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According to Lou Perosi Jr., merchants now pay a lot of money to have swipe machines
at each cash register and compare checks to a negative database.
"Why should merchants have to pay the cost?" asked Perosi, who along with his wife,
Glenetta, has operated a check collections business in Stroudsburg for the past seven years.
"We collect checks for approximately 200 merchants, Perosi said.
He added that checks returned for insufficient funds cannot be resubmitted to the bank
but are then electronically deducted from the person's account.
 "This is a tough business and getting people to pay a bad check is not easy, especially
when a person writes a bad check intentionally," he said.
Often, Perosi said, it is impossible to read a person's handwriting. To make it even
more difficult, the banks sometimes put their stamp over the check writer's information.
"Sometimes the phone number and address on the check is not correct or the account is
closed," he said. "Now you have no way possible to contact the person and collect on the bad check," he said.
Perosi said he has found an easier way, one with no cost to the merchants, to ensure
that a person's check is good.
Perosi explained he is developing a check writer's organization similar to other
membership organizations called ChekXcept.
The ChekXcept program provides an end-to-end check payment solution that addresses
efficient check collection by reducing the number of bad check writers through enrollment
in a check writer membership program. The program required the check writers to
enroll as ChekXcept cardholders.
Glenetta Perosi, President of ChekXcept, points to the company's logo to let
shoppers know that Ray's ShurSave grocery store, Waymart, will accept checks
from customers who are members of ChekXcept.
CheckXcept verifies all the member's information before issuing the member a card.
Annually, all cardholders must renew and update personal cardholder profiles online.
Perosi said this way bad check writers are reduced by 50 percent or more and collections
can be increased by 35 percent or more.
Perosi said he thinks that because the Pocono Mountains and the surrounding area
attract thousands of vacationers each year, a business could benefit from the check
writer's organization.
"We would like to tell area merchants that they can become participating merchants
in this new network and they can accept the ChekXcept Card without concern, even
if the check is out of state. If the check writer is a member of ChekXcept, the
merchant does not have to pay the cost of collection if the check is returned,"
Perosi said.
"That way, if there is a problem with ChekXcept member's check, we have their
home phone, work numbers and place of employment in our records," he said.
Perosi said merchants could display the ChekXcept logo just as they display the
MasterCard or Visa logo.
The cost to the member would be 42 cents a month that is debited electronically
from the member's checking account.
Perosi said contrary to what many people believe, there are still many Americans
who do not use debit or check cards.
In fact, he said the last check study conducted by the Federal Reserve in 2005
found that 40 percent of all Americans use a check when buying groceries.
"This is a win-win situation for both the check card member and the merchant,"
Perosi said.
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WHAT'S
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