FISGlobal.com / Certegy review: declined checks! 620

Gordon D Rogers Jr
i work for a company similar to boscovs who also happens to use certegy. when a check is declined there are a few different codes. they will tell the employee this is a code 1 decline or code 2 decline etc. that is actually the most common code decline that i have had. there is a small 3 inch by 3 inch card the employee is supposed to give you that explains the 3 different codes.

well they just got another complaint! we went to walmart and while my husband who was trying to cash his check as he had done for months in walmart.well they said they couldn't and only said he'd have to contact CERTEAY CHECK CASHING CO well we tried to with nothing happen just a voice on a machine. well walmart and other company keep useing this company and see how much business you lose. ALOT

I too am having this problem! I've been with the same pharmacy for 20 years and always write a check or pay cash. Sometimes the bill is more than I have in my wallet so I go ahead and write the check never thinking there would be a problem until a couple of weeks ago when one was refused and caused me an extra trip to the bank. I was furious! The parameters this company is working with must be ridiculous! Then to not be able to get ahold of a real person to explain the situation to you is absurd! My husband is very ill and will soon be the recipient of a donor organ and will be released from the hospital with approximately 40 prescriptions. I don't carry that kind of cash around nor do I plan on paying interest on the prescriptions that are already priced out of line. I have never bounced a check at this pharmacy nor anywhere else for that matter and I would like to join in on what ever movement anyone can get started to put an end to this kind of treatment!

I become a victim of this company (Certegy) for which, I had never heard of...My check was declined at Walgreens. No one could give me an explination, no one could explain why. I telephoned Certegy they have not responded! This is absolutely ridiculous!

First time I've ever had a problem with writing a check. I write checks every where and have never had an issue until Saturday, [protected]...

I think we should all get a class action Law Suit going on and have them closed down for giving out false information on people who are for the most part "good honest people and that have been victimized by the actions of this company, I went to cash a US Postal pay roll check at Wall Mart here in Colorado and it was declined no specific reason # 2 and they said it was just because of it being over an amount they want to back or garranty
"ON A US POSTAL PAY ROLL CHECK? for 938.85? you must be nuts! DAA

I JUST had a check not go through as well because of certegy when I was simply buying clothes... at a place where I always buy clothes... and looked like an [censor] because I had to choose, one by one, which shirts to put back until it was an amount I could pay in cash... I have over one hundred times that amount I tried to spend IN MY CHECKING ACCOUNT! Thank you certegy for making me look stupid and holding up my [censor]ing day! I'm never writing a check again, that was humiliating!

I see Alot of posts where people are saying they have fears that certegy has access to there bank accounts, and "i have plenty of money to cover the check in my account" . Just so you know Certegy or any other Check verification system such as Telecheck and Scan network DO NOT HAVE access to your account balance. When you present a check 2 things happen when they scan your check
1) IF it the total purchase is less than fifty dollars then it is usually automatically approved without any external verifications. However it will be denied if youve ever bounced a chack at that retailer.
2) If it is more than 50 dollars then the check ABA numbers and account numbers are sent to the check verification service to see if that account has ever had a dishonered check with certegy (or telecheck or SCAN). IF it has not had a NSF, then there is one more verification that they do.
2b) when they type in your drivers liscence number there actually seeing if your number has ever presented a check that was NSF. BEcause what some scoundrels will do is OPen a checking account, with the minimal balance, go on a spree writting bad checks...once that account has been flagged they then simply go and open another account at a different bank. so the only way to track this is to use the drivers liscence number since everytime you present a check at a retailer they type in your DL number.

SO Rest assured these companies do not have access to your account nor do they know your balance.

The thought that a security breach may leak your account info is completely plausible though, since your account number and routing number and DOB are in there database. Infact I believe this very same thing happened to CERTEGY. someone hacked there sytem...or maybe it was an employee, buteither way thoiusands of consumers information was released.

Hope this helps you understand the process.

I went to Walmart and presented a check in the amount of 29.38, it was declined by this company. I have never witten a bad check. I have never been so embarrased. This company needs to be run out of town!

I wrote a BUSINESS check and was declined trying to buy parts for my business. After calling the number, I was told there was to way to tell what exactly the reason was for declining my check, just that is wasnt due to Code 2. No one in the company can tell you the exact reason because it is done by computer and they have nothing to do with it. If a human would call the bank and verify the amount that would not happen. What are we to do?

