Check Services - Secure Check

Secure Check

Frequently Asked Questions

1. What are the benefits of this program?

Secure Check electronic check recovery service (RCK) is a free, federally approved service. RCK operates under the same fiduciary laws, rules and guidelines as does your bank.

No long term contracts
No limit on number of NSF checks (1 or 1000 per month)
Economical alternative to guarantee service
Payments sent electronically to your account as collected
No more waiting weeks and months to settle on refund checks
Return checks are processed on any bank in the U.S. Federal Reserve System
Out-of-town or out-of-state checks are handled as easily as local checks
Works for any business, anywhere, that accepts checks for payment
Endorsed by State and National Associations, with thousands of members currently using our services

2. This seems too good to be true. If you are doing this all for us, how do you make money?

We maintain our processing center with the state mandated fee that is charged to the check writer. On any given day we have thousands of bad checks in collection so we don’t have to charge you. As you will see in another question/answer, your client also saves money with this program rather than the traditional collection methods. It’s not too good to be true, rather just good business.

3. Won’t the new highly touted “Check 21” legislation solve all our bad check problems?

Actually, No. “Check 21” is designed by and for the banks to expedite the collection of their bank charges for bounced checks. The old method of returning the paper check to the depositing bank, than having it re-deposited took one or two days. Now the bank can electronically present the check twice in a few seconds, collect their fees, and return the dishonored check to the merchant or professional practice to attempt to collect the funds owed them. “Check 21” while benefiting the bank, in reality, exacerbates the problems for the business receiving the check.

4. Is it true we are rapidly becoming a cashless society with the use of debit and credit cards?

A recent study by the American Bankers Association shows that since the year 2000 the total number of checks has decreased from 36.7 billion to 32.1 billion in 2004. However, the total number of bad checks written has dramatically increased. 731 million bad checks were written in 2000 and this has soared to over 1.1 billion in 2004 with even a greater number projected for this year. Also over 63 million families cannot qualify for credit cards and a great many cannot even qualify for debit cards.

5. Well, can’t I just stop taking checks like many other merchants are doing?

A study by USA Today has shown that places of business that refuse to accept checks lose 14% of their top line sales. That is huge. Just take your gross receipts last year and reduce it by 14%. That does not make sense just to avoid the slight chance of receiving a bad check. What makes sense is to out source to a professional service, which can help solve the returned check problem.

6. How does the program work?

You sign an agreement that gives Secure Check your permission to collect any returned checks you have received.
You sign an authorization form, which instructs your bank to forward dishonored checks to the Secure Check processing center after one bounce. We send this form to your bank and explain the entire program to them.
Once your bank makes the proper entries in the computer, the dishonored checks come directly to Secure Check.
Each time the Secure Check processing center receives a dishonored check we notify you at once so that you may adjust your books. You may choose to receive this information either by email or fax. If you have neither we will email you.
You receive notification, email or fax each time collected funds are placed in your account electronically and all funds in your account are forwarded as they are received.
If your client has given you a bad check and needs to talk to someone, save your valuable time and have them call the Secure Check customer service department where they will receive prompt and courteous service.

7. How do I get started?

Please download the short application form and bank forwarding authorization form on our website and fax it to us at 215-489-7880. Paperwork takes less than 10 minutes to complete!

8. When do I receive my money?

We reimburse items as they are collected..

9. How long is the contract for?

Unlike other programs there is no long term commitment. If this service works for you and makes your business run more efficiently and your employees are more productive by not having to bother your clients, then you may continue as long as you wish. If for any reason it is not a fit for you and your business, you may notify us to discontinue the service with no penalty.

10. Is collecting bad checks electronically legal?

Yes! In 1998 the National Automated Clearing House (NACHA) changed the rules to allow the electronic retrieval of dishonored (bad) checks. This was a revolutionary decision designed to help businesses with this massive problem.

11. Why do I need this service if I don’t get many bad checks?

First, because it is absolutely free to you so you can’t go wrong. If you are not getting any or many bad checks then either you run a very tight ship or you are just lucky that a pirate hasn’t come on board your ship yet. That first bad check that you accept could be costly and happen at the least expected or desired time. A study shows that every bad check costs an average of $95.17 in fees and lost employee productivity (if you have a professional service the average is $60.05 per bad check) and that’s whether the check is $5.00 or $500.00 and whether you collect it or not. This is a bottom line loss – money right out of your pocket. Only one bad check per quarter would cost you $380.68 per year. Now to recoup this loss could mean you would need as much as $2000.00 in new business depending on your profit margin just to break even, so we see there is no such thing as a small bad check problem.

12. Isn’t this going to make my customer mad, or cost them money?

No, actually it will probably save your customer money. When you deposit your customers check into your account and it bounces once, then twice, you are charged a fee of $2 to $5. On the other side, your customers bank is charging them a fee of $25.00 to $35.00 for each “bounce” – that is $50.00 to $70.00 charged to them plus the state mandated penalty fee. With Secure Check’s service, your bank is instructed to forward the customers dishonored check to our processing center after the first bounce and RCK will collect without a second bounce to anyone. This can save your customer $25.00 to $35.00 by eliminating the second bounce and therefore, they are money ahead. They also do not know that you know their check has bounced because the think the whole think was taken care of in the banking community. Therefore, they are never embarrassed and will remain your good customer.

13. I currently have a service to collect my bad checks, why should I consider Secure Check?

Perhaps you don’t need to consider Secure Check for this service. However, if you have taken the time to read all the way to the bottom of our FAQ page then you are probably searching for a better alternative service then your current one. If your current service is free to you, collects any bank charges you may have incurred, has a high percentage of collection in a short period of time, keeps you fully informed of all phases of the collection process and stresses service, then you are probably in good shape. However, if this is not the case, we welcome the opportunity to provide your business with the finest program ever to solve the check problem.

14. What if I have additional questions?

Please feel free to email or call us at 800-717-1245.