemic Response Accountability Committee (PRAC) recently released a report highlighting 

the success of an analytics project with DNP. This report discusses a partnership between both 

organizations where DNP provided the PRAC with valuable death information to assist them in their 

review of pandemic loans. The PRAC used the information from DNP in their analysis to uncover 

$38M in potentially fraudulent loans or improper payments. You can learn more about this analytics 

project by reading the published report.

PRAC Report on Analytics Project with DNP
Account Verification Service (AVS) 

provides fraud prevention solutions by validating payee account ownership, 

account status and providing analytical fraud risk determinations. This 

tool is implemented during the prepayment phase to alert agencies and 

prevent the improper payments from being disbursed. 

Cross-Government Data

enables us to mitigate improper payments by examining whether 

an account has been closed, if an individual is deceased, if fraud or 

administrative errors are identified in our interactions with financial 

institutions, and more. This gives us unique insight into payees that other 

agencies may not have. Also, we collect information once a payment has 

been submitted as well as gather data during the post-payment phase (e.g., 

Social Security number, name, address, bank account, account owner 

name, last withdrawer, or other information obtained from the financial 

institution). As a result of using our Cross-Government Data, we’ve 

prevented $86.3M in improper payments from CY 2021-2022.

Electronic Verification of Vital Events Fact of Death (EVVE-FOD) 

provides validation from an authoritative source that a death has occurred, 

and it validates death information such as date and location. We use this 

throughout the payment lifecycle on an ongoing basis when stakeholders 

identify a death has occurred. 

Payment Integrity Tools in Action:

FEMA Use Case 

PG. 4

Fiscal Service is uniquely positioned to leverage its tools on behalf of 

government agencies for the prevention of improper payments (see shaded box 

on the right for more information about the tools). 

Through their Individual Household Program (IHP), the Federal Emergency 

Management Agency (FEMA) has used AVS and Cross-Government Data to 

support applicant identity/eligibility determinations and expedite critical needs 

assistance to individuals and households displaced from their primary residence 

as a result of a disaster.

In FY 2022, the Office of Payment Integrity (OPI) provided continued support 

to victims through FEMA by matching applicants for New Mexico wildfire 

relief. There were 1.39M applicants screened, 68.8K were identified as risky, 

and $28.6M in improper payments prevented.

FEMA is also using AVS, EVVE-FOD, and Cross-Government Data Analytics 

to support applicant and decedent identity and eligibility determinations for 

its COVID-19 Funeral Assistance Program. FEMA has expressed that they are 

highly pleased with the results we have delivered and continue to deliver.

Through FEMA’s use of our services, in FY 2022: 

CU

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CU

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297K applicants were screened.

7.6K at-risk applicants were identified.

$44.4M in improper payments were prevented.
PG. 5

In 2022, the Office of Payment Integrity (OPI) began hosting Internal Revenue Service (IRS) 

Customer Feedback Sessions to gain feedback from agencies on their experience using our payment 

integrity services and to define ways in which it could be improved. The first two meetings occurred 

in March and April while the third and most recent meeting occurred on February 22-23, 2023, at 

the National Payment Integrity and Resolution Center in Philadelphia. There were approximately 

40 people in attendance, 30 of whom attended in person and 10 who attended virtually.

The IRS is using OPI’s Account 

Verification Service (AVS) and CrossGovernment Data solutions (see shaded 

box on p. 4 for information about 

these tools) to support payee identity 

verification through its Taxpayer 

Protection Program, which strengthens 

the integrity of the tax system and 

serves the public interest by taking 

actions to identify, evaluate, and 

prevent the issuance of improper 

refunds.

There were 922K returns and $2.9B 

that had been flagged for suspected identity theft which was verified and became eligible for 

expedited release to payees. IRS used AVS and Cross-Government Data to support payee identity 

verification for their Child Tax Credit Update Portal tool (commenced in July 2021). There were 

300K payees screened, 21K at-risk payees identified, and $6M in potential improper payments 

prevented.

