CHEXAR Networks, Inc.

Tax Refund Desperation

Steven Doctor — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 15:14:12 +0000

As Chexar validation and guarantee service moves more prominently into personal remote deposit capture (ie. load a check to a prepaid card from your phone), we are adjusting our fraud rules to reflect the shift. We find that the easier we make it for people to consider fraud, the more likely they are to pursue. By moving the capture of the check from a retail location to one’s dinner table, the individual feels somewhat “safer” to consider less than virtuous pursuits.

I was planning to start a discussion on these personal remote deposits this month, but it will have to wait.

What has really enhanced the market for fraud recently has nothing to do with this new mobile technology. It has to do with the decisions our federal government has made in the area of electronic filing of tax returns. In the past, a person needed to actually have some documentation, like W-2, associated with their tax return that was mailed to the IRS, or verified by a certified tax preparer. In this way, it was more difficult to steal one’s identity and submit a false tax return.

However, the IRS has opened up the market for fraud dramatically by broadly accepting electronic filings of taxes and providing near immediate access to the refund money….without anyone ever meeting the person filing. Consider how this makes the opportunity to use stolen personal data to file false tax returns to generate false tax refunds.

I use TurboTax to file my personal taxes. Love the convenience. At the last step, I have the opportunity to get my refund loaded directly to a prepaid card. Obviously, the IRS sees this as a productivity cost improvement (no checks to issue) and a customer convenience. However, all shortcuts provide opportunity for desperate people to commit fraud. The IRS just opened up an eight-lane highway of fraud. From submission of the false claim to receiving the cash, no one else is involved to potentially identify the fraudulent act.

If the government loads direct from the IRS to a prepaid card, Chexar doesn’t see it. However, there are also many people falsely filing with stolen information and then visiting check cashiers in order to convert the IRS refund check to good funds. In order to pull this off, they either create a false ID or in many cases a false “Power of Attorney”.

Or, they may receive the check and alter the payee information to match their own. In this case, understanding the coding on the treasury checks help identify this type of fraud:

These frauds require extensive activity on the part of Chexar to verify, and it slows down the process for all the good honest citizens cashing their refund. However, if we didn’t do this, then we would be an enabler of the eight-lane highway of fraud. Technology is moving so fast, and opportunities to use the new capabilities to simplify life and increase productivity MUST be tempered with development of fraud control technologies.

Next month, I’ll show you some unique fraud attempts with personal phone submissions.

The “Consumer Desperation Index

Each month, Chexar validates hundreds of thousands of check transactions across the country. A certain percentage of these are stopped because Chexar has deemed them as “DO NOT CASH” transactions. This means Chexar risk specialists have discovered that the check is fraudulent, the account is closed, there are non-sufficient funds, or the activity in the maker’s account is suspicious. By comparing the percentage in the current month to the percentage in March of 2010, an index is created, with March 2010 as a baseline at 100.We have named it the “Consumer Desperation Index” because consumers have to be really desperate to resort to check fraud. In most cases, the check conversion location has their picture, a copy of their ID, their signature, and often a fingerprint. They are just hoping they chose a retail location that doesn’t know how to control fraud. Ultimately these culprits will be locked out of the financial system by way of their negative record with Chexar.

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Regions Finishes Rolling Out Financial Products for the Underbanked

Drew Edwards — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 14:22:36 +0000

By Victoria Finkle
American Banker | March 29, 2012

Regions Financial (RF) has finished rolling out a suite of alternative financial services, including check cashing, money transfer and expedited bill pay services, along with a prepaid card.

The program, called “Now Banking,” is designed to broaden the services offered to current customers and to attract underbanked consumers, who don’t have or don’t regularly use traditional bank accounts.

“The segment that ‘Now Banking’ is targeting is the growing pay-as-you-go consumer,” John Owen, senior executive vice president of consumer services at Regions, told American Banker in an interview on Wednesday.

Those potential customers include more than just the young, low-income or immigrant people who are generally considered the majority of the underbanked population, he says.

“It’s not who you think it is. It’s a segment of customers that choose to manage money and cash flow on a pay-as-you-go basis,” says Owen, noting that over half of the customers using Regions check-cashing and related services make more than $50,000 a year. Over 20% of those people make more than $100,000 a year.

