For some banking customers, their relationship with their checking account is like a kid with a trampoline: The more bouncy the better.
For others, writing a bad check is genuinely an accounting slip up, a rare occurrence.
But no one likes getting that "insufficient funds" notice, informing customers that their bank is assessing a steep fee for their carelessness.
Consumer advocates say those charges, which are usually $25-$35 per instance, give the impression that the bank is only interested in profiting from their customers' misfortune and reveal the bank's interest in boosting fee income, customer be damned.
But individual bankers and industry groups say nothing could be further from the truth, and that the banking industry is just trying to recoup real costs while also dishing out a little parental-like punishment.
Ultimately, banks say they walk a fine line between needing to mitigate costs and not upsetting customers. For that reason, banks of every size today offer a variety of overdraft, or bounce protection, that either take money from another existing account or loan customers funds.
Overdraft programs have become so abundant, and consumer complaints of misuse by banks increasing at such a pace, that last year the Federal Reserve issued guidance calling for more banks to give customers clearer disclosures on how these programs work and what costs are associated with them.
Several banking groups said they welcomed the guidance, and in the year since, things have been relatively quiet.
"It's one of those cases where it's a dog that's not barking," says Steve Verdier, director of congressional affairs for the Independent Community Bankers Association. "The quieter we can keep the dogs, the better off we are."
Verdier says overdraft protection programs have become necessary because bouncing checks today is much easier thanks to electronic technologies as a result of Check 21 legislation. The days when customers could write a check and know it wouldn't be cashed for several days, maybe even a week -- a period of time called the float -- are all but gone.
"The float has been wrung out of the system," Verdier says.
The programs are also necessary for a very real reason, says American Banking Association spokesman Tracey Mills. To emphasize that recouping losses from overdrafts is a real concern, Mills points out that the second most common form of check fraud is from overdrafts that go unpaid.
But recouping the money is something else.
In the ABA's most recent survey of 1,000 consumers being released this month, 68% of the respondents report spending less than $3 a month on banking services.
But increasing fee income is no doubt a strong motivator for banks, says Bob Byrd, chairman and CEO of Bank of Bartlett, the eighth largest bank in Memphis based on deposits.
Income from overdraft protection programs, or NSF fees, aren't large enough to be a big focus, but they do play a part in the fee revenue stream, he says.
"Overall fee income is a strong part of our model," he says, noting that as a percent of assets, fee income is about 1%.
Byrd says for larger financial institutions, non-interest income, or fee income, of which overdraft charges would be a part, do make up a significant part of their profit stream.
In the most recent quarter, banks like First Tennessee, Regions, SunTrust and BancorpSouth, the top four banks in Memphis, all reported strong fee income growth, with BancorpSouth reporting a 24.6% growth in non-interest revenue in the second quarter to $53.6 million. None of the banks specifically cited revenue from NSF fees or bounce protection programs as contributing significantly.
Mills says overdraft charges and fees in general tend to get so much attention because customers have a strong emotional response to them, and that grabs media attention.
Ben Brazzell, Wachovia Bank's president for the Memphis market, says lessening that tension, and focusing on building the relationship, is why the bank recently instituted a new tiered system when it comes to NSF charges.
Instead of a flat $30 charge, customers who have one overdraft instance per year are charged $25; those with two to four are charged $30; and those with five or more are charged $35 per item.
Brazzell says it's not his or Wachovia's approach to try and capitalize on customers who bounce checks, even if it is a potential revenue stream.
"It is income to the bank, there's no doubt about that because it's a fee," he says. "But we don't manage by that."
In fact, he says, Wachovia makes every effort to make sure customers don't fall into that category by providing them options to regularly know the status of their checking balance, either through balance alerts sent by e-mail or text message, daily balances sent by e-mail or 24-hour free access by phone or on the Internet -- services many banks offer.
Like most of its competitors, Wachovia offers bounce protection programs that customers must elect to receive and that draws funds from other accounts. Doing so does trigger a $10 fee, or customers can elect to have a line of credit attached to their checking account that will be tapped should the account be overdrawn.
At the end of the day, Brazzell and others say the tools are in the hands of customers, given all of the electronic services for monitoring accounts, many of which are free.
key 1, CollectMyChecks.com | Listen | Audio Off |
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Check Collection Questions & Answers
Some Commonly Asked Questions
What happens if one of our good customers bounces a check?
Call us toll-free and tell us to drop the fee. Your
customer will not be charged a fee.
How does the Daily Fraud Alert work?
