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Thursday, March 01, 2012
(Chexar Networks, Inc. and Clear Payments, Inc.)
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Commentary by RemoteDepositCapture.com:
Imagine having the ability to determine the validity of a check before making the deposit. A new smartphone app - developed by Chexar and Clear Payments - provides this functionality to the “underbanked” consumers who utilize Check Cashers for their banking needs.
This may be a precursor for what’s to come in the RDC industry. Imagine having the ability to determine the validity of a check, mitigate risk and prevent return item charges before submitting a Remote Deposit Capture deposit to your bank.
Atlanta, GA - Mar, 01, 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 prescheduled 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.