CrossCheck Blog

What is the biggest, funniest, weirdest, most historical, most valuable, most bizarre check ever written? Check forgery and check fraud only constitute a portion of this category, Frank William Abagnale, Jr. made this popular in the 1960s. Life-sized versions are used for celebrations and contest winners; half-court shots, halftime field goal kickers, and golf tournament winners come to mind. Ever seen Happy Gilmore? He collects them in his car! If you're a sports fan, by now you must be familiar with the Draft Kings' checks.

You’re taking a leisurely Sunday afternoon drive with your wife and kids up the California coast on Highway 1. Windows down, Pandora streaming, admiring the picturesque horizon – when all of a sudden your horn starts honking uncontrollably, your music explodes to full blast, and your brakes fail.

We’ve come a long way since the Flintstones drove around in a stone-manufactured, foot mobile contraption. If Fred and Barney were racing around town today, they would undoubtedly be in favor of tire improvements to ensure a smoother, safer ride. That being said, here’s a look at the future of tires. Some are coming down the pipeline, and some that have already arrived. The shortlist below is not all-inclusive but highlights those items most likely to impact sales.

The American Pet Products Association predicts U.S. pet owners will spend an estimated $60.59 billion on their pets in 2015. Naturally, cost varies depending on the dog’s breed and size. And even though dogs are more expensive to own the cats, canine pet visits grew 1.9% in 2014.

With or without warning, Mother Nature’s disasters can be very devastating to human life and the economy. Emergency crews and government agencies often help people prepare for and recover from natural disasters.

There is no denying pets play an important part of our lives – they are family after all. Many pet owners will do whatever they can to improve – or at least maintain – their pets’ health. Because of this dedication, it is in your best interest to accept all payment methods to make the owners’ decision that much easier, but there are some innovative payment alternatives that may help you increase your revenue.

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in April of 2012 and has been updated on June 24, 2015 to reflect new information. Check guarantee services are an increasingly important service for merchants. This is especially true for big ticket industries because as the amount of a transaction rises above $100, one out of every five customers will want to pay with a check. But as most merchants well know, there’s a risk involved. In fact, the most recent Federal Reserve Payments Study found that nearly 66.4 million checks were returned unpaid in 2012. And the average value of these unpaid interbank and on-us checks was $1,224 and $1,432, respectively.

If you’re reading this, you know just how important it is to accept many types of payment because you never want to say “no” to a customer. This is exponentially important for purchases greater than $100 because checks are used for 1 out of 5 of those transactions.

May’s seasonally adjusted annual auto sales rate topped out at 17.8 million vehicles, the highest mark since July 2005, which would have to mean, according to popular misconceptions, that dealerships have been raking it in. Car buyers, in fact, believe auto dealers make upwards of 20% per sale of a $30,000 new car. In the real world, the average 2014 pretax profit for auto dealerships was only 2.2%. It’s expected to remain the same for 2015. So the real question is this: What can you do to increase volume?

In February Auto Trader conducted a survey on Millennials and their cars and came to the following conclusions: 27% of the men have a “love affair” with their vehicle So do 18% of the women 30% of them have named their car 60% of them love shopping at your dealership Where was this love affair born? It might have more than one source, but according to the University of Virginia the 1961 television movie “Merrily We Roll Along” has a lot to do with it, because in it cars are the “new girl in town.”