Each day our computer scans our database for people who
have written three bad checks in the last 30 days. It then sends an e-mail or
fax warning to any customer who has taken a check from that check writer.
Will your service work in my state?
We can electronically debit accounts in all 50 states for
checks written on any bank in the Federal Reserve System
Do I need to use check verification or check guarantee?
From a cost/benefit stand point, only about 15% of
businesses actually save money this way. After you use our free service for
three months, we will analyze your account and tell you if check verification or check guarantee will help.
Is This Type of Service Secure?
Absolutely, our business processes and service is regularly audited and regulated by the same agencies that audit and regulate the entire banking industry across the country.
This Sounds To Good To Be True. Is it Legal?
Yes it is Legal. Here is a press release during the time that Legislation was passed to allow electronic check collection.
In March of 1998 the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACH) approved electronic check collection of insufficient funds (NSF). Under the NACHA ruling, checks returned for insufficient funds can be legally be re-presented electronically as well as through traditional clearinghouses. Following is the first press release to announce approval of this rule.
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT:
Michael Herd
703/834-2379
Returned Checks Can Now Be Collected Electronically, NACHA Announces
Seattle, WA, March 10, 1998- The National Automated Clearing House
Association (NACHA) announced today that its Board of Directors has approved a
"rule" for the electronic collection of checks returned for insufficient funds
(NSF). Checks that have been returned unpaid for NSF can now be collected through the
Automated Clearing House (ACH) Network, the network that allows financial institutions to
exchange payments on behalf of business customers and consumers. NACHA announced the new
rule at its PAYMENTS 98 conference in Seattle.
Keith Theisen, Vice President of
Norwest Bank, led the NACHA Rules Work Group that developed the rule. He said, "The
collection of returned checks through the ACH Network can bring substantial cost and time
savings to businesses, consumers and financial institutions. Respondents to the group's
request for comments estimate that costs associated with representing an NSF check can be
reduced by up to 50 cents per check for businesses, and one dollar per check for financial
institutions. Lower costs also make the collection of small-value checks more
cost-effective." In addition, NACHA projects that the rate of successful collection
could increase by 25 to 50 percent.
Consumers will benefit from the new
provision, too. Hal Piotrowski, Vice President of Charter One Bank and the Chairman of
NACHA, said, "Use of the new ACH check collection transaction will result in quicker
removal of negative information from check verification databases, which many merchants
use to screen out bad check writers. This means that consumers will be able to write
checks again sooner."
Currently, returned checks that are to
be "re-presented" must be physically sent through the check clearing system in
order to be collected. The new NACHA rule allows this representment to take place over the
ACH Network.
The new rule creates a new Standard
Entry Class Code - RCK (for Represented Check Entry) - under NACHA's Operating Rules for
the ACH Network. The RCK code provides a method to initiate an ACH debit transaction in
place of a paper check, after the original paper check is returned for insufficient funds.
The RCK rule becomes effective September 17, 1999.
Steve Shutze, Senior Vice President of
NationsBank said, "The new Represented Check Entry transaction was created in
response to the needs of businesses that need faster and more successful collection of
returned checks."
Theisen added, "In preparing this
rule, NACHA reviewed and responded to 126 comments from financial institutions,
businesses, and other stakeholders in the ACH Network."
The NACHA Board also approved an
interim rule, effective September 18, 1998 through September 16, 1999, to allow ACH
participants to use the existing Preauthorized Payment and Deposit (PPD) Standard Entry
Class Code to initiate these transactions.
The RCK rule requires business who plan
to collect returned checks electronically to notify check-writers, at the point of sale or
on monthly bills, in a manner similar to notices currently required for collection fees.
About the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA)
NACHA, located in Herndon,
Virginia, represents more than 13,000 financial institutions through its 35 regional ACH
association, six councils and corporate Affiliate Membership program. A leader in the
payments industry, NACHA develops operating rules for the Automated Clearing House (ACH)
Network and for emerging electronic payment solutions in the areas of Internet commerce,
bill payment and presentment, financial EDI, cross-border transactions, electronic checks,
and electronic benefits transfer. NACHA produces marketing collateral and technical
publications, and provides extensive education services, including major conferences and
seminars.
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Returned Checks Can Now Be Collected Electronically, NACHA Announces
Seattle, WA, March 10, 1998- The National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA) announced today that its Board of Directors has approved a “rule” for the electronic collection of checks returned for insufficient funds (NSF). Checks that have been returned unpaid for NSF can now be collected through the Automated Clearing House (ACH) Network, the network that allows financial institutions to exchange payments on behalf of business customers and consumers. NACHA announced the new rule at its PAYMENTS 98 conference in Seattle.
