With America becoming more digital with each passing day, it is sometimes tough to remember that checks remain one of the most popular forms of payment. In many cases, the way Americans use checks has changed, with electronic checks and check-by-phone payments offering speed and convenience, as well as saving the cost of postage. Refusing to accept checks in person, by phone, or online can reduce a company’s profit potential, but the fees associated with bounced checks, check fraud, and identity theft can be catastrophic, especially to a small business.

Check processing services are often the perfect solution to this dilemma. These services virtually eliminate the risks presented by checks, by scanning a copy of the check into a machine that is used on the premises of the business. The transaction is verified and approved in much the same way a credit card operates, cutting down on fraud and instances of insufficient funds. The transfer of funds takes place electronically, in most cases within 1-3 days, ending the days of needing to wait weeks for check-based transactions to be finalized.

Most check processing services accept all types of checks, increasing business to the small business owner. If a check is returned for insufficient funds, the processing service will immediately deal with the issue, and the cost of the failed transaction is passed along to the customer, rather than the business.

Another benefit of check processing services is that they provide an easy solution for providing electronic check and check-by-phone options. For those who are not the most technologically savvy business owners out there, the check processing service makes it easy to offer the convenient choices customers want without needing to learn about the technology behind the service. The business owner controls important options, such as choosing whether or not payments must be guaranteed, and setting minimum and maximum payment limits. It is also up to the business owner to decide whether or not to charge a fee per transaction, helping to reduce the cost of the check processing service. In this way, the business owner can make all the important choices, while the service is actually handled by the processing company.

Though electronic payments and credit cards may be the future of financial transactions, checking accounts are still a very important part of the financial life of the average American consumer. Being able to accept the largest variety of payments, including checks and check-by-phone payments, results in the highest profit potential for a business. The use of check processing services makes this possible, while eliminating risk for both the consumer and the business owner.

There are many benefits for a business to choose check processing software and services. One of the primary reasons is that it is faster and more convenient than accepting paper checks. Trips to the bank are unnecessary. As electronically deposited checks are processed ahead of paper checks, there is an improvement in recovery rates of checks that originally were returned due to non-sufficient funds. There are no re-deposit fees or fees on returned checks and collection fees are greatly reduced. This also means that the funds are accessed more quickly once the transaction is complete.

Although there are a large percentage of consumers that prefer to conduct business with credit cards and electronic payments, there are still many that continue to write checks.  There are check processing options such as remote deposit capture and electronic check conversion which enables a business to accept and deposit checks without making a trip to the bank. By accepting checks, businesses can provide another option for payment to their customers. This, in turn, increases sales while reducing the risk of returned checks. These methods enable businesses to accept checks as easily as credit cards.

Financial institutions often invest in comprehensive check processing solutions. They can help streamline processes to increase revenue and reduce overhead. Customer service levels can be enhanced at banks, credit unions and service bureaus. In most cases, the solution can be fully integrated into existing systems. Imaging is the most current technology in payment processing. Documents are scanned and stored on electronic media, rather than on paper in file cabinets. They can be archived and retrieved quickly and easily. The data contained in the electronic files can also be used to generate statements as needed. Manual and dual entries into existing financial systems are no longer necessary.

The technology employed allows for misread or unreadable characters to be corrected. Other functions do not need to be paused while this task is completed and it can be done remotely if necessary. Most solutions feature a full set of reports and anti-fraud measures. Signatures can be verified and authenticity of the check confirmed. Data export options enable formats to meet the user’s specifications and transmitted to a variety of industry standard media. Check processing software provides many advantages over traditional methods. It can save time and money by streamlining processes, and increasing check recovery rates. Fees for insufficient funds are reduced and the amount of personnel needed for processing the same volume is decreased.

We are in the midst of what has been called the electronic age. The mainstream acceptance of the Internet has enabled information to flow freely and quickly. From email and chat being used to keep in touch with friends and family, to paying bills online rather than sending payment via the Post Office, everything seems to move faster. When the Check Clearing for the 21st Century, or Check 21 for short, was enacted in 2004, the speed with which check processing occurred increased. It was viewed as an easier and less expensive way for the financial industry to process check transactions.

In the past, a check would be made out, signed and physically sent to a merchant for payment. The merchant would then deposit it into their bank account. From there, the check could be transferred several more times before the transaction was considered complete. This would take days, sometimes weeks. Under Check 21, the check never needs to move once it is received by the merchant’s bank. Instead of sending the check with the accompanying receipt to its next location, the bank scans it. Once it is an electronic image, it is transmitted to the proper location.