I am on hold right now with certigy. They have no reason why they are declining my check at our local Safeway I only write checks at safeway and for my rent payment. So I know if there is something going on with my account. They are telling me that my checking account looked like it was closed I have had this checking account for 12 years.

I have just had the same experience at DSW. I wrote a check for $31.45 because I had left my deit card at home. The cashier looked confused and called her manager over. He then made a phone call giving all of my personal information with out telling me what was going on. The check ended up being declined and for no apparent reason as I know I have well more that enough funds to cover the check. All the store did was hand me a small card with Certegys information and told me if I wanted any more information to call them. Calling them was a huge waste of time. Their automated system told me it was declined due to identification discrepancies. I then waited on hold for 15 minutes to speak to a person and hung up due to frustration. I tehn decide to do a little researce on my own and am finding many people complaining about this company. In my honest opinion the ones losing the most from Certegy's ignorance are the Retailers that utilize their services. Tonight DSW lost a sale due to them and for no reason. I may attempt to call Certegy again tomorrow, but based on what I am reading here I will probably not end up any better off. Certegy is making poor decisions and costing retailers a lot of money in an economy in which they need every sale that they can get. Turning away customers with poor check writing history is one thing but to start turning away those of us that have NEVER bounced a check is horrible. Something needs to be done about this company and their poor business practices.

Please check further into certegy as they are being sued for one of their employees selling info about clients. I totally agree with you, this company needs to be put out of business!

I will not ever shop at Big Lots again. The humiliation of standing in line and ringing up over $200 in merchandise, just to have my perfectly good check declined because of a company called Certegy. Why would a store decline a check from a customer who has “NO UNPAID CHECK INFORMATION ON FILE”. If a store says they accept checks, how can mine be denied for no good reason, other than they don't have information on me. Who is Certegy and why should they have my information?

I had a similar problem at Hoffman Honda in Avon, CT when I tried to pay for service with a Discover Card check.

The check was denied. Later, when I pulled money out of my bank via my Discover Card I had no trouble.

The only reason I can think it was denied was that Hoffman Honda does not accept Discover Cards.

Maybe that might have something to do with it?

I just went through the same thing at Wal-Mart with my little Retirement check. They have been cashing them for the last six months, now all of a sudden I am being told that I cannot cash my checks any more because of frequency problem. Since I used to work at the Wal-Mart, I was beyond humiliated. Not only am I furious at Certegy, I probably won't go back into Wal-Mart again for a while.

This morning, May 1st, I went to an early morning sale at the local Belks. I tried to pay for my $31.75 purchase with a check. I was turned down by Certegy. Belk has never denied my checks in the past. I have a Belk credit card so I used it. I was also shopping for my mother and I tried to pay for her purchase with one of her checks (I am on her account with a nation-wide bank.) Her check was denied and again I had to use my Belk credit card. I have been a good Belk customer but not any more. You won't see me in a Belk store again.

Certegy is a joke, I was denied to cash a 87.00 refund check from Michigan Natural Gas at meijers and walmart. When I called certegy they said there was nothing negative about me. GO FIGURE! This company needs to be put out of business. BOYCOTT STORES THAT USE CERTEGY!

I just received a call from Certegy regarding a NSF check written in May of 2009 at the Sears store in East Peoria, IL. They said the check was paid but they were collecting the $5.00 fee. I could pay now on the phone with them or I could mail it in.
I called Sears and there is no East Peoria Store and they use TELECHECK. We don't use checks for purchases and thirdly I don't even know where East Peoria, Il is.

I called the guy back at Certegy and he insisted that my husband wrote the check. He said well we have your address and phone #. I told him those are printed on all checks he went on to ask who I banked with and I thanked him for his time and hung up the phone.

