Kmart's connection with Certegy

Its not kmarts fault that your check was declined. Its Certegy's, they
are the ones that pop back the decision on weither or not to accept
the check. I can understand where your coming from that its annoying
that just because the number on your check its being declined, but its
a certgey issue. I actually had this happen me with a customer at my
store a few months ago we even tried using a different check , from
the same account, and it still declined it and they told her because
of the number sequence of her of account it flagged her account. Very
weird. Also just because you have your license it doesnt mean that
your checks are good, it just means that you have ID to prove its your
account. So its in no way kmarts fault really its certegys issue. Try
getting a debit card so that way in the future you wont have to worry
about going threw this.

an annoying and unfortunate situation, as GB pointed out, a driver's
license is no guarantee of funds to a retailer. So stores like
KMart/Sears use services like Certegy and ChexSystems to control their
losses. If the account is flagged, they just don't take the check.But
I would still look into WHY there was a problem because you should
know what's going on with your financial accounts at all times.

If I were you, I'd get away from paper checks completely. Most banks
will gladly give you a debit card tied to your checking account. You
won't have to worry about getting flagged because these services
anymore because the only thing considered when you make a purchase is
whether or not you have the funds available.

That & there's no pesky checkbook balancing to do!

"There was no reason to refuse my check since my drivers license
containing my picture was presented as identification." Having a
driver's license with a picture on it in no way guarantees that your
check is a valid check with funds to back it up. It just means that
you are a licensed driver.

You may even want to do further research on that. When I worked at
Wal-mart, we had a customer's check declined by Certegy and when she
called to find out why, they told her she had written bad checks in
Florida and Georgia. The funny thing was, she was never in Florida or
Georgia.

This isn't K-mart's fault. Please understand that associates (and even
managers) cannot override this. I've had a few customers have checks
declined by Certegy (Sears uses them too) and some of them have gotten
very angry with me. It's out of our hands, I swear.

I will confess that even I am on Certegy's blacklist (or at least, I
was) when I messed up during bad finacial times and bounced an eight
dollar check. (Lame-o, I know.) Certegy sent me a letter, detailing
where I screwed up and how much I owed them, etc.

There are a number of things that could tip off Certegy. If it's a
large transaction and a low check number, that could do it. If you had
written many checks that day already, that could tip them off. The
pattern of check writing could tip them off. The list is endless.

I don't think this is K-mart's fault. Your beef is with Certegy.

It was Certegy that denied your check, not Target. Usually the
computer systems are set up so that if a check is denied by the
company to verify the checks then they cannot be overridden. Honestly
I feel that your anger should be directed towards Certegy instead of
Target.

If you have to ASK for an apology, if its not voluntarily given, why
would you want it anyway? If it were me, I'd prefer a written
explanation as to what happened and an assurance it will never happen
again.

You could have had a NSF at another business that uses the same check
service and that would not allow you to pay by check at K-Mart or any
business that uses that same check service.
If not then call your bank and let them know why they would not allow
you to cash a check for a purchase. The bank may have put a hold on
your account also - maybe someone tried to access it illegally.

Please let us know the outcome.

John P.,

Check approval companies have milliseconds to make a decision and in
this case the decision was made not to take your check.

KMart contracts this organization to insure checks but you already
know that. If theyaccpet a check after it has been refused by Certegy
Check Services they are hung out on a limb if the check is not
collectable.

Computers do all this work thse days but I can see one potential red
flag in the information you offer. Check number 1201 sounds like a
starter check which implies a new acount, little if any history
etc...

Not that this will help in this situation the next time you order
checks go for a higher and uneven randon starting number. ie. 1555

Stop back and let us know if you hear back.

BillR.