The overall result of Check 21 to the banking industry is a substantial savings. There are no transportation fees needed to move thousands of checks from one location to another. Once the check is scanned, the data is uploaded in an approved format. Manual entry is not required and it takes only seconds to transmit the data to the proper network. This also decreases the amount of personnel required to maintain the volume of checks received. Research time for adjustments is unnecessary, collection expenses are reduced and the processing cycle is shortened from three weeks to a few days.

By having access to the check information more quickly, customer services are enhanced. Consumer questions about their account balance and recent transactions can be answered with surety. Although it enables the banking industry to realize savings in many areas, Check 21 does not mandated reduced fees charged to the consumer. Banks have the option of processing checks electronically, but they will not refuse paper checks when presented. Increased imaging clarity, widespread use of the Internet and changes in banking regulations enabled financial institutions to keep up with the rest of their business needs. Cash flows more steadily and there are fewer defaults on payments due to late receipt.

For more information please contact us at 800-720-3323 or at www.nationalprocessing.com

Check 21 is the short name for the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act. This law was enacted in October 2003, going into effect one year later.  It is the law that allows recipients of checks to create a digital format. This removes the need for any further handling of the original document. With the mainstream acceptance of online shopping and automatic payment processing, it was becoming more expensive to handle checks and process them efficiently. The Act was designed to improve the effectiveness of check payment processing.  Technological advancements have increased the resolution and clarity of scanned documents.

Quality image scanners are inexpensive and easy to operate. As a result, many businesses and consumers alike began to bypass the postal service and other transportation methods for quick receipt of important documents. Check 21 enables vendors to receive funds faster, improves customer service and allows for more efficient collection of returned check fees. Transportation costs are dramatically reduced as checks can now be scanned and electronically processed. As many duties are now automated, the personnel requirements have been reduced which saves on payroll. The space needed for storage of the checks can now be allocated to more useful purposes.

Check 21 affords many benefits to financial institutions and the commercial customer. For the industry, first and foremost, it eliminates the monetary risk associated with the movement and storage of billions of checks each year. The process of digitizing paper checks and allowing them to be legally used has streamlined the collection and return processing procedures by fully utilizing existing technology. By encouraging image exchange, the costs for accepting checks are reduced for all parties involved. For financial institutions, one of the primary benefits is in the reduced time for settlements.

Check 21 lowers the clearing fees by automating many processes that used to be completed by hand. It also is responsible for reducing costs associated with checks that need to be resubmitted. The electronic process reduces the check float, which allows funds to be moved to the vendor faster. This also helps the financial institution find instances of fraud quickly and deal with it effectively. For commercial customers, they are able to receive payments and have access to funds faster. Deposits are convenient and can be made daily. This reduces expenses associated with courier fees.  As a result, deposit cut off times have been extended and banking has been made easier.

It seems that everyone has a web site of their own. Home-based businesses have sites that are informative and professional. Many popular brick and mortar businesses also have an online presence. Everyone encourages you to make a purchase at their online store from the convenience of your home with their online payment processing system. In many instances they offer web-only discounts, free shipping or a gift with every purchase to entice potential customers. However, you may have some concerns about entering your credit card information.

How can you tell if they are legitimate? Is it safe to make purchases? Online payment processing is the method used for processing credit cards or electronic checks for e-commerce store purchases. Most web sites offer shopping carts that provide merchants many payment gateway choices. A payment gateway is the part of the transaction that has access to the information attached to a debit or credit card account. This information includes the account holder’s name, billing address, CV, and expiration date. It works in much the same way a point of sale system works at your favorite retail location. Payment gateways offer a variety of services to online merchants.

Though they may vary from one vendor to another, they all provide authentication for credit and debit card transactions. They are able to send and receive data over a secure connection that provides privacy for the web customers. This ensures the page used for online payment processing, which is where personal information is entered, is safe from the prying “eyes” of computer hackers. When the data is sent to the online merchant, the software creates a file in a format that can be accepted by the payment gateway. Once all data is received, the transaction commences and the request for authorization is made.

