Fact Sheet (PDF)

Check Verify

Stop Bad Checks

First ACH has teamed up with SCAN to provide our merchants the most advanced, up-to-date database of bad check writers in the nation. Instead of paying up to 2% per transaction for check guarantee insurance, only to have limitations on the types of checks you can process or denied claims, you can screen out up to 80% of bad check writers before you even process the transaction. After all, check insurance companies make money by collecting fees while paying out as few claims as possible.

The Check Verify feature can be added to any First ACH processing plan and, at the time the transaction is submitted, will verify the customer information for each transaction against the SCAN network. Transactions receiving SCAN approval will be given an approval code number as authorization and processed normally. Transactions receiving a SCAN denial will be handled according to limits you specify; transactions up to a specified dollar amount can continue to be processed while those above the limit would be automatically voided. This limit can be modified upon request, giving you greater control and allowing you to determine what is an “acceptable risk”.

More on SCAN (The Shared Check Authorization Network):
The SCAN Network was developed in 1985 to help retailers combat the problem of bad check writers by sharing information. Since then, it has become the largest check verification network (by dollar volume and transaction volume) in the nation, and receives bad check data from over 400 national retail chains including the nation's largest retailers (such as Kmart and Wal-Mart). The SCAN database also collects information from ChexSystems, which gathers information from 80% of all U.S. banking institutions about "closed for cause" accounts.

Features and Benefits:

• Over $200 billion in checks are verified by SCAN each year.
• $444 million in checks are verified by SCAN each day.
• 150,000+ updates to SCAN are processed each day.
• 400+ national retail store chains contribute check data to SCAN each day.
• 71,000+ retail outlets access SCAN.
• 10 million+ unique records are in the SCAN checking account database.