The Birmingham, Ala., bank announced on Tuesday that its new products are now available at all Regions branches, certain ATMs and online.

American Banker had previously reported on the products, which Regions started unveiling during a pilot program last summer.

Owen says the idea of offering services not typically found at banks was born out of a customer survey, which found that 30% of existing Regions customers had used those services in the prior 90 days. The survey also found that 41% of surveyed consumers said they were somewhat or very likely to use one of those products in the future.

“That was kind of an eye-opener for the bank,” Owen says.

While it’s early, Owen says consumer feedback thus far has been “very positive.”

Customers “like having the flexibility and they like our price points,” he says, adding that about half of the customers using the “Now Banking” products are existing Regions accountholders and half are not.

Roughly 5% to 8% of those new customers have signed up for additional services, like savings accounts, he says.

Regions did some on-the-ground research designing its products and pricing, according to Owen.

“My team and I went and shopped at competitor banks and the Wal-Mart Money Center. We went and spent time at major payday lending stores just to understand what the mechanics are and what the facts are,” he says.

The bank charges 1% to 3% of the underlying check amount for check cashing, and 5% of the check amount for money orders. The Regions prepaid card costs $4 to buy and has a $5 monthly fee unless direct deposit is set up. Bill-pay services provided by Western Union cost anywhere from $4 to $20.

Regions also began offering short-term loans to existing customers back in May, before the “Now Banking” initiative began, says Owen.

Customers of good standing, who have done business with the bank for nine months or more, can borrow half of an upcoming direct deposit, up to $500, via an online platform.

Regions customers like that this product is private, easy and convenient, says Owen.

“We’ve had a lot of demand and enrollment,” he says, adding that the bank is planning further modifications to that program in coming months.

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Regions Bank Branches Prepared for the Unbanked, Underbanked

Drew Edwards — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 14:47:31 +0000

As read on MyBankTracker.com

After a phased rollout, Regions Bank (NYSE: RF) now touts financial services — prepaid cards, check-cashing and Western Union services — to unbanked and underbanked customers throughout its 16-state footprint.

“Since introducing Regions Now Banking last fall the response has been very positive and we are proud to be the only large bank offering all of these services under one roof,” said John Owen, head of consumer services for Regions Financial, in prepared remarks.

The Birmingham, Ala.-based bank began testing these services in July and started integrating them into its branches in September.

“Regions, like many banks, has finally realized that there is a huge market of working Americans with no banking relationships or minimal banking relationships,” said Jim Wells, president of Wellspring Consulting, a firm with a mission to expand financial services to the unbanked and underbanked.

Called “Regions Now Banking”, the product suite consists of a Visa prepaid card that charges a $5 monthly fee (waived with $500 monthly direct deposit) and a $3 load fee (free via direct deposit). Prepaid card customers get free access to Regions Bank ATMs and online banking.

Additionally, non-customers can cash all checks with Regions Bank — a fee may be incurred, depending on the amount and type of check. For example, cashing a Regions check for $10 or less will incur no charge, but cashing any money order will result in a 5% fee ($3 minimum).

Finally, Regions Bank will offer Western Union bill payment and money transfer services through branches.

Banking on non-bank products, services

According to the Federal Reserve, there are 30 million U.S. households that are unbanked or underbanked.

“Contrary to the popular misconception that these folks have no money and no choices, Regions found that the so-called unbanked and under-banked collectively move a lot of money around and are comfortable using non-bank financial service providers,” said Wells.

Regions, the 12th-largest U.S. bank, opted to partner with Chexar, a company focused on prepaid and check-cashing technology and solutions, to develop products and services that appealed to customers, not to banks, Wells noted.

The new direction taken by Regions plays into the increase of prepaid cards in the financial industry. From tax refund prepaid cards to Suze Orman’s new Approved card, more U.S. consumers are coming into contact with non-bank financial products and services. Walmart, the largest retailer in the U.S., has stepped into this market with a wide assortment of financial services that are very similar to those offered by Regions.

The rise of prepaid cards may provide a new way for banks to pad their profits.

