|
CheckBind Frequently Asked Questions
Is this legal? Will My Bank Accept These?
Is this done by electronic transfer (ACH or EFT)?
Won't I get my money faster by using ACH?
What kind of computer or software do I need?
Do I need special MICR toner or check paper?
Is the Secure (SSL) check form included?
We don't have a website (or can't get the links put in), but want our customers to pay online?
How do I do it by phone or fax?
Can I integrate my current forms into this system?
Does the system support recurring monthly payments?
Does the system let me easily create new checks from repeat customers?
Can I accept checks made payable to more than one company name?
- Is This Legal? Will My Bank Accept These?
First of all, before you even ask someone at your bank if they will accept the checks produced by our system, if you are printing them on blank check stock, and using MICR (magnetic) toner to do so - DON'T EVEN ASK - just hand your deposit to the teller and they will go right through.
We've had customers tell us they bank at Wells Fargo, and they asked at their branch and were told by the staff the checks would not be accepted. Funny thing is, we (SSNet, Inc.) bank at Wells Fargo and have processed 1000's of Vcheck made payable to us through our Wells Fargo account without a single question ever being asked.
However, many banks and/or their staff do not understand or have never seen a demand draft, and therefore will tell you they can not accept them. They may give you one of the following reasons:
1. Because the checks you present are not printed in magnetic (MICR) toner and can't be scanned.
While the use of magnetic toner is not required by banking regulations, some banks can get picky about this. You best solution is to either use MICR Toner (see the Order Supplies page), or find another bank.
2. They say they can't take a check that does not have a signature.
Again, this is because they simply are not familiar with "Demand Drafts" or "One-Time Paper Drafts". In essence, every US bank must accept properly authorized demand drafts. Feel free to present the following to your bank:
Check demand drafts, or "drafting" funds from a second party's checking account, have been a method of payment for more than 15 years, usually in collections. Check drafting is a legal method of payment as provided in the Uniform Commercial Code, Federal Trade Commission Title 16, and Code of Federal Regulations. Of course, authorization from the checking account holder to generate a check draft is mandatory, and verbal or written agreement is accepted.
| Uniform Commercial Code - Reference: Title 1, Sections 1-201 [39] and Title 3, Sections 3-103a, 3-104, 3-401, 3-402, and 3-403. Federal Trade Commission - Reference: Telemarketing Sales Rule - Title 16, Section 310.3 (a)(3). Code of Federal Regulations - Reference: Title 12 Chapter II, Part 210. Federal Reserve Bank - Reference: Regulation J, Part 2, Sections 4a-201 to a-212. |
Additional information concerning demand drafts may be found on the Los Angeles Better Business Bureau's website. This page may be printed and also presented to your bank:
http://www.labbb.org/BBBWeb/Forms/General/GeneralStaticPage.aspx?Page=Topic148&sm=
The most important paragraph of the above webpage states the following as it pertains to a check submitter:
How to Authorize Direct Debits
To authorize a direct debit to your account, usually for a one-time transaction, you give the person you're paying your bank account number. You may also give the company the number of your next unused check. Either they or a third party verifies your account information and, as your agent, prepares a paper draft (also called a "sight draft" or a "demand draft"), which the bank treats like a check except that you never sign it.
There is, right now, no regulation requiring your written authorization for this kind of debit.
Finally, you can print the page from the link below and present it to your bank. It is a partial list of the businesses and government agencies that use the same exact system you are using to print the same exact type of checks. Every one of the banks they use - and that would cover pretty much every major bank in the US - gladly accept the checks produced by our system.
http://vchecksolutions.com/currentusers.html
Still not convinced one-time demand drafts (this is what our system produces) are legal?
Would you believe the Treasurer and Tax Collector's Office of Los Angeles County? We provided the system they use for allowing property owners to pay their property taxes and water bills by Vchecks.
How about Treasurer and Tax Collector's Office of Nevada County, California - scroll down their webpage until you find the section entitled "Pay taxes with Virtual Check online." Yes, we provide this service to Nevada County also.