I tried to cash my Military retirement goverment issued check at Wal-Mart and had 2 photo ID's and was declined by Certegy. I called Certegy and asked them why and they informed me that I had no bad information why they declined my check and gave me some song and dance that the transaction did no fit into thier model. I asked them what part of the model did I not meet and they informed me that for Identy theft protection that it was propieraty information. I am going to reserch this because I feel that the reason I was declined should be available to me in accordance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
I went over to the Credit Union Branch in the same Wal-Mart and they cashed my check with no problem.

for the last 2 years, since my husbands double leg amputation, he has been cashing his disability check at Wal-Mart. For the last 2 months he's been unable to cash his check there because of some bogus reason. They tell him at Certegy that it has something to do with the watermark? What the hell does that mean? That the U.S. Government is issuing faulty checks? Funny, but the grocerystore down the road cashes them (though they charge a lot more), and no questions asked. We used to buy all our month's supply of paper goods, pet food etc. at Wal-Mart but not ever again. I hope they lose enough business over this faulty check cashing? company to sit up and take notice. debjeanbean@yahoo.com

I just tried to cash my State Income Tax check at Wal-Mart, just over $400 and was denied for Reason #2. I just cashed my Federal Income Tax check there last week. I haven't even had a checking account for the last 2-3 year, so I've written no checks. Am I to believe that the US Government can't honor my check, that they are broke (well that's not hard to believe)? This is bull. Looking at all of these comments, I don't see any reason to call their automated machine. I'd like to see a Class Action Lawsuit as well.

After traveling 70 miles to Rapid City, SD I stopped at Target to purchase a baby shower gift on a registry. I decided to purchase the rest of my supplies there also so I didn't have to stop at Wal Mart. I wrote a check for $144 to have the cashier tell me my check could not be accepted. The cashier handed me the phone and dialed the number on the the infamous Receipt ID#, to get nothing but automated crap. I handed the cashier my credit card to pay the bill. She looked at me funny like I should be able to give her the check back. Do the companies who use the almighty CERTEGY at [protected] even know what this is about to explain to their customers? It's embarrssing and needless to say any business that uses CERTEGY can re-stock their items. I take the time to shop at their stores, choose to spend my dollars there, to get to the check out and have to use my credit card. Is this company in with the credit card companies to make extra money? Kind of funny you get no where with the automated line, and it's probably a good thing, because if I could go through the phone cord and get somebody around the neck, they would know who I am.

I just got paid today, and went to Wal-Mart to cash my check, and low and behold it was declined. I don't have a checking account so I depend on Wal-Mart to cash all my payroll checks. When this happened it put me in such a bind I couldn't get gas on the way home, I couldn't even get money orders to pay my bills! What is a person to do in this situtation, but to suck it up and get over it. Not to mention also try to find somewhere else to cash their check. I have never had this type of problem befor cashing my checks so why now.

I, too have excellent credit, tried to call this company was told to write a letter asking to be removed from thier accounts, I did so along with the proper information that they had on me, (not everything) and now I have been oin the phone over 30 minutes waiting to speak with someone from the lame company, ( anyone) as I want to make sure they did indeed remove me from thier so called accounts, like most Americans I use credit cards and or pay by debit, my debit card was stolen, so guess what I wrote a check...and was declined, Jesus! What can we do please if there is going to be a class action case against this company add me to it! Heeck I am sensding this over to my own atty, may be his office can asssit us. Someone has too!

I believe a class action suit is warranted. I had this happen to me today at Macy's. I have written numerous checks in Macy stores (initially Hecht's Dept. Store) for over 15 years and I never had any problems. I called the number and of course it was all formality. Never spoke to a live agent. Please let me know if anyone is interested in filing a legal suit againt Certegy. I work for the Dept. of Justice and they would love to hear about the treatment of patrons with good credit, good check history and sufficient funds in their checking accounts.

This sounds like you should write your complaint about Certegy instead of Hobby Lobby. I won't pretend to understand what happened here, (although I know for a fact that credit card machines will sometimes decline cards if the time is wrong in the unit particularly if the store would normally be closed at that point). I recognize that for record keeping purposes writing checks is probably easier, but given all the issues it probably wouldn't hurt to use a credit/debit card tied to your business account. Everything else aside, if you have to return something getting your money back (with your receipt) is far easier.

I volunteer as treasurer for a charity called St Vincent de Paul through my local church. We help provide money to indigent people who need rent, medications, utilities, etc... We had an elderly gentleman need prescription glasses from a local Detroit eyeglass company but he could not afford it on his fixed income. We wrote the eyeglass company a check for a little over $200 and it was denied by Certegy, they used the term "code 2".

After attempting to talk to a live person for over a half hour (and being unsuccessful) I learned that we were denied because we have not shown ourselves to be a reputable account with Certegy.

