Service Options

Options for managing check risk

Visa’s POS Check Service provides flexible options for managing check risk. Transactions can be authorized utilizing different levels of authorization criteria. Three options are available:

Conversion only

The customer’s financial institution or a third-party authorizer verifies if a check is eligible for conversion, and whether the account is open or closed, and returns an authorization response electronically. You retain the risk.

Verification with conversion

In addition to verifying if the account is open or closed, the probability that the check will be paid is also determined. Based on available risk-management data, the financial institution or the third party makes an "accept" or "decline" recommendation, and returns the authorization response. Based on this information, you decide whether to accept or decline the check, and you retain the risk.

Guarantee with conversion

In addition to verification of the account status and the risk assessment, your customer's financial institution or third-party authorizer will also decide if the check can be guaranteed for payment based on available funds and other information. Provided all point-of-sale acceptance criteria have been met, the customer's financial institution or the third-party authorizer returns the authorization response and accepts the risk for approved transactions.

Regardless of the service option you choose as a business, your Acquirer/processor will program your point-of-sale equipment to support any combination of service option(s) you choose. Your process at the point-of-sale remains the same to expedite the sale.

Get started now

For more information on how you can begin participating in the POS Check Service program contact your Acquirer/processor or email us at poscheck@visa.com.