Since billions of personal and business checks are still written around the world
each year, it has been incumbent on the electronic payment processing industry to
develop more efficient and accurate methods for accepting and clearing paper
checks as quickly as possible.
Over the past decade, several electronic check processing programs have filled the
gap in the industry, helping to simplify paper check processing.
Point of Sale Conversion – allows a retail product or service storefront merchant
to accept and process checks electronically, just as they would a credit card, at
the point of sale. Check readers and imaging devices attach to virtually any credit
card terminal on the market.
Process
1. Paper check written by customer, handed to clerk at POS
2. Check scanned through check reader
3. Funds debited immediately from customer’s checking account
4. Funds deposited electronically into merchant account in two or three days
Merchant benefits
o No time-consuming trip to the bank
o Lowers banking and paper check handling fees
o Combine deposits from several locations into one
o Control bad check passing