Our charity has never bounced a check, and we routinely give approximately $30, 000 a year to the poor. We only write checks, never do cash (because of the potential fraud), and certified checks are expensive. How Certegy can claim that we are not reputable is beyond me.

I had a recent issue with Certegy. I did have a check that was returned NSF. Once Certegy got the check, they paid the merchant; reissued the check to my bank for payment (it cleared) and charged a $37 fee (it cleared). This took about one month to resolve; however, I am out of their system and my check writing "priviliges" have been restored w/o any problems. I hope this helps anyone who is worried about his/her ability to write checks after being wrapped up with this company. BTW, the CSRs were nice (although I after reading many of the post here, I was fully expecting a nasty encounter); I was pleasantly surprised and relieved that I can write checks again!..

I feel that certgy is not tracking checks its tracking SSN's. I believe this because of a simple test. BTW their phone number is [protected]. I have ywo completely different business checks written to me. They are from different companies and two different banks. The only common demonator in these checks were my SSN. I am personally being targeted by this company and feel that is diffenetly due for a law suite. If anyone is with me and has similar evidence that its not the checks and it is the people please E-mail me so we can truly sew the pants off this corupt people tracking company.

Brad Williams brad@omninetworkengineering.com

I've been victimized as well. My husband and I ordered a mattress at Dillards to be delivered in 3 weeks - we gave them a $540 check (over $4, 000 in the account). Certegy declined the check.
I called Certegy and was told the decision was based on "spending patterns" which were "a secret." Neither the customer service person, Steven, nor the supervisor, Joe, could identify even one of these "patterns" although the supervisor did state that one of the patterns pertained to (and this is a direct quote) "losses incurred by Dillards." The crazy thing is that there was absolutely no risk to Dillards in this transaction because we were not leaving the store with any merchandise. If the check had not cleared they would simply have canceled the order.
My husband then decided to make the purchase using a debit card on another checking account. But the clerk mistakenly ran the debit as a credit transaction TWICE and had to void them out. By then my husband was so disgusted he told them to forget it and drove straight to the bank to make sure all was OK there. He then learned that the credits had been run as debits and Dillards was holding $1080 of our money because the voiding transactions would not be posted for another 3-10 days! So they are holding and using $1080 of our money, and we have no mattress, no order, no sale, and they refuse to accept our perfectly good check.
I want to know who owns Certegy and who are they tied into? Who has access to this vast database of information about all of us - our checking account and routing numbers, check numbers, phone numbers, birthdates, spending patterns, who/what/where/when we do business. Does the government have access? The IRS? The FBI? The CIA? The mafia? WHO?
This has made me realize that not only is BIG BROTHER alive and well, he's strong, healthy and vigorous, and breathing right down our necks! It's absolutely disturbing and frightening. This calls for a class-action lawsuit NOW!

I have just returned from Walgreens where my check fiir $119 was denied. The Walgreens clerk gave me a 1-800 phone number for Certegy Check to call to see why. I was told that although there was nothing derogatory on my credit I was denied because I was "out of my spending pattern". This infuriates me that I have money in the bank, nothing wrong with my credit, yet cannot write a check when I need to purchase items (for my first aid kit). My opinion is that in an attempt to limit fraudulent transactions Certegy has stepped WAY over the line! They have WAY too much control over our day-to-day lives!

I have also had the same situation with me at walmart, again they told me it was nothing to do with my check cashing, it had everything to do with my check cashing profile. im looking for a list of all stores that uses certegy, so that I can avoid them. anyone out there know were a list could be obtained?

i agree...get a business debit card. Hobby Lobby is just trying to protect itself and you. so stop downing them and get a life.

I had an returned check that was processed the second time through but owed the returned check fee. It was paid two months ago. I still am not allowed to write checks anywhere because the LORD CERTEGY refuses the authorization.