Keith Theisen, Vice President of Norwest Bank, led the NACHA Rules Work Group that developed the rule. He said, “The collection of returned checks through the ACH Network can bring substantial cost and time savings to businesses, consumers and financial institutions. Respondents to the group’s request for comments estimate that costs associated with representing an NSF check can be reduced by up to 50 cents per check for businesses, and one dollar per check for financial institutions. Lower costs also make the collection of small-value checks more cost-effective.” In addition, NACHA projects that the rate of successful collection could increase by 25 to 50 percent.
Consumers will benefit from the new provision, too. Hal Piotrowski, Vice President of Charter One Bank and the Chairman of NACHA, said, “Use of the new ACH check collection transaction will result in quicker removal of negative information from check verification databases, which many merchants use to screen out bad check writers. This means that consumers will be able to write checks again sooner.”
Currently, returned checks that are to be “re-presented” must be physically sent through the check clearing system in order to be collected. The new NACHA rule allows this representment to take place over the ACH Network.
The new rule creates a new Standard Entry Class Code - RCK (for Represented Check Entry) - under NACHA’s Operating Rules for the ACH Network. The RCK code provides a method to initiate an ACH debit transaction in place of a paper check, after the original paper check is returned for insufficient funds. The RCK rule becomes effective September 17, 1999.
Steve Shutze, Senior Vice President of NationsBank said, “The new Represented Check Entry transaction was created in response to the needs of businesses that need faster and more successful collection of returned checks.”
Theisen added, “In preparing this rule, NACHA reviewed and responded to 126 comments from financial institutions, businesses, and other stakeholders in the ACH Network.”
The NACHA Board also approved an interim rule, effective September 18, 1998 through September 16, 1999, to allow ACH participants to use the existing Preauthorized Payment and Deposit (PPD) Standard Entry Class Code to initiate these transactions.
The RCK rule requires business who plan to collect returned checks electronically to notify check-writers, at the point of sale or on monthly bills, in a manner similar to notices currently required for collection fees.
About the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA)
NACHA, located in Herndon, Virginia, represents more than 13,000 financial institutions through its 35 regional ACH association, six councils and corporate Affiliate Membership program. A leader in the payments industry, NACHA develops operating rules for the Automated Clearing House (ACH) Network and for emerging electronic payment solutions in the areas of Internet commerce, bill payment and presentment, financial EDI, cross-border transactions, electronic checks, and electronic benefits transfer. NACHA produces marketing collateral and technical publications, and provides extensive education services, including major conferences and seminars.
Keith Theisen, Vice President of Norwest Bank, led the NACHA Rules Work Group that developed the rule. He said, “The collection of returned checks through the ACH Network can bring substantial cost and time savings to businesses, consumers and financial institutions. Respondents to the group’s request for comments estimate that costs associated with representing an NSF check can be reduced by up to 50 cents per check for businesses, and one dollar per check for financial institutions. Lower costs also make the collection of small-value checks more cost-effective.” In addition, NACHA projects that the rate of successful collection could increase by 25 to 50 percent.
Consumers will benefit from the new provision, too. Hal Piotrowski, Vice President of Charter One Bank and the Chairman of NACHA, said, “Use of the new ACH check collection transaction will result in quicker removal of negative information from check verification databases, which many merchants use to screen out bad check writers. This means that consumers will be able to write checks again sooner.”
Currently, returned checks that are to be “re-presented” must be physically sent through the check clearing system in order to be collected. The new NACHA rule allows this representment to take place over the ACH Network.
The new rule creates a new Standard Entry Class Code - RCK (for Represented Check Entry) - under NACHA’s Operating Rules for the ACH Network. The RCK code provides a method to initiate an ACH debit transaction in place of a paper check, after the original paper check is returned for insufficient funds. The RCK rule becomes effective September 17, 1999.
Steve Shutze, Senior Vice President of NationsBank said, “The new Represented Check Entry transaction was created in response to the needs of businesses that need faster and more successful collection of returned checks.”
Theisen added, “In preparing this rule, NACHA reviewed and responded to 126 comments from financial institutions, businesses, and other stakeholders in the ACH Network.”
The NACHA Board also approved an interim rule, effective September 18, 1998 through September 16, 1999, to allow ACH participants to use the existing Preauthorized Payment and Deposit (PPD) Standard Entry Class Code to initiate these transactions.
