Serving All 50 StatesNSF Check Recovery FAQ's
1. What are the benefits of this program?
Global Check Recovery 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
- Weekly reimbursements can be electronically transferred into your account
- 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. What types of checks can be electronically re-presented?
- Personal checks and Business checks.
- Check must be no older than 180 days.
- Check must be less than $2,500.00.
- Proper notification must have been given at the point of sale.
- Returned as NSF, Insufficient Funds, or checks returned for similar reasons.
- Checks may not be presented electronically more than a total of 3 times. Usually checks are presented once by the merchant and 2 additional times by Global Check Recovery.
4. 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.
5. Is it true we are rapidly becoming a cashless society with the use of debit and credit cards?
recent study by the American Bankers Association shows that since the year 2000 the total number of checks has decreased from about 37 billion to about 20 billion in 2012. 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 1.2 billion in 2012 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.
6. 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 outsource to a professional service, which can help solve the returned check problem.
7. Please compare the differences between Global Check Recovery and a Collection Agency
| Type | Global Check Service | Collection Agency |
|---|---|---|
| Service Charge | No | Yes |
| Monthly Minimum | No | Usually |
| Out of State Checks | Yes | Not Usually |
| Minimum Account Size | No | Yes |
| Minimum Transaction Size | No | Varies |
| Success Rate | 50-85% | 40-50% |
8. How does the program work?
You sign an agreement that gives Global Check
Recovery your permission to collect any returned
checks you have received.
You sign an Bank Item
Release Form, which instructs your bank to forward
dishonored checks to the Global Check Recovery
processing center after one bounce. You hand deliver
this form to your bank contact at your local branch
to forward to their treasury department. Another
option is when your bank mails you a returned check
back to your business, you then mail the returned
checks to Global Check Recovery for the collection
process to begin.
Once your bank makes the proper
entries in the computer, the dishonored checks come
directly to Global Check Recovery.
You will
receive a Notification email weekly as well as the
ability to view all of your activity via the online
reporting.
If your client has given you a bad
check and needs to talk to someone, save your
valuable time and have them call the Global Check
Recovery customer service department where they will
receive prompt and courteous service.
9. 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!
10. When do I receive my money?
We reimburse items once per week.
11. 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.
12. 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.
13. 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.
14. 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 $15.00 to $20.00. 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 Global Check Recovery'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 they think the whole think was taken care of in the banking community. Therefore, they are never embarrassed and will remain your good customer.
15. I currently have a service to collect my bad checks, why should I consider Global Check Recovery?
Perhaps you don't need to consider Global Check Recovery 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.
16. What if I have additional questions?
Please feel free to email or call us at 800-717-1245.