“I believe most banks will spend a fair amount of time criticizing Regions for what they are doing. Then many will try to emulate the practices. Few will succeed though unless they change their attitudes towards beginning a customer relationship by doing what the customer wants first,” said Wells.

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Interview with John Collins and Drew Edwards of Chexar Networks, Inc.

Drew Edwards — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 13:50:59 +0000

As read on IPayment News

March 27, 2012

I attended the Prepaid Expo at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas and once again I was very impressed by the quality of the conference and that of the IIR USA production team led by Simon O’Neill. I had numerous interviews that included an impressive lineup of the top management of worldclass solutions providers for the prepaid industry. Many of these interviews will be published in subsequent issues of IPayments News. However, the most memorable interview was the one that I had with John Collins, Chairman and Drew Edwards, CEO of Chexar Networks. Chexar is on the cutting edge of a potentially disruptive technology that enables checks to be deposited or cashed via mobile imaging. What makes the Chexar Mobile Deposit Capture solution unique is that it is geared to the financially underserved consumer, many of whom have switched to the convenience of prepaid debit cards.

The ability to convert your checks on a mobile device without having to go stand in line at a check casher has the potential to change the lives of this underbanked consumer. For the underbanked consumer it is important not to confuse instant availability in a traditional account sense with good funds instantly available.” John Collins added, “While we all know that Mobile Deposit Capture is a red hot topic in banking today, we also know that this underbanked consumer is not going to adopt the service if they have to wait on their funds even a few days, and certainly not if those funds can be reversed if the check bounces. On their smartphone, this consumer expects the same immediate and often non-recourse availability of funds that they would receive in person at a check cashing location.”

Chexar utilizes a risk management system that they have built based on years of experience in the check cashing business. The Chexar solution enables consumers using a smartphone app to take a picture of any check in the comfort and privacy of their own home and choose the option for instant cash availability. The solution offers a check guarantee program for prepaid card program managers and a non-guaranteed option for those who want to take their own risk with Chexar as their risk management solution.

Chexar announced in December that it has filed a patent for a national duplicate check database called DUPEX. The patent pending service will give industry participants an advance warning of activity on a check prior to their making the decision to accept the check, including information about inquiries on the check prior to the first deposit. Edwards said, “Dupex is designed for those clients that run their own risk management solutions and gives them an advanced warning of prior activity on a check before they make their decisions.” He went on to say, “Chexar is the leader in guaranteeing checks on mobile devices and we believe that the significant deployment of mobile solutions in the market increases the risks of duplicate deposits because the consumer gets to keep the check unmarked. This gives Chexar’s database a record of that activity and this content is focused on the underbanked consumer segments where the risk of duplicate deposits is even higher. We are in a unique position to control this risk for the market.”

A. Lyle Elias
ATMIA Founding Director

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How Can Retail Branches Become More Profitable?

Drew Edwards — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 13:50:21 +0000

As read on BankDirector.com

By: T. Stephen Johnson
March 23rd, 2012

I have two grown children, 25 and 28 years old, who have checking accounts, but have never been in a bank office. Yet, despite all the evidence that branch usage is in decline over the past decade, the industry continues to build new offices. As a director of 10 different FDIC-insured banks during my 25 years as a consultant/investor for the financial services industry, I do not envy the job of current bank directors preparing for the future. With a large amount of capital tied up in single-purpose real estate and fees on accounts restricted by regulators, where can bank management and directors turn to make the branch profitable again? The answer to this problem may lie in the historical study of how we got where we are today.

In the first 10 years of my banking career at Trust Company of Georgia (now SunTrust), I held responsibilities in both management and internal consulting of operations and technology. I remember going to our Fulton Industrial Boulevard branch on a payday Friday and hearing the branch manager ask, “What can we do to get all these people out of our branches?” Well, mission accomplished! These days the long lines on payday are more frequent at a Walmart financial center than at a bank branch. What will draw these people away from Walmart, check cashers, payday lenders and title pawn shops and turn them back into profitable bank customers? Evolutions in technology, social media and product offerings now provide the solution.

