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Check Verification Business Case Demystified

Posted by Brandon Weaver | Wed, Oct 22, 2014 @ 10:00 AM

Check Verification Merchant BenefitsIf you’re looking for where you can get free check verification for your business you should know right up front that we haven’t found it either, for the simple reason that legitimate check verification services are not free.

You can’t just fill in a free form and hope for the best. Even if you could, would you really want to bet your revenue on the website’s recommendation?

Probably not, so it makes sense to partner with a check verification provider. They’ll have you:

  • Open a merchant account
  • Sign a service agreement
  • Put equipment in place (e.g. check reader or credit card terminal with one built-in)

Defining Check Verification

Check verification is considered an “introductory” check service because it offers limited protection and provides only a recommendation.

When you submit a check for verification the service provider ought to, at the very least verify if your customer has an open checking account. They may also look for negative or fraudulent activity. After doing so, the service simply makes a recommendation.

Some verification providers do a lot more than that; CrossCheck draws on thirty-one years of proprietary data and specialized algorithms that enable us to provide the best approval ratio in the industry.

Remember too that verification is only that – verification. There is no guarantee that the check is good or that the funds will be transferred to you.

That’s why CrossCheck also offers a guarantee as an additional service. Learn the details by reading our 5 W’s of check guarantee; the essential business case is that you will receive the revenue on every guaranteed check. If a problem arises, we handle it, not you.

The Need for Check Verification

Check Verification ResultsChecks are unusually valuable. In fact, the average amount of each check increased from $1,291 to $1,420 during 2009 to 2012 – making a guarantee business critical for many businesses.

Dealing with a returned check can have negative consequences across your business. Having to transition into debt collection mode is uncomfortable for most business owners. And the attempt is often unsuccessful because you may not have proper training to collect debt nor sufficient knowledge about how to comply with the wide array of federal and state debt collection laws.

When a proven check verification service verifies that a check is “recommended” it is more likely that the check is good; a guarantee means that “recommendation” is backed up with money should the check be returned.

So Who Uses Check Verification?

Sometimes a check guarantee is overkill for a given business. Usually low-ticket, high volume industries such as grocery stores and gas stations are satisfied with verification alone since each check is not business-critical.

Learn more about check verification to decide if that will suffice for you or if you should also have a revenue guarantee by reading our insider’s guide here.

Check Verification Insider's Guide

Topics: Check Verification

Written by Brandon Weaver