Managing Returned Checks

T o complement its suite of successful check products, PayPoint Electronic Payment Systems has just added a “returned check” management system called Return Check.

“Our new total check solution helps retailers both quickly screen check writers and manage bad check collection,” says PayPoint Sales VP Fred Coblentz. “We think this unique combination will be attractive to many retailers.”

Return Check works in tandem with Check Advantage, PayPoint’s check verification product. Once a new customer tenders his or her ID at a store, that customer becomes part of the retailer’s proprietary database. When a customer writes a check, Check Advantage notes any check amount limits and how many checks that person has written. If Check Advantage refuses to authorize a check, it provides the store manager with an instant mini-history of the check writer at the point-of-sale. This allows the store manager to distinguish between a professional check runner and a good customer who inadvertently writes a bad check. The product makes it harder for check runners to victimize a retail chain. And it allows retailers to quickly authorize checks for good customers.

Return Check software is housed on PayPoint servers and viewed from retail client PCs. When a retailer receives a returned check, the retailer accesses Return Check by scanning the check. The retailer can access a log for tracking telephone collection attempts and even print out collection form letters.

PayPoint began offering a “negative” check authorization product in 1993. In 1998 it developed Check Advantage, a more advanced “positive” check authorization product, to help a supermarket client substantially reduce bad check losses. But to broadly market Check Advantage to smaller chains, Pay Point developed a complementary check return product.

“We realized that to really sell a check authorization product you need to complement it with a check return offering,” says Coblentz. “A large retailer can build their own check return product. But that isn’t an affordable option for most smaller chains. Our new complete check offering helps us tap more potential retailers. It lets smaller chains use a system similar to what large chains use without building their own check return system.”

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