Asset quality disasters, regulatory concerns and other survival issues have consumed the lives of many bankers as of late, leaving little time to pursue the five-year plan. Banks now must begin to reshape business plans to reflect the evolution in technology and consumer behavior or become the next victim of obsolescence, much like such industries as home entertainment, photography, telecommunications and specialty retail. Can a full function ATM machine replace a branch the way that a Blockbuster Express self-service movie rental kiosk replaces a store? Never has the role of a bank director been more important than today; financial institutions must proactively chart a new course for retail banking. Personal interaction with successful retailers in other industries can provide directors with the needed experience to guide their own companies. Think of the experience of renting a movie from a kiosk instead of going into a store and compare it with using a full-function ATM instead of visiting a branch.

Now is the time to begin the evaluation of which branches are crucial to the customers in an area, provided all of the other ways that are now available to meet their banking needs. Given the unlikely event that margins will grow, replacing fee income lost as a result of regulatory changes for most banks is critical to future earnings growth. Directors need to be proactive in encouraging management to recruit customers that the bank lost to alternative financial services providers, such as check cashers and payday lenders. To get these customers back, banks must offer a new suite of products and services, which includes cashing checks, money transfer, money orders, prepaid cards, reloadable cards, and fees to guarantee funds. In the future, perhaps a cash advance fee at a bank can replace payday lending. These services can be highly profitable, as evidence by the large number of alternative financial services providers in the market place.

An argument usually brought up by bankers is that no other bank is doing this. That’s not true. Regions Bank recently announced Regions Now Banking in all 1,700 branches. The products mentioned earlier are all included in this offering. Early results are extremely pleasing to Regions’ management team, which expects the new fee income will replace revenue lost as a result of regulatory changes.

When an industry must react to changes in technology and consumer behavior, the first thing to ponder is if the consumer still needs the product. Does the public still need financial services? The answer is yes. So, how can banks use new technology? The answer is still evolving, but every bank director who has purchased something on Amazon, rented a movie from a kiosk, or used the self-service checkout at the grocery store has a personal experience that can be valuable in shaping the future retail bank customer experience.

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Spring is in the air! Desperation diminishes!

Steven Doctor — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 14:36:03 +0000

The Index decreased in February to 86, but is up 15 points from a year ago.

Don’t you love spring! After a hard and bitter winter the flowers start blooming, the sun starts shining and the coats go back on the coat rack. Spring is also a good time for lower desperation. As you can see from the chart above, the February to April timeframe is typically a time where less check fraud occurs. Along with spring comes big tax refunds in the form of earned income tax credits. These credits bring needed money into the hands of people on the edge. Bills are paid off. Collection companies get their money on old bills. People may even have some left over for more extravagant items…like a dinner out, or in some cases a big screen TV.

These tax refunds also go to people incarcerated. In these cases, a Power of Attorney needs to be verified to assure the person presenting the check has the right to cash the check for the person in jail. Sometimes, desperate people try to fake this. Here is an interesting case.

A $9091.10 check made out to Alena was brought by Sonia to a client of Chexar’s for cashing. She had a Power of Attorney because Alena was in jail. However, the POA could not be verified so we declined the check.

Then, three hours later, Alena herself comes to cash the check! Did she just get out of jail?….we don’t think so.

What is truly bothersome is when relatives steal from each other. A check comes in the mail to someone’s dad, and “junior” who has the same last name decides to try to cash it.

It takes a team like our Chexar specialists to stop this desperate son. How? We did the work to understand the payee of the check.

After some investigation, we discovered that the gentleman the check was written for was 70 years old….and had a son named Dan II. We were able to prevent the inappropriate cashing of the check and saved our client the hassle of trying to recover this money from the family.

Personal checks are always difficult to validate. There are so many checkbooks stolen and the thieves figure to clean out a bank account by writing fraud checks. They often take the time to create a fake ID, and put together a logical story for the large payments. Here is a typical example:

Ryan was “related” to Amanda, who had written him a check to help out with his rent. We contacted the bank and Amanda and discovered that Amanda’s purse had been stolen three months ago and someone was running around cashing checks with her husband’s name. We were able to shut this down for Amanda. The bank representative was very happy with our fraud control and said “Thank you so much CHEXAR”.

Don’t you love the spring!