The RCK rule requires business who plan to collect returned checks electronically to notify check-writers, at the point of sale or on monthly bills, in a manner similar to notices currently required for collection fees.
About the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA)
NACHA, located in Herndon, Virginia, represents more than 13,000 financial institutions through its 35 regional ACH association, six councils and corporate Affiliate Membership program. A leader in the payments industry, NACHA develops operating rules for the Automated Clearing House (ACH) Network and for emerging electronic payment solutions in the areas of Internet commerce, bill payment and presentment, financial EDI, cross-border transactions, electronic checks, and electronic benefits transfer. NACHA produces marketing collateral and technical publications, and provides extensive education services, including major conferences and seminars.
Friday, March 21, 2008
The Express Returns Advantage for bounced checks
Through an arrangement with the Federal Reserve, we receive bounced checks 5-7 days faster than competitors.
Using the Express Returns™ program, CybrCollect™ reduces your returned check costs and shortens recovery periods.
Combine this with daily fraud alerts, and you can cut off bad check writers at least a week sooner than other merchants!
CybrCollect™ Facts
CybrCollect™ leads the industry, providing comprehensive, technologically advanced check collection services for retail merchants, municipalities, schools, government agencies, utility companies, landlords, and more – at NO CHARGE! Everything you need is faxed or e-mailed to you daily – we do the bookwork! We deposit 100% face value of collected checks directly into your account the same day collected.
No business is too small or too large. CybrCollect™ serves the small merchant just as efficiently as corporate America.
There you have it! If you need to talk to a live person about handling your bounced checks call me at 1-512- 282-3919 if I am on the phone leave me a voice message and I will call you back ASAP or email me at collectchecks@yahoo.com today!
Using the Express Returns™ program, CybrCollect™ reduces your returned check costs and shortens recovery periods.
Combine this with daily fraud alerts, and you can cut off bad check writers at least a week sooner than other merchants!
CybrCollect™ Facts
CybrCollect™ leads the industry, providing comprehensive, technologically advanced check collection services for retail merchants, municipalities, schools, government agencies, utility companies, landlords, and more – at NO CHARGE! Everything you need is faxed or e-mailed to you daily – we do the bookwork! We deposit 100% face value of collected checks directly into your account the same day collected.
No business is too small or too large. CybrCollect™ serves the small merchant just as efficiently as corporate America.
There you have it! If you need to talk to a live person about handling your bounced checks call me at 1-512- 282-3919 if I am on the phone leave me a voice message and I will call you back ASAP or email me at collectchecks@yahoo.com today!
Why Are We Better Than the Competition for check collection?
Great customer service.
· Proprietary software that identifies checks with a high probability of being collected the same day they are received.
· An in-house collection technique that most competitors don't use.
· Industry insiders have compared our results to competitors who don't do this and found that our success rate is 25% higher.
· We provide a free legal collection service to our clients, at the check writer’s expense.
· We can tailor our data specifically for our clients’ needs, for example, capturing two phone numbers, driver’s license numbers, etc.
· By sending collection letters generated in house on all checks that cannot be collected electronically after 30 days.
· This demand letter includes an image of the NSF check to remind the check writer of the overdraft.
· This letter also notifies check writers that they are listed on a national database of bad check writers and will likely be refused during any future attempts to write a check wherever verification is used until pending checks are paid. Further, they are told that their failure to repay that check will result in a record being placed on their credit file and that their account will be turned over to one of our affiliated law firms.
Why wait contact us today and get turn all the bad checks into cash flow checkcollection@yahoo.com
· Proprietary software that identifies checks with a high probability of being collected the same day they are received.
· An in-house collection technique that most competitors don't use.
· Industry insiders have compared our results to competitors who don't do this and found that our success rate is 25% higher.
· We provide a free legal collection service to our clients, at the check writer’s expense.
· We can tailor our data specifically for our clients’ needs, for example, capturing two phone numbers, driver’s license numbers, etc.
· By sending collection letters generated in house on all checks that cannot be collected electronically after 30 days.
· This demand letter includes an image of the NSF check to remind the check writer of the overdraft.
· This letter also notifies check writers that they are listed on a national database of bad check writers and will likely be refused during any future attempts to write a check wherever verification is used until pending checks are paid. Further, they are told that their failure to repay that check will result in a record being placed on their credit file and that their account will be turned over to one of our affiliated law firms.
