Telecheck Fraud: Fill & Download for Free

To Kelli Lee:Some stores use a special company such as TeleCheck to verify at the cash register whether an account is closed or active. The store, though, should have additional procedures in place to verify the person presenting the check.If a check is presented on a closed account, this is theft and fraud, and the store has every right to pursue legal actions against the check writer.—Sarah M. 2/20/2018ORIGINAL QUESTION: “How does a store know if a check account is closed?”

They use a third-party check verification service. Like a credit or debit card, they receive a red or green light system (accepted or declined) when you present a check.Here is an overview.What Is Telecheck and How Does It Work?Walmart processes personal checks electronically through a third party check verification company. The majority of Walmart stores use Telecheck for this service, but a few do use Certegy. These two companies are the largest providers of check verification services for retail stores, and if you often pay with checks, you’ve probably had yours scanned before.When you pay with a personal check at Walmart, you must let the cashier run your check through the Telecheck or Certegy scanning machine. Walmart posts a statement at the checkout lane stating that by choosing to pay by check, you consent to having your check processed in this way.Telecheck or Certegy runs the information from the check, such as the routing number, bank account number, and amount of the transaction, and your identifying information, such as your driver’s license number, against the data stored in its system to assess the check’s riskiness. This assesses the chances your check will be returned for insufficient funds as well as a the chances of check fraud.Generally, this helps Walmart avoid accepting bad checks and reduces check fraud, but sometimes perfectly good checks are declined too. According to TeleCheck, even something seemingly innocent such as a bank account number not seen by TeleCheck before could be a risk factor that could possibly lead to the check being declined.When the system accepts your check, it’ll print a receipt, which you’ll sign. This authorizes the company to transfer funds from your checking account electronically. The cashier will give you a copy of the receipt and your original check. If the system declines a personal check, you’ll still get a receipt and your check back — but the funds won’t transfer and you’ll have to pay for your purchase another way. Look on the receipt for Telecheck or Certegy’s phone number — you can call them and find out why your check was declined. If you were declined by Telecheck, you’ll have to contact them to resolve the situation. You can also read their declined check FAQs for more info. If you were declined by Certegy, you can call or use the online declined check lookup to find out why.source: Walmart Personal Check Policy: Everything You Should Know

As hard as it may be to believe, much of our banking and credit card system is based on honesty and integrity of consumers. These things are handled on an exception basis -- if fraud happens, you deal with it.With my credit union, I don't even have to go to an ATM. I can just scan the check at home and upload the scans through the Web site. (Technically, a third-party that my credit union has contracted with. See http://ensenta.com/content/consumer.html) They give me immediate access to the first $5,000.If I were to enter an incorrect amount and the issuer noticed it, they would complain to their bank. If you were to do this on a regular basis, the bank would close your checking account. Banks also use TeleCheck when opening checking accounts to identify people who may be risks.Chase has an iPhone app that lets you do this.If you still write checks, you should validate your statement to catch errors like this.Likewise, no one really validates signatures on credit cards. Heck, for most cards these days you apply online and never even sign anything. There is the risk that you're not the person who you say you are (identity fraud), but that's dealt with later if someone complains. By reducing the friction to transactions, you just make a lot more money and can cover fraud through increased volume.