The customer’s credit card company confirms the information, validates the account and authorizes or declines the charge via their online payment processing system. If an authorization is received, the funds are removed from the customer’s account and deposited into the store’s Internet Merchant Account. Usually a confirmation or order number is created for the customer. If the charge is denied, a specific code is returned that indicates the issue. When making purchases online, look for the security seal. If it is not mentioned on the home page, check the frequently asked questions. This indicates that steps have been taken to protect the identity and banking information of customers.

We have all heard the phrase “The check is in the mail”. In most cases this is a sarcastic way of saying that something is probably not ever going to happen. In the past, people used checks as a reliable and common form of payment when they did not have enough cash on them to make a purchase or pay for a service that had been rendered. The consumer would write out a check for the amount they wanted to pay, sign it and hand it to the purveyor of the good or service that they were purchasing. The recipient would then take the check and endorse it, then deposit it at their financial institution. Today, many businesses prefer ACH check processing.

Standard paper checks are not as reliable as they once were for a variety of reasons. Checks that are mailed to the payee have the potential to get lost or misrouted. A check made out to cash, in the wrong hands can be deposited, even though it wasn’t intended for the person depositing it. In today’s uncertain economy a check is also no longer an ironclad guarantee that you will receive payment. A person is capable of writing a check for an amount greater than the funds which they actually have available. The recipient runs the risk of not only not getting paid, but incurring fees for the returned check when they accept a paper check. ACH check processing helps avoid this issue.

An ACH check is an immediate withdrawal of funds, at the time that the check is issued. No paper check has to be written out, though many financial institutions will provide a paper version back to the account holder to enable them to reconcile their statement. ACH check processing provides a safe means for businesses to accept checks and a secure way for account holders to issue checks, with no risk of the check not making it to the intended recipient.

If you have a business and are looking for ways to enhance the payment experience for your customers, then you should consider offering ACH check processing. Fast, simple and reliable, it provides a great way to ensure that you get paid on time, the first time and every time. It also protects your customers by preventing them from ever writing a check that may bounce on them or using a credit card with interest and finance charges attached.

Please contact us for more questions or comments at 800-403-8182 or at www.nationalprocessing.com

An Electronic Fund Transfer is a paperless monetary transaction occurring between two banks.  In the case of online sales, the customer’s checking account information is input onto a webpage.  The customer’s bank then routes and deposits the funds into your account.  There are, of course, many more intermediary steps that occur.  However, most of these steps happen in a matter of seconds and do not require any action on your part.

There are many benefits to both the customer and business owner when using an electronic fund transfer, or EFT.  One of the main reasons to use an EFT is time savings, which are two-fold.  The first being that the funds are deducted much more quickly than when using a traditional check as they do not need to go through the mail.  This means that money is deposited into your bank account that much faster.  The second way that an EFT saves time is by cutting down on the amount of time spent on bookkeeping and keeping up on past-due invoices.

The time and energy savings associated with an electronic fund transfer are also passed onto the customer as they have a decreased lag time between writing their check and the withdrawal being deducted from their account.  This keeps their checking accounts up to date and organized.  It is also much simpler for a customer to click a button or two online rather than getting out the checkbook, finding an envelope and stamp, and heading out to the post office.  Cutting down on the customer’s effort even more, automatic reminder e-mails and payments can be set-up.  This makes customers more likely to pay on time, allowing the payment to get to you faster and reducing the amount of time you spend chasing down past-due checks.

EFTs can streamline payment by enabling automatic payments which can be applied to either fixed or variable amounts.  By setting up an automatic payment, a client is no longer required to remember when they have to pay a bill and risk it being late.  Funds set up to be deducted from the customer’s account on a specified date gets payment to you quickly, eliminates virtually any chance for delayed payment.  You then no longer have to waste your time with past-due invoices and phone calls and your clients do not have to worry about incurring any late-charges.  By having the ability to offer your clients the option of an electronic fund transfer, you are simplifying the lives of both you and your customer and getting paid in the process.

Adding ACH check processing to your business is a great way to reach more customers while streamlining your business.  ACH stands for Automated Clearing House processing and is affiliated with the Federal Reserve Bank.  It is the gold standard when it comes to accepting remote check payments.  Still one of the most popular methods for payment, checks have proven difficult to accept over the internet until recently.  With issues of fraud, lack of funds, and long transaction times, the process of accepting checks remotely has undergone a major overhaul to combat these issues.

