Q. What is CheckSurance™?

A. CheckSurance™is a suite of services that protects business owners from losses incurred from fraud and/or bounced checks. It also reduces the cost of processing paper checks manually and the associated costs of returned items. Returned item costs include bounce fees, the time and energy involved in locating the check writer, obtaining a new check or agreement to permit resubmission of the original check and resubmission of the item. There is also the additional risk of another bounce fee if this resubmission is unsuccessful, and the possibility of actual loss either because the check writer cannot be contacted or because the check is for some other reason uncollectable.

The core CheckSurance™ service is initial electronic depositing of your checks, which enables centralized collection (such that we receive your returned items, protecting you from your bank's bounce fees), electronic resubmission (timed to increase the likelihood of collection, and without the need either to await the return of a paper check, or to locate the checkwriter), and, if necessary, “hard collection” by collection specialists experienced in all legal collection methods.

Q. Is it easy to process checks through CheckSurance™?

A. Yes, CheckSurance™ allows checks to be deposited electronically as easily as credit cards.

Q. What CheckSurance™ Services are available?

A. There are three levels of CheckSurance™ service. Our basic service, CheckSurance™ SI (Self-Insured), is the collection service where the merchant that received the check bears the risk of ultimate non-payment of any check deposited. CheckSurance™ Plus adds to the basic service a stop-loss provision that limits the merchant's potential loss to a fixed predetermined percentage of the dollar value of all checks deposited during a fixed period. CheckSurance™ Unlimited ensures that the merchant will receive the full value for every check deposited in accordance with our requirements, no matter how many checks may be returned. This is the equivalent of the service commonly called “check guarantee”.

Q. What does CheckSurance™ Cost?

A. There is a monthly premium for CheckSurance™ SI, determined by the number of checks deposited per month. This premium includes all fees for depositing checks electronically, as well as the rental cost of a check scanner. Electronic depositing decreases the cost of depositing checks by eliminating the need for bank runs for check depositing, reduced handling of checks, and providing online reporting for all check transactions (including collection activity) that can be downloaded for use in the merchant's accounting system. The check scanner provided will be selected to accommodate the merchant's volume of checks, and whether an adjunct to a card POS device, or an independent unit, or a combined check and card terminal is needed.

CheckSurance™ Plus includes all the features of CheckSurance™ SI with a slightly higher fee to cover the cost of verifying each check received against a national database of reported bad check writers. CheckSurance™ Plus adds the benefit of covering any losses above a pre determined dollar value of all checks deposited during a specific time frame. This is usually reconciled quarterly to allow time to report all collections made. This verification service is also available for a separate charge for CheckSurance™ SI merchants as a way to reduce acceptance of checks likely to bounce.

Q. Why select CheckSurance™?

A. Unlike companies offering conventional check verification and guarantee services, CheckSurance™ allows you to select only those services that address your specific risk profile, and so add value to your business. We can show you the real cost of alternative services and compare those to the value of CheckSurance™. Please contact us for more information.