The “Consumer Desperation Index

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UPside Visa Mobile Banking Apps to Be Unveiled Tuesday at Prepaid Expo

Drew Edwards — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 14:39:22 +0000

As read on PayBefore

March 9, 2012

Plastyc Inc., the company behind the Paybefore Award-winning UPside Visa prepaid card, will be unveiling new smartphone apps that provide complete mobile banking services for its cardholders at Prepaid Expo USA in Las Vegas Tuesday.

Tailored for the youth and underbanked markets, UPside Visa has developed mobile apps for Android and iPhone that meet a full range of personal banking needs, including activating a new account, signing up for direct deposit, redeeming cash back points, loading funds, paying bills, transferring funds to friends, issuing paper checks and more—all from a cardholder’s smartphone.

“The initial goal is to be able to better communicate with cardholders,” Plastyc CEO Patrice Peyret tells Paybefore. “We could have done SMS, but that can have a cost for cardholders, depending on their plans, and it would have had a cost for us. The vast majority of our cardholders have smartphones, which came as a little bit of a surprise to us,” he continues. More than 55 percent of UPside cardholders have an Android phone and 20 percent have an iPhone.
“The app provides a better interface and cardholders receive notifications on the top of the screen, even when they don’t have the app open. It provides the ability to communicate more frequently with the cardholder for free, and the open rate is 100 percent.”

A key secondary goal is adding remote deposit capture by the end of the year, hopefully sooner, Peyret says. He characterizes the remote deposit capture solution as a work in progress because Plastyc must ensure that compliance and security measures are in place prior to rollout.

“I’m convinced that it’s going to be a big deal in the industry,” he says. “To truly be a good substitute for a checking account, you must be able to deposit checks.” Plastyc’s mobile apps can be downloaded immediately by searching “UPside” in the Android Market at market.android.com. The iPhone version will be available from the Apple AppStore in a few weeks.

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Chexar and Clear Payments Announce Mobile Application for Check Cashing

Drew Edwards — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 12:52:42 +0000

New application for mobile smartphones enables the consumer to submit their checks to the check casher and receive an approval or decline before they ever visit the check casher

Atlanta, GA, March 1, 2012 – Chexar Networks, Inc. (“CHEXAR®”) and Clear Payments, Inc. (“CPI®”) have jointly developed a mobile application for smartphones that will change the way check cashing consumers interact with their providers. The product enables a consumer to know whether or not their check will get cashed prior to driving to the check cashing location. CHEXAR clients that utilize the SmartScore System for centralized check cashing will be able to brand the mobile app for their consumer customers creating a new loyalty platform that truly gives the consumer a reason to frequent them for their transactional needs.

CPI founder and chairman Randy Simoneaux commented that, “we are solving several major issues starting with giving this consumer a reason to be loyal to a single check casher. Now this consumer will know if their check is approved before they ever get into their car or sit in the lobby and wait while a check is being underwritten. Once approved the app will also direct them to the nearest location to complete the transaction and pick up their cash.”

According to a recent study by KPMG there are almost 100 million Americans that do not have a bank account or don’t fully utilize their bank accounts, and prefer alternative financial service providers such as check cashers. These consumers, referred to as “underbanked”, have chosen to live on a cash basis and need to convert more than 20 types of checks into cash daily and weekly. Today they visit a check cashing location, typically based upon convenience and speed, and they present their checks when they walk up to the window. Sometimes these checks are approved immediately and sometimes they are asked to take a seat while someone investigates the circumstances to make a yes/no decision. If the check is then declined, they have wasted as much as an hour of their time and they still have to find somewhere to cash the check. Even if they are approved it often takes as much as 15 minutes to get the approval.

CHEXAR founder and CEO Drew W. Edwards went on to say, “while many of these consumers are moving to reload-‐able prepaid cards and we have a lot of focus on enabling them to load their checks directly into these card accounts with instant funds availability, most of these consumers still prefer to cash their check and walk out with the money. We see this as a great stepping stone for this consumer and our clients to drastically improve their check cashing experience while staging them for extended mobile deposit capture and other financial products. This changes everything for our clients and their consumers because we are taking what was a commodity transaction and making it a relationship transaction. Future releases of the program will likely include other features such as loyalty programs and pre-‐scheduled appointment times for the consumer.” Simoneaux added, “when CHEXAR asked us to partner with them in developing and hosting this application, we immediately understood the value and combined it with our mobile deposit capture development projects. As the check 21 processing and settlement partner for all Chexar transactions today, the SmartScore system further strengthens our relationship and mutual commitment to the underserved industry.