We all know that the internet is a great venue for doing business.  Whether setting up an online only store to keep overhead low, or expanding your existing business to the internet, you will benefit from the large number of potential clients.  By adding ACH check processing to your payment options, you can expand your amount of clients by reaching those who either still do not have a charge card or choose to not use one for online purchases.  Using the internet for commerce purposes can also make your sales run more smoothly and cut down on costs involved in processing them.

ACH check processing can also add to your profit by decreasing processing costs associated with traditional checks.  Additionally, as the funds are typically deposited into your account within a shorter amount of time, you have much quicker access to the money you are making.  Any business owner knows that waiting for monies owed is a major drain on your time.  This ultimately affects your bottom line when you are constantly hunting down checks and wasting time following up with past-due invoices.  You are also now able to keep your bookkeeping up to date more easily.

This payment process also cuts down on the amount of bounced checks and, thus, decreases the fees associated with this.  One of the major problems with accepting checks in a traditional brick-and-mortar store has been that there was no way of knowing if the customer’s account had sufficient funds.  It might take up to a week or more to find out that the check bounced and are then hit with a fee from the bank.  Therefore, you are able to cut down on the number of bad checks that eat up profits while increasing your number of customers.  With all of the upgrades it has brought, ACH check processing represents the future of online payment.

Check 21 is one of the most well-known electronic fund transfer solution that you can add to your payment system. This is essentially an online checking system that allows businesses to process credit card and check transactions without the headaches. But this payment solution is not just about convenience. Using Check 21 will also reduce your total processing costs that may include card transmission and chargeback charges. To use this payment system, all you need to do is make a digital or virtual check to be drawn against your customers’ bank accounts. You will then request your bank for verification and when the check has been cleared, you get the funds in your own account.

By not requiring paper checks, the Check 21 system eliminates the need for cleared checks to be returned to the bank account holder, who is none other than your customer. This payment method also allows you to remote deposit funds into your own merchant account. With remote deposit, you can simply scan images of your customers’ checks and then electronically deposit them into your account. Check 21 makes it possible for businesses like yours to credit payment from customers within the same business day that the digital checks are electronically deposited. In short, both you and your customers enjoy unprecedented convenience.

Moreover, since Check 21 is electronically processed, merchants are also notified about returned items faster. Typically, within one business day, you will be informed about returned items, if any. Chargebacks are minimal because, to begin with, processing costs are lower than conventional payment methods. Compare that with the traditional paper-based payment processing, which can produce notifications on returned items only after seven days at the earliest. Needless to say, when you add Check 21 to your payment system, you also get easy access to important transaction data, payment status, and digital images of your customers’ checks.

Indeed, Check 21 payment system is another electronic fund transfer system that exempts you from making trips to your bank and physically depositing the checks that you receive from your customers. And if you are concerned about the security of your payment transactions, you have nothing to worry about since all the transactions will be processed in a secured Internet-based platform. Check 21 removes paper checks from your business operations while giving you a better control of the funds that will be credited to your account. So what are you waiting for? Add a more efficient way to accept and deposit checks to your business now.

Online payment processing is one of the major considerations that you need to look into if you are planning to open an online store or website. Believe it or not, there are some entrepreneurs who get caught up with web design and programming requirements to open an Internet-based shop such that they end up forgetting about how they will process payment by customers. Come to think of it, if you do not have any electronic or online payment processing program in your website, you might as well close your site and shelve your dream of becoming the next big entrepreneur. Before you panic and get the first payment processor that you see on the Internet, it is a good idea to brush up on payment processing networks. Read on.

The first thing that you should know is that not all networks that process electronic payments are the same. Each payment processing option has its own terms, conditions and limitations. You need to read about the terms of service of each available option before you sign up. Some of the things that you might want to ask the service provider include how many accounts you can open. Remember that if you do not follow the rules and regulations of the network that you are going to use, there is a huge chance that your account will be banned or shutdown. You do not want this to happen to your business at all cost.

You should also realize that there are some payment processing systems that are not available in certain areas. This is all right if your niche market is geographically specific. But it may be wise to check what networks are available to you before you spend time designing your website and spending tons of money in opening up an online store. If you live in the US, you really do not have to worry much about this because most if not all electronic payment networks are available in the country.

Lastly, it is also a wise idea for you to look at the technical side of payment processing before you consider using it. This is important so that you fully understand how to properly set up payment processing systems on your online store or website. You also need to know what you have to do when problems arise. This will help you avoid being caught off guard. A solid and reliable payment processing system can help determine the success or failure of your business.