In this most recent meeting, the IRS Return Integrity and Compliance Services, the IRS Research 

Analytics and Statistics, and OPI came together to discuss recommendations for the implementation 

of process improvements that aid in the prevention, recovery, and resolution of improper payments. 

The meeting proved fruitful and produced many actionable solutions that will further strengthen the 

partnership between OPI and the IRS, further reduce improper payments, and ultimately provide 

best practices for OPI’s continued work with its many partners.

Amina joined the DNP team this February 

as an Outreach Editor and Senior Analyst. 

Her role includes creating and editing various 

DNP communications and materials to aid 

DNP users in preventing improper payments.

Prior to joining the Federal Reserve Bank 

DNP Outreach team, Amina worked in 

the manufacturing industry as a creative 

marketing specialist at an engineering 

and machinery company. She was the 

head content creator and editor, helping 

to position the company as leaders in the 

hydraulic and servo-electric press industry.

Amina has extensive experience in tailoring 

communications towards different audiences 

through graphic design, video editing, and 

technical writing and editing. Amina holds 

two Bachelor of Arts degrees in Advertising 

and Marketing and Creative Writing from 

Webster University in St. Louis. She is a 

well-traveled 

BosnianAmerican 

who enjoys 

soaking up 

the sun and 

spends most 

of her time 

lost in a 

good book 

or writing a 

story.

The IRS and OPI Meet in Philadelphia
The Office of Payment Integrity (OPI) is taking 

steps to expand its analytics capabilities. OPI 

understands the importance of modernizing 

its services and developing new capabilities to 

address current payment integrity challenges. To 

do this, OPI is researching new capacities such as 

income and employment verification.

Income and employment verification has always 

been of particular interest to OPI. Many benefit 

programs have specific requirements related to 

job status and income levels that individuals 

must meet to participate in or be eligible for the 

government program or benefits. 

Unfortunately, administrators of these programs 

are not always able to confirm that an individual 

meets the program requirements because they 

do not have access to necessary data sources to 

make these determinations. As a result, there are 

many programs filled with beneficiaries that are 

currently ineligible. OPI wants to help federal 

agencies and federally funded, state-administered 

programs by providing customers access to 

income and verification services to confirm the 

eligibility of program participants and determine 

an individual’s right-sized benefit level. 

OPI Explores Additional Data Sources to 

Tackle Improper Payments

PG. 6

Recently, OPI completed a pilot study on 

The Work Number (TWN), an income and 

employment verification data source from Equifax. 

The purpose of this pilot was to understand the 

viability of this data source and its potential to 

help determine benefit eligibility or ineligibility. 

As part of this study, OPI partnered with a benefit 

program to analyze their beneficiaries using 

TWN data source to verify participant eligibility. 

The results of this analysis were promising. The 

data source confirmed the employment status 

of nearly two-thirds of the individuals screened. 

Additionally, TWN provided detailed information 

on individuals’ incomes that could be used to 

ensure beneficiary eligibility. 

While this study focused on a single program, the 

results suggest TWN has the potential to help 

improve eligibility determinations occurring in 

other benefit programs with similar requirements. 

OPI is currently in the process of gathering 

more information about the potential return on 

investment from this data source and determine 

whether to pursue designation for inclusion in the 

Treasury’s Working System.

Overall, OPI is always looking to expand the 

types of services it provides to customers. 

OPI sees the growing need for benefit programs 

to verify participants’ income and employment 

and is taking steps to help customers address 

these types of benefit level and eligibility 

discrepancies. In addition to income and 

employment verification, OPI is continuing to 

research other new capacities to ensure that its 

payment integrity services are robust to meet the 

ever-changing improper payment challenges.
Do Not Pay (DNP) offers a variety of methods to screen payee data 

for eligibility determination purposes within the DNP Portal. To help 

accommodate agencies with a high volume of payees, DNP offers the ability 

to screen bulk record files against approved data sources. Bulk record 

screening enables agencies to efficiently screen thousands, or even hundreds 

of thousands, of payees against data sources through automation. There are 

two types of bulk record files available for agencies to consider: 1) Batch 

Matching; and 2) Continuous Monitoring.