About Clear Payments

CPI® is an innovative remote deposit and payments technology company. We specialize in select vertical markets with an emphasis on underserved financial service organizations, prepaid companies, software integrators, large corporate clients and financial institutions. A 100% commitment to these segments has provided CPI a unique opportunity to build proprietary check management applications with segment targeted features and functionality. Consistent performance, proven technology and time tested solutions have allowed the company to grow an impressive list of clients. An emphasis on the underserved check cashing industry has helped CPI develop and lead in the areas of check cashing integration and feature functionality used to support the largest portfolio of underserved clients in the US. For more information, please visit our website www.clearpaymentsinc.com or contact Allison Jones, (615) 656-‐2510, allison.jones@clearpaymentsinc.com.

About Chexar

CHEXAR® is the national leader for technology and solutions that enable clients to cash, deposit or load any check with immediate funds availability. Chexar’s solutions provide clients with the ability to truly serve the nation’s under-‐banked population now estimated to be almost 100 million people. The gating factor for these consumers is their need to change all types of checks into cash or value before they can acquire other services including bill pay, money transfers, or prepaid cards.

Chexar’s solutions enable any business to convert ANY type and ANY size of check to cash or to immediate credit onto Prepaid Cards or as fee-based deposits into bank accounts and to mitigate the risk of duplicate deposits on all check transactions. The company’s one-of‐a-kind solutions combine multiple national databases, rules engines, and proprietary technology with redundant 24/7 risk management centers to achieve the industry’s highest automated and overall approval rates on any check. Chexar’s solutions are deployed across multiple platforms including turnkey point of sale solutions, assisted and self‐service kiosk solutions, mobile devices, and full XML integrations. For more information, please visit www.chexar.com.

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Chexar and eCash Software Systems Announce an Integration to Streamline the Check Cashing Business in North America

Drew Edwards — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 17:34:33 +0000

Short term lenders seeking to add professional check cashing to their store franchise with Chexar’s outsourced risk management model no longer need two separate platforms if they utilize eCash’s loan platform.

February29, 2012, Atlanta, GA – Chexar and eCash Software systems today announced that eCash has fully integrated Chexar’s centralized professional check cashing solution into eCash’s leading short-‐term loan system. The prime objective of the integration is to ensure that multi-‐line operations can leverage the scalability and efficiencies of centralization and control over both product sets. The solution, which has been operational for almost a year in hundreds of locations in a leading short-‐term lender, is now available to all eCash clients looking to add professional check cashing services to their franchise.

“The integration is envisioned to facilitate ease of business and process benefits for all eCash customers who provide Check Cashing services either exclusively or in conjunction with their other superior product offerings. Using the centralized turnkey risk management system of Chexar, it will enable our customers a better means of safely and profitably offering professional check cashing services at their retail locations,” said Scott Putnam, CEO of eCash. This integration will result in better defined efficiencies’ operationally and create effective risk management for check cashing companies and provide technological benefits with the collaboration of two technology systems.

“As the financial services industry evolves within today’s economic and legislative environment, traditional payday lenders across the nation are rapidly transforming their retail franchises into multi-line financial service centers. eCash has been recognized as a champion in the industry for meeting this demand by investing in development to expand their product line. “The combination of eCash and Chexar makes an unbeatable solution for these companies,” Drew W. Edwards, CEO of Chexar Networks, Inc. said. “The integration provides for a seamless process that eliminates duplicate entries and provides for true full service check cashing, lending and other services on a single platform,” he added.

