Instabill.com provides retail and e-commerce businesses with a variety of payment processing services. Our most popular service–our completely customizable merchant accounts–are great solutions for hard-working merchants to obtain credit card processing capabilities. However, we offer a number of other merchant services, including Check 21 processing.
If you know you need Check 21 processing solutions, you’ve come to the right place. Instabill can help merchants get started with Check 21 in just a few business days. Click the button above to start the application process, or simply contact a live representative today if you have more questions. Keep reading below for more information about Check 21.
Click to expand each section and learn more about Check 21 processing today.
Check 21 is a form of electronic payment processing that involves creating a digital version of a paper check to submit as a payment. Digital forms can be rendered as images, and can often be far cheaper to process compared to submitting paper checks. Here is how Check 21 works:
Check 21 has been embraced for its low cost and proven method. Like ACH processing, Check 21 processing is often far less susceptible to fraud.
You may be wondering why Check 21 is worth the time. While not as fast as credit card processing, being able to process Check 21 payments certainly has its perks.
The main benefit of Check 21 is the convenience for merchants. Rendering checks in digital form and submitting them for payment is much easier than dealing with piles of paper checks. Check 21 payments reduce processing delays often caused by the large costs and time needed to move paper checks around. Images of checks can be sorted faster and require less hardware, thus getting money to the merchant account much more quickly.
Another benefit of Check 21 is the convenience for consumers. No more worrying about losing paper checks or shredding copies–Check 21 creates a digital “substitute check” that is verified as a legal equivalent to the original item. This often allows consumer’s checks to be returned to them upon payment, or even by web, email, or CD/DVD.
Check 21 is a great payment processing solution for high risk e-commerce industries, such as pharmacies, credit repair, collection agencies, and more.
Despite Check 21 being a much more convenient alternative to paper checks, there are a few rules that consumers, merchants, and financial institutions must follow to ensure the process stays safe and functions properly.
Keep in mind that the Check 21 legislation does not require banks to provide or accept check images–they can continue to process paper checks. The Check 21 legislation also does not force any regulations for controls on participating banks–it is up to individual institutions to develop bilateral agreements to facilitate information exchanges.