I agree with anyone that wants to start a class action suit against Certegy check service. I wrote a check at the store that I work at and the check was declined "due to my check writing profile". How embarassing! Bad enough that the check was declined but to have it happen with where I work!! And I can't get anyone on the phone. I was on hold for 1 hour and 15 minutes.

I was told by a Certegy Supervisor that their Check verification service was one of the best in the world. That very day Certegy Check Verification Service issued our business an approval Number for a check written by a man who has been in jail and Prosecuted several times for writing bad checks and also issued an approval number on a check written on an account and bank that has been closed for over 4 years. I would think if this system was one of the best in the world that it would be linked somehow to bad check writers and certainly have a database that recognizes closed banks and accounts. I was told that the approval process is based solely on the history of the check writer with Certegy. After reading the complaints of people with absolutely no bad history having their checks denied by Certegy and then the people with horrible historys having their checks approved, WOW! I think that One of the best systems in the world has a glitch! This is a problem!

On 6/23/2009 I checked out of a store that I frequent (Target), averaging 3-4 transactions per month, wrote a check, on an account opened for five plus years, with my drivers license verified, which was declined. While the sales clerk was very friendly, all that she could offer was a slip of paper with the Certegy phone number. Ironically, I was able to use my Debit card, attached to the same checking account, to clear the transaction. A bit ironic.

When I called the Certegy number, the clerk took the info, pulled my credit report and checked my bank account, and came back to tell me that there was nothing derogatory on my report, nor was there a problem with my account. How reassuring to tell me something that I already know since I'm a banking exec at the institution where the checking account resides. I was informed that on occasion, the "model" would produce a false negative, that it is NOT based on your credit history or checking account soundness but on whether or not you fit a "fraudulent profile". I specifically asked for additional detail of the model - since I was in a store that I frequently shop, have held the same employment and residence for 10 years, had valid identification, and was using a checking account that has been opened and used for over 3 years. There was no detail provided, just "sincere apologies".

This was both humilating and embarassing. I have filled a complaint with Target and intend to consult my attorney as to a possible defimation of character. I do find it ironic that you can submit an application for "Gold status". I did some research and the Boston Globe previously did an article about Certegy which can be found at http://www.boston.com/business/articles/2006/...

I aslo fit the last paragraph of the application noteworthy.

Certegy Gold applicants have to provide detailed information about themselves, their employers, and their bank, including a voided check. Gold status doesn't cost anything, but members agree to pay a service fee to Certegy each time they write a "dishonored check."

Why would you ask for information already on file with the client's primary Financial Institution? I think that we're all well versed on what happened with the last little incident of customer information being leaked from Certegy with Bank of America clients. Another red flag is the agreement to pay a service fee to Certegy each time a check is dishonored. Again, why would a client agree to give approval to charge a service fee whenever they decide to "dishonor" a check that is indeed valid but the "model" recommends to decline? This is a deceptive way to reap profits for the company. Not unlike exorbitant interest rates and excessive fees.

Based on the number of complaints filed, I would suggest that you have your statisticians re-evaluate their "model". Perhaps enough law suits, Better Business Bureau and Attorney General complaints filed by financially savy individuals who have been "declined because they erroneously fit a fraudulent profile" will end this "fraudulent" income stream for Certegy.

I have been doing business with BestBuy stores for well over ten years. I've written checks for store purchases on different accounts, used ATM and Debit cards to pay for items I have bought and then all of a sudden in just two days (June 16 and 17) Certegy DECLINES my checks to a business I have been doing business with for over 10 years. I contacted Certegy and they informed me that my profile fit the profile of a Fradulent Check Writer. Tell that to BestBuy now that I will no longer make any store purchases from them. Certegy SUCKS! Can't something be done about this outfit? Certegy's customer services is lousy, too. At a time when companies need to be doing everything they can to maintain customer loyalty, they might need to rethink their business model.

Thank you.
Jonathan Hodge
[email protected]
828-428-4124

On May 2, 2009 I went to my local Sears appliance/hardware store to purchase a lawn mower. I had the crated lawn mower at the cashiers desk and wrote a check for the purchase and to my surprise was told by the cashier that my check was denied by certegy check services. I was told I could call the 800# that was printed on the back of my denied check. I could have made the purchase with a credit, or a debit card or gone to the atm and withdrawn the entire amount in cash, but did not. If Sears couldn't trust me, because they have Certegy check services screening all their checks, than I quess I can't trust Sears. I left the store with the crated lawn mower at the cashiers desk and vowed never to return. Just wrote a letter to Sears holding company to their ceo. Sent a copy of a reciept for a lawn tractor that I purchased from a different hardware store.Hope everyone that gets a denial from certegy check services, for what ever lame reason their computer model shows, takes their business else where. Certegy check services should go the way of the dinosaurs.Tell all your friends not to do business with any business that uses Certegy check services.