About eCash

Architecture of the eCash Software System began over seven years ago in response to a lack of complete and affordable software solutions for the payday advance industry. A superlative development team was assembled and directed by experienced industry professionals during the development process. These professionals have been profoundly involved in this industry for a number of years and have a complete understanding of the challenges that these businesses are faced with during today’s financial and legislative atmosphere. eCash has responded to these demands by expanding its various product lines to include additional revenue streams for their customers in order to remain flexible and profitable in the current marketplace. Today, eCash has become the clear leader in Web-‐Based Financial Service Solutions specializing in Payday Advance, Check Cashing, Title Loans, Consumer Finance, Internet Loans and Open Lines of Credit. eCash is 100% US-‐based and boasts a proven successful collections module, unsurpassed back-‐office reporting system, exceptional customer support, automated ACH module, multiple interfaces with leading vendors in the industry and many other dynamic and innovative solutions.

About Chexar

Chexar’s solutions enable any business to convert ANY type and ANY size of check to cash or to immediate credit onto Prepaid Cards or as fee-‐based deposits into bank accounts and to mitigate the risk of duplicate deposits on all check transactions. The company’s one-‐of-‐a-‐kind solutions combine multiple national databases, rules engines, and proprietary technology with redundant 24/7 risk management centers to achieve the industry’s highest automated and overall approval rates on any check. Chexar’s solutions are deployed across multiple platforms including turnkey point of sale solutions, assisted and self-‐service kiosk solutions, mobile devices, and full XML integrations. For more information, please visit www.chexar.com.

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Consumer Desperation Index at 102

Steven Doctor — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:01:27 +0000

The Index increased in January to 102 and is up 14 points from a year ago.

Looking at the long term trend above, one can see that we are entering a “low Desperation” season. January-April tend to be low points of the index, as I believe that the influx of tax refunds provide those on the edge of desperation with a reprieve and, therefore, less tries at cashing fraudulent or stolen checks.

That doesn’t mean they don’t exist. There are just fewer. We always have some tries, especially with the large tax refund RAC checks. The case below is an example.

Everything looks OK. Right format, right numbers, but something was wrong. When we contacted the bank concerning the check, they said it had been reported as stolen. It had been reported as stolen by the person who was currently trying to cash the check. She had reported it stolen, ordered a replacement item, and then tried to cash the original check. One way to double your money….or end up in jail.

Here is another desperate character.

Republic is a large issuer of refund checks. They print a phone number on the check to call for verification. The only problem is this is a fake check and a fake phone number. In this case, our client had already called the phone number on the check and was assured by the voice on the other end this check was good. Chexar, however, has relationships with all the tax refund check writers and knew the number was not correct. We called the correct number and verified it was fraud.

Here is an example where it might have appeared to be a desperate person committing fraud but wasn’t.

This is a similar situation to the previous check. We knew this was not the correct check stock for eCollect. However, since it was last year’s check stock, we followed up to figure out whether this was fraud or a mistake. It turned out that Clara’s tax refund amount was valid and she was not committing fraud. The tax preparer had issued the refund on stock left over from last year. We were able to clarify the situation with eCollect and the tax preparer, and guide Clara on getting her refund fixed.

I love it when we “Find a way to say YES” to that honest person who just had the misfortune of errors in their payment! Serving the honest consumer is what this is all about.

The “Consumer Desperation Index

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CHEXAR Networks, Inc.

Tax Refund Desperation

Regions Finishes Rolling Out Financial Products for the Underbanked

Regions Bank Branches Prepared for the Unbanked, Underbanked

Banking on non-bank products, services

Interview with John Collins and Drew Edwards of Chexar Networks, Inc.

How Can Retail Branches Become More Profitable?

By: T. Stephen Johnson March 23rd, 2012

Spring is in the air! Desperation diminishes!

UPside Visa Mobile Banking Apps to Be Unveiled Tuesday at Prepaid Expo

Chexar and Clear Payments Announce Mobile Application for Check Cashing

New application for mobile smartphones enables the consumer to submit their checks to the check casher and receive an approval or decline before they ever visit the check casher

Chexar and eCash Software Systems Announce an Integration to Streamline the Check Cashing Business in North America

Short term lenders seeking to add professional check cashing to their store franchise with Chexar’s outsourced risk management model no longer need two separate platforms if they utilize eCash’s loan platform.

Consumer Desperation Index at 102

By: T. Stephen Johnson
March 23rd, 2012