Both bulk record file 

functionalities offer 

significant benefits to 

a program’s payment 

eligibility determination 

activities. These 

functionalities allow 

programs to send a file 

to the DNP Portal at 

any time during the payment process, including on a pre-payment basis for 

eligibility verification. If desired, programs can even choose to send multiple 

files at various times in the pre-payment process to strengthen eligibility 

checks throughout the duration of the payment lifecycle. Also, once the 

agency establishes the file process, the file will automatically screen records 

against approved data sources and return match results directly within the 

Portal interface. Match results can also be exported in several formats for 

further research. Finally, bulk record file data transfers safely from the agency 

to DNP using a secure file transfer connection (e.g., SFTP, Treasury MOVEit 

tool).

There are notable differences between the two options; agencies should 

consider these and determine which one (or potentially both) would offer the 

desired result. A Batch Matching file contains payment-level data (including 

Screening Multiple Records Against DNP 

Portal Data Sources

PG. 7

payment amount) that matches only one time when the file transmits to the 

Portal. Implementing a Batch Matching process can help an agency perform a 

pre-payment eligibility verification prior to disbursing payments. 

On the other hand, a Continuous Monitoring file contains payee-level data 

(no payment amount) and matches any time there is an updated file sent to 

the Portal, or a refreshed feed to any of the DNP data sources approved to 

match against. Implementing a Continuous Monitoring process can allow 

an agency to monitor any change in payee or applicant status when screened 

against DNP data sources on an ongoing basis. 

If you are interested in learning more about establishing a bulk record file 

with the DNP Portal, please contact your Agency Lead and Agency Specialist 

for more details (see Agency Contact List, p. 10).

Batch Matching Continuous Monitoring

Payees vs. 

Payments

Contains payment-level 

data Contains payee-level data 

Frequency of 

Matching

At time of file 

submission

At time of file submission 

or when database is 

updated

Number of 

Active Files

Previous versions 

available in Portal

Only one current file 

available in Portal

Data Sources Any approved source Any approved source

Example of 

Agency Use

To verify eligibility of 

multiple applicants at a 

time, before loans are 

approved

To verify continued 

eligibility of vendors 

before creating new or 

renewing contracts
RESOURCE LIBRARY

PG. 8

How to Log into

the Portal

QRC

VIDEO

Payment Adjudication

Analytics Project 

Implementation Guide

DOCU

VIDEO

DNP Fact Sheet

DOCU

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VIDEO

Death Data 

Quick Reference Card

QRC

VIDEO

Introduction to API

DOCU

VIDEO

Portal Onboarding 

Guide

DOCU

DOCU

QRC

VIDEO

Payment Adjudication 

Quick Reference Card

DOCU

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VIDEO

How to Online Search

Using Batch Matching and 

Continuous Monitoring

TRAIN

More training and reference materials 

can be found here.
PG. 9

ANNOUNCEMENTS

• June 2023:

Portal adds 990-N (e-Postcard) 

data source

• July 11-12, 2023:

Fiscal Service Advisory Customer 

Symposium: Customers First, 

Charting the Course to Successful 

Financial Services

• July 23-26, 2023: 

AGA Professional Development 

Training (PDT)

• August 14-15, 2023: 

Fiscal Service Government 

Financial Management 

Conference (GFMC) 

• August 30, 2023: 

Fiscal Service Payment Integrity 

Day- Office of Payment Integrity

(more information will be posted)

• September 19-20, 2023: 

AGA Internal Controls and Fraud 

Prevention

Help us improve the Payment Integrity Journal by taking this short survey! 

We want to make sure this publication is helpful in providing information 

to help you achieve your goal of identifying, preventing, detecting, and 

reducing improper payments. 

Click HERE.