Why wait contact us today and get turn all the bad checks into cash flow checkcollection@yahoo.com
Check Collection 100% FREE
Free Check Collection - No Mins - No Fees
The small business owner sometimes has limited options for accepting payment that are practical and cost effective. The big companies use check guarantee services, which in my opinion, are over kill for the small to medium size business. The check guarantee type of service charges expensive setup fees, plus equipment fees, monthly minimum fees, plus statement fees and will cost you anywhere from 1.25% to 4% of the check amount …..if it is not first rejected with all of the exemptions. Who needs that trap.
This is totally unneccesary considering that the national average statistics from the banking industry indicates that at least 95% or better of the checks that a business accepts will probably clear. Let me clarify that there are acceptions to this average, which could be higher or lower depending on the type of business and location.
The Good News is that accepting checks significantly increases your sales…. period. The Bad News is that 1-2% of those checks are going to probably bounce. Why come unglued over the 1%? You have more important things to work on in your business.
So what should you do? We recommend you use a reputable check collection service that will reduce your risk and exposure of collecting checks for payment. National Check Recovery Consultants has researched many of the check management companies and recommends the best one out there, and did I mention…. is FREE.
Go ahead hit the links you will be glad you did.
If you are trying to collect Bad/NSF checks yourself or using a service that is giving you less than 90% collection success and paying bounced check bank fees of more than $2.00 .......I GUARANTEE we can help you.
What We Do For You
$ We Electronically Collect your Bounced Checks - With Speed $ NO monthly fees $ NO long-term contract $ NO limit on amount of checks $ NO minimum dollar amount of checks $ NO monthly minimum requirements of any kind $ NO special equipment $ NO customer inconvenience
We Collect 88% of Your NSF Checks in 15 Days!!!90% or better of NSF Checks within 30 daysYou only pay a $2.00 bank bounce fee per check - we absorb all the rest of the bank bounce fee!
Did you know for every 7days you let those checks go uncollected, you lose 10% collection potential until they eventually become worthless and un-collectible, which at this rate will not take long. These are collection industry statistics that have proven to be predictable over and over again.
Set up your account in just five minutes. We have a one page client agreement, which is a non-binding, no long term contract. Try it out for a month or two. For detailed information visit our website Click Here!
If you are not getting the kind of results and service I am talking about, I strongly recommend you keep Email us at checkcollection@yahoo.com
The small business owner sometimes has limited options for accepting payment that are practical and cost effective. The big companies use check guarantee services, which in my opinion, are over kill for the small to medium size business. The check guarantee type of service charges expensive setup fees, plus equipment fees, monthly minimum fees, plus statement fees and will cost you anywhere from 1.25% to 4% of the check amount …..if it is not first rejected with all of the exemptions. Who needs that trap.
This is totally unneccesary considering that the national average statistics from the banking industry indicates that at least 95% or better of the checks that a business accepts will probably clear. Let me clarify that there are acceptions to this average, which could be higher or lower depending on the type of business and location.
The Good News is that accepting checks significantly increases your sales…. period. The Bad News is that 1-2% of those checks are going to probably bounce. Why come unglued over the 1%? You have more important things to work on in your business.
So what should you do? We recommend you use a reputable check collection service that will reduce your risk and exposure of collecting checks for payment. National Check Recovery Consultants has researched many of the check management companies and recommends the best one out there, and did I mention…. is FREE.
Go ahead hit the links you will be glad you did.
If you are trying to collect Bad/NSF checks yourself or using a service that is giving you less than 90% collection success and paying bounced check bank fees of more than $2.00 .......I GUARANTEE we can help you.
What We Do For You
$ We Electronically Collect your Bounced Checks - With Speed $ NO monthly fees $ NO long-term contract $ NO limit on amount of checks $ NO minimum dollar amount of checks $ NO monthly minimum requirements of any kind $ NO special equipment $ NO customer inconvenience
We Collect 88% of Your NSF Checks in 15 Days!!!90% or better of NSF Checks within 30 daysYou only pay a $2.00 bank bounce fee per check - we absorb all the rest of the bank bounce fee!
Did you know for every 7days you let those checks go uncollected, you lose 10% collection potential until they eventually become worthless and un-collectible, which at this rate will not take long. These are collection industry statistics that have proven to be predictable over and over again.
Set up your account in just five minutes. We have a one page client agreement, which is a non-binding, no long term contract. Try it out for a month or two. For detailed information visit our website Click Here!
If you are not getting the kind of results and service I am talking about, I strongly recommend you keep Email us at checkcollection@yahoo.com
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