If your bank still refuses to accept these demand drafts, they are in clear violation of the Uniform Commercial Codes, the Federal Trade Commission and rules set forth by the American Banking Association - and therefore, it might be wise to find another bank for your business.
- Is this done by Electronic Transfer (ACH or EFT)?
No. While Automated Clearing House (ACH) or Electronic Funds Transfers may seem to be a faster way to process a check payment, (see next question below) all such services charge a per transaction (per check) fee and/or a percentage discount. Our system produces what is known as a one-time paper draft. A one-time paper draft does not require the account holder's signature and must be accepted by any US Bank.
The drafts are in the format of a regular check, including the necessary MICR line. They can be printed on regular paper and no special ink or toner is required. However, we do recommend the use of both check stock and magnetic toner. See Below.
No. Not necessarily. The vast majority of ACH transactions logged everyday are batched until around midnight - then all processed at about the same time, allowing for credits to be made to an account before debits are made. In other words, even if you submit an ACH transaction at 6AM, it won't actually get processed until around midnight or at batch closing.
Additionally, it can take 48-72 hours for ACH transactions to actually be credited to your account (much like the delay merchants experience when accepting credit card payments). So, ACH transactions can really take 2 -3 days or more before the money is in your account.
However, with our CheckBind system, if your customer submits a check to you at 7:00AM, you can have it printed and ready to deposit in your checking account at 7:05AM. Since most banks make deposits made before 2:00 or 4:00PM available the same business day - The times it takes to get you money is basically as fast as you can get the CheckBind checks to your bank!
Nothing special. As long as you have a computer with an internet connection, a browser and a printer - you're in business.
The CheckBind system is completely web-based. There is no software you need to download, install or update. Also, since it is a web-based system, you can access your password protected admin console from anywhere you have an internet connection.
- Do I need to use Check Stock and/or Magnetic (MICR) Toner?
No! Neither is required to print and process a demand draft (CheckBind). However, we recommend the use of blank check stock - available in the software section of Office Max, Staples and other such stores. Blank check stock (business size, 3 up - with the actual check as the top copy) looks much more professional, has the built-in security features and is micro-perforated for easy separation. If you plan to use a fair amount of check stock, it can be ordered in bulk from Advantage Laser
For Check Stock, from their homepage, go to Blank Check Paper > Top Check Paper > Single-Color Top Check Stock. Once you select that item, you have a choice of colors and perforations. Under Perforations, you want item CP515 - 3 1/2" Check, 3 1/2" Stub, 4" Stub.
However, if you want a smaller quantity and wish to get it immediately, both Staples and Office Max may carry a box of 300 sheets for approximately $19.99 in stock. Please call your local store first, but the product information and numbers are below:
Staples Checksoft Business Pack Item Number 715050
Office Max Checksoft Business Pack Item Number 21107222
MICR TONER
While not required, the use of MICR Toner may greatly expedite the processing of your printed checks. MICR Toner can be ordered for almost any laser printer. Most modern laser printers allow you to quickly switch between toner cartridges so you can print your checks with MICR toner and then switch back to standard toner for regular printing.
Optionally, you can use a dedicated printer just for checks. If you don't have an extra laser printer available, Advantage Laser offers a complete setup of a brand new HP Laserjet P1005 loaded with a new MICR toner cartridge for just $199.95! The MICR toner cartridge alone normally sells for $120.00. This is a great deal to get you started with a dedicated check printer! Click Here for complete details. Note, the price was current as of 10/31/2008.
If a new printer is not in your budget, you can usually find a good quality, used Hewlett Packard, Brother, Dell or Lexmark laser printer on http://craigslist.org - just visit craigslist.org, select your state or city, and then click on "computer" under the for sale section and search for "laser printer". Check with Advantage Laser or other online supplier to see if they have MICR Toner for the printer model. Hewlett Packard (HP) Laser printers are usually a good bet because they are plentiful and MICR Toner is available for virtually every model.
The cost for MICR Toner cartridges will vary depending on the model of printer, but will print a substantial number of checks due to the low use of toner per page of checks. For example, Advantage Laser sells MICR Toner for a HP Laserjet 1100 for $79.00 with an average page yield of approximately 3000 checks.