Survey
PG. 10

Agency Contact List

Agency Agency Lead Email Agency Specialist Email

Department of Agriculture Angélique Bridges angelique.bridges@fiscal.treasury.gov Kristofer Klette kristofer.klette@stls.frb.org

Department of Commerce Stephanie Weakley stephanie.weakley@fiscal.treasury.gov Jon Haehnel jon.haehnel@stls.frb.org

Department of Defense Angélique Bridges angelique.bridges@fiscal.treasury.gov Kristofer Klette kristofer.klette@stls.frb.org

Department of Education Jon Ortiz jon.ortiz@fiscal.treasury.gov Kristofer Klette kristofer.klette@stls.frb.org

Department of Energy Jon Ortiz jon.ortiz@fiscal.treasury.gov Jon Haehnel jon.haehnel@stls.frb.org

Department of Health and Human Services Angélique Bridges angelique.bridges@fiscal.treasury.gov Josh Stegemann joshua.p.stegemann@stls.frb.org

Department of Homeland Security Angélique Bridges angelique.bridges@fiscal.treasury.gov Shannon Alkhalaf shannon.alkahalaf@stls.frb.org 

Department of Housing and Urban Development Angélique Bridges angelique.bridges@fiscal.treasury.gov Josh Stegemann joshua.p.stegemann@stls.frb.org

Department of Justice Lori Makle-Sellman lori.makle-sellman@fiscal.treasury.gov Jon Haehnel jon.haehnel@stls.frb.org

Department of Labor Angélique Bridges angelique.bridges@fiscal.treasury.gov Shannon Alkhalaf shannon.alkahalaf@stls.frb.org 

Department of State Stephanie Weakley stephanie.weakley@fiscal.treasury.gov Shannon Alkhalaf shannon.alkahalaf@stls.frb.org 

Department of the Interior Stephanie Weakley stephanie.weakley@fiscal.treasury.gov Kristofer Klette kristofer.klette@stls.frb.org

Department of the Treasury Angélique Bridges angelique.bridges@fiscal.treasury.gov Jon Haehnel jon.haehnel@stls.frb.org

Department of Transportation Lori Makle-Sellman lori.makle-sellman@fiscal.treasury.gov Jon Haehnel jon.haehnel@stls.frb.org

Department of Veterans’ Affairs Angélique Bridges angelique.bridges@fiscal.treasury.gov Shannon Alkhalaf shannon.alkahalaf@stls.frb.org 

Environmental Protection Agency Stephanie Weakley stephanie.weakley@fiscal.treasury.gov Kristofer Klette kristofer.klette@stls.frb.org

General Services Administration Stephanie Weakley stephanie.weakley@fiscal.treasury.gov Josh Stegemann joshua.p.stegemann@stls.frb.org

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Stephanie Weakley stephanie.weakley@fiscal.treasury.gov Kristofer Klette kristofer.klette@stls.frb.org

National Science Foundation Stephanie Weakley stephanie.weakley@fiscal.treasury.gov Shannon Alkhalaf shannon.alkahalaf@stls.frb.org 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Stephanie Weakley stephanie.weakley@fiscal.treasury.gov Kristofer Klette kristofer.klette@stls.frb.org

Office of Personnel Management Lori Makle-Sellman lori.makle-sellman@fiscal.treasury.gov Shannon Alkhalaf shannon.alkahalaf@stls.frb.org 

Small Business Administration Lori Makle-Sellman lori.makle-sellman@fiscal.treasury.gov Shannon Alkhalaf shannon.alkahalaf@stls.frb.org 

Social Security Administration Lori Makle-Sellman lori.makle-sellman@fiscal.treasury.gov Josh Stegemann joshua.p.stegemann@stls.frb.org

U.S. Agency for International Development Stephanie Weakley stephanie.weakley@fiscal.treasury.gov Jon Haehnel jon.haehnel@stls.frb.org

For Do Not Pay (DNP) inquiries, please find your agency lead/specialist below or contact the DNP mailbox at donotpay@fiscal.treasury.gov.

For Payment Integrity Center of Excellence (PICOE) inquries regarding AVS and cross-government services, please contact the mailbox at 

OPI.Outreach@fiscal.treasury.gov. For PICOE data requests and investigative support, please contact the mailbox at PaymentIntegrity@fiscal.treasury.gov.