Wow. I went to a Coach outlet store Sunday and got declined in NC. I am wondering what these "secret factors" are that certegy uses but will not share because according to them the wrongdoers would then have the information and would be able to bypass the system. Well, there are probably some wrongdoers out there and they probably created companies like Certegy...this is ridiculous. I am an attorney and I am not even interested in consumer law but this is crazy. I have to find out more information about how they are able to give you the run around and not even clearly explain- this all sounds so arbitrary. Are the factors they use discriminatory. are they illegally profiling? When you aren't doing wrong you don't mind people asking questions Certegy just as I don't mind you "looking me up" but don't look up a profile of me and think I am going to do the wrong thing. The question should be is can the bank verify the money is there...if they can then you get paid. What does others wrongdoing have to do with a check number that I use, or the fact that I write a check for a certain amount...it is my money. How is Certegy getting by with telling me what "pattern" I can spend it. I know I am rambling, but after this experience and after not getting a live person to talk to nor any real explainations, I am floored. I had the money to cover the check and I have overdraft protection, hadn't written a check that hasn't been honored since I mistakenly did so at the ripe age of 16. I am 40 now. Why is certegy being used by merchants? Are they really saving you money big businesses or are they simply selling you a bag of magic beans. I know they made Coach miss out on my little $450 Sunday, which to Coach I am sure it won't make them go under. But if I can, I will make it through this Christmas season without buying another Coach bag- I will retire all of my Coach bags which is going to kill me considering I have carried Coach since I was 18 and have bought on average at least one bag a year just for myself...And there hasn't been a Coach that I have carried that people haven't noticed but now I will have to promote someone else. Michael Kors here I come- as long as you don't use Certegy...

I just came from Sentry and had a check declined . I knew I hadn't had a bounced check so I called the certegy toll free number only to get a recording saying I did. I then called me bank and have no ISF checks. I also have more than enough to cover the check I wrote. If there is ever a class action lawsuit, count me in, this was sooooo
embarrassing since I shop at this store frequently!

I am on SS disability and my check was denied a code two( by certegy) at Shoe Mart in Chattanooga, Tn, on Signal Mountain Rd. I was purchasing items totaling $120.16. whuch basically says "Certegy did not have sufficient information available to approvwe the transaction." I called certegy and asked "what information they needed. I gave the standard information, 1)drivers licence 2) exp date of drivers licence. 3, tel #.
This is all I have ever been asked for and never had a ckeck declined. I even offered to give the young man at Certegy by SS#. He said he didn't need it.
I agree with the complaint above from the person suggesting a class action suit.

I too experience a similar situation last Friday. I went to Dillard's and wrote a check for the amount of $126.00. It was declined. As asked why and was given a slip of paper to contact Centergy. Needless to say, I write a check to Dillard's every week (sometimes 3 in one day) and I have never been declined. I called the number and was told that the system had declined me but that I had no negative history and had sufficient funds. I explained that Certergy had just approved a check for me the day before at Stein Mart for $154. What changed? I was mortified and humilated and all I got was sorry. I asked if this could possibly happen again and the person said yes. I said even though you have already discerned I have no problems. She said yes! I am afraid to write a check now.

I attempted to cash a check at a local grocery chain where I have shopped for 4 years.
I nearly alway use my bank debit card, and have never had a problem but was writing a check since I had recently lost my bank card and hadn't received the new card yet. My check was declined and I complained of course and asked why. The manager couldn't tell me why (a card said code 2) and gave me Certegy's phone # to call. He also said a number of regular customers checks had been recently denied too for no apparent reason. I called Certegy and like so many people was given no plausible answer as to WHY my check was denied. I was just told standard BS line that Certegy uses standard practices to prevent loss & fraud; and that check-writing is a "priviledge!" I have NEVER had a check denied before -- after I went to a Fred Meyer store and they took my check. What a secretive & unethical company!

I tried to write a check at Big Lot on 11-23-09 and the check was declined on a new BB&T account. I then told the cashier that the account was new as we had just moved to town a few weeks earlier and she said "that is probably the problem". I told her that I still had my other account with the Coastal Federal Credit Union and she said she would try a check on that account. I wrote the check on the Credit Union account which cleared with no problem just 2 or 3 minutes after the BB&T check had been declined. I also called the [protected] and got the audiomated service. I followed instructions and was told to hold for the next available rep who never came on the line. I made the 800 call multiple times for the next few days and NEVER, NEVER, NEVER got a rep on the line or any human response. WHAT IS GOING ON? ARE YOU EVEN A LEGAL COMPANY? This needs to be corrected and if you can't keep your files up to date and stop these bad situations. YOU SHOULD NOT BE IN BUSINESS.