If you use both check stock and MICR toner - the checks will go right through the banking system without any question whatsoever - don't even bother asking your bank if they will accept them - they won't even know the difference. See Below.
- Will my bank accept these?
Let's skip to the bottom line: Yes, your bank has to accept one-time paper drafts - they are required by US Banking laws to do so. See the Is This Legal section at the top of this page.
Don't even bother to ask them. Many banks simply say they won't accept them because they do not understand what you are asking about, or they don't want to bother with having to encode the MICR line with a magnetic version if you don't use magnetic toner. Most tellers and lower-level management at most banks have never seen a paper-draft, so again, they may mistakenly indicate they will not accept them.
We have had customers indicate that their bank (the same national chain we bank with) said they would not accept paper drafts. Funny thing is, we have been depositing them into our account for almost 10 years now - without a single problem or question. In fact, in Nov / Dec 2005, the first trial period for Los Angeles county's use of our system - they deposited over 29,000 individual "checks" totaling over $55,000,000.00
The best rule of thumb is "Don't Ask - Don't Tell." If you use check stock and magnetic toner - just start depositing your paper-drafts along with your other checks and no one will ever say word.
- What Do I Get?
After your account has been set-up on the secure server, you will receive an email containing your username/password to log onto the system and a special link to your customized CheckBind form to place into your website.
CheckBind is a completely web-based system. There is no software for you to install, no hassles, no waiting.
Yes. Once your account is setup, you will receive an email containing several versions of a link into your customized check form running on our secure CheckBind servers. All you have to do is copy/paste your choice of links wherever you want them to appear on your website. As soon as you receive this welcome email message, your account will already be active and ready for your customer's to use.
No Problem. Our service includes Free Use of InstantCheckPay.Com. Even if your organization doesn't have a website or webmaster to insert links to your customized check form on our secure server, you can simply give your customers your unique "company ID" and send them to InstantCheckPay.Com. They can easily access your secure online check form from there.
- What About Technical Support?
In the event you have any problems what-so-ever with your CheckBind system, you have unlimited technical support via the fully automated help desk, knowledge base, FAQ and support ticket system accessible directly through your Admin Console..
- How Soon Can I Use It?
Order using Visa, MasterCard, American Express or by Virtual Check and you will shortly receive an email containing the login data you need. In most cases, orders are filled the same business day.
- How do I do it by phone or fax?
If you are using our system you may wonder how you do checks if a customer calls or faxes in their check data. You simply go to the same secure online form your customers would have and fill in the data there. That data will be processed as if the customer had submitted it themselves.
- Can I integrate my existing forms into this system?
The CheckBind system allows existing forms or ordering systems to be integrated with the system by storing any additional forms fields sent in a call for the check form which are written to the check details file. Additionally, specified form fields can be sent back to a specified URL for final processing.
In other words, you can have any other type of "pre-CheckBind" form that calls the CheckBind form as its form action. All the form field pairs are written into the CheckBind Form as hidden input fields. When the payment form is submitted, those extra form fields are written into the "Details" text file that is created for each check. This allows you to combine payment, ordering, or any other type of data together.
- Does the system support recurring monthly payments?
Yes. Support for recurring payments is an upgrade option. Checks can be entered as recurring monthly payments, and the system automatically creates the checks each month for you! You can designate what day of each month the checks are produced, and the total number of payments remaining. Your customers can set up monthly payments without you or them having to re-enter any check data!
- Does the system let me easily create new checks from repeat customers?
Yes. Integrated into the Recurring Payments upgrade, this option allows you to designate specific customers as "Repeat Customers." This saves all their encrypted data allowing you to create new checks on their behalf by supplying only the new check number, check amount and memo field. What a time saver!
- Can I accept checks made payable to more than one company name?
Yes. Support for Multiple Payees is an upgrade option. This allows you to accept checks made payable to different company names. For instance, insurance agencies may have to accept the initial binding check for a new policy that is made payable to the actual insurance issuer, not to the agency. Requests for the Multiple Payee option may be subject to additional business verification procedures.
See the User's Manual for more details.