Check Verification

What is Check Verification?

Check verification is a payments processing service that recommends whether or not merchants should accept specific checks. Since it is impossible to determine if individuals or businesses have sufficient funds to cover checks drawn on their accounts, payment processing vendors provide recommendations to reduce the likelihood of returned items.

Check Verification vs. Check Guarantee

Check verification and check guarantee services help merchants increase sales and mitigate risk, but there are fundamental differences in the services:

• Check verification advises merchants on the legitimacy of checks without covering the cost of items returned from the bank unpaid. Merchants assume their own risk in accepting recommended checks.
• Check guarantee offers a greater level of protection by reimbursing merchants for approved checks that are returned from the bank unpaid.

How does Check Verification work?

CrossCheck merchants simply enter checking account information at the point of sale to receive one of two possible responses: Recommended or Not Recommended.

The decision to recommend or not recommend a check is decided instantly by reviewing the transaction against large databases of check writers. If there are no negative records of the check writer in question, then the check will be recommended for deposit by the merchant.

Only financial institutions and select business types are authorized to access checking account information.

Checks can be authorized via phone, the CrossCheck online portal, CrossCheck FOCUS (a free desktop application), or compatible third-party equipment.

Who uses Check Verification?

Merchants with high sales volumes of low-ticket merchandise can greatly benefit from Check Verification due to the inherently low risk of each transaction. Examples include grocery and convenience stores, gas stations, car washes, oil stop centers or dry cleaners.