Accept checks by telephone

Accepting checks by phone (CBP) gives merchants another convenient way to accept payments. The check data is collected over the phone and entered into the system. The data is sent to the Automatic Clearing House (ACH), which processes it and electronically deposits the money into the merchant’s account.

After the payment is processed email receipts of transactions can be sent to customers. If the payment fails, the merchant needs to provide a sales decline disclosure notice to the customer.

Order payment process required fields

Here is the list of optional and required fields that are displayed in the order payment process. You can skip the optional fields or add additional ones as per your process but you must include all the required fields.

Here is the list of optional and required fields that are displayed in the order payment process. You can skip the optional fields or add additional ones as per your process but you must include all the required fields.

Generate a session ID

To generate a Session ID, the merchants need to:

1. Create a concatenation of subscriber ID, date and a 9-digit sequence number incremented with each session of the day. Example: 87654321245516123456789, where:

• 87654321 is the subscriber ID.
• 2/24/11 is the date.
• 123456789 is the sequence number.

2. Apply an SHA-1 hash to the value from step 1. For example, the session ID is: d5f5a536346ecd54423ff9f8c551cd08d16a61be.

Use agreement templates

The check by phone (CBP) process requires the customer to provide order and payment details and consent to process the payment. The merchant needs to read the disclaimer agreement over the phone to get the customer’s consent.

Use the templates in this section as given in the authorization disclaimer. The templates contain the required text for CBP authorization agreement.

Note: The payment process can be completed only after the customer provides consent.

There are two types of templates: Warranty and Settlement templates. See How to identify which template to use? section to identify which template to use.

Warranty service

This needs to be displayed if the merchant is offering warranty service. Warranty service grants merchants premier-level defense against fraudulent transactions by transferring all fraud liability from the business to TeleCheck. Returned checks become TeleCheck’s responsibility, relieving merchants from potential loss and the copious hours of trying to collect payments on their own.

Personal Check: Warranty / TRS

Today, being [insert today’s date], I’d like to confirm that you, [insert first and last name of consumer], are authorizing a one-time payment in the amount of [insert amount] to be processed as an electronic funds transfer (EFT) or draft drawn from your [specify checking or savings] account identified as routing number [insert routing number] and account number [insert bank account number] and, if necessary, electronic credits or debits to your account to correct errors.
Your payment will be processed within 1-2 banking days. Do you authorize your account to be debited as described? (If consumer answers “Yes,” continue. If consumer answers “No,” stop the authorization process).
If the payment returns unpaid, do you authorize [insert Originators name] or our service provider to collect the payment and a one-time return item fee and, if applicable, costs, by EFT(s) or draft(s) drawn from your account. Your state return fee is [provide the consumer with the exact amount of their state return fee or how it is calculated from the state return table URL). (If consumer answers “Yes,” continue. If consumer answers “No,” stop the authorization process).
You may call [insert Originator’s customer service phone number] during [insert Originator’s consumer service hours of operation] with any questions.
Due to the speed of electronic payment processing do you understand that you will have until the end of this phone call to revoke this authorization by telling me you wish to revoke it? (If consumer answers “Yes,” continue. If consumer answers No, stop the authorization process).
Based on the terms and conditions we have discussed, and the disclosures made to you, do you agree to and authorize the payment? (If consumer answers “Yes,” continue. If consumer answers “No,” stop the authorization process).

Business Check: Warranty / TRS

Today, being [insert today’s date], I’d like to confirm that you, [insert first and last name of Company’s representative], as an authorized representative of [insert signer’s Company Name], are authorizing a one-time payment in the amount of [insert amount] to be processed as an electronic funds transfer (EFT) or draft drawn from [insert signer’s Company’s Name] [specify checking or savings] account identified as routing number [insert routing number] and account number [insert bank account number] and, if necessary, electronic credits or debits to the account to correct errors.
Your payment will be processed within 1-2 banking days. Do you authorize the account to be debited as described? (If authorized signer answers “Yes,” continue. If authorized signer answers “No,” stop the authorization process).
If the payment returns unpaid, do you authorize [insert Originators name] or our service provider to collect the payment and a one-time return item fee and, if applicable, costs, by EFT(s) or draft(s) drawn from the account. Your state return fee is [provide the authorized signer with the exact amount of their state return fee or how it is calculated from the state return table URL). (If authorized signer answers “Yes,” continue. If the authorized signer answers “No,” stop the authorization process).
You may call [insert Originator’s customer service phone number] during [insert Originator’s consumer service hours of operation] with any questions.
Due to the speed of electronic payment processing do you understand that you will have until the end of this phone call to revoke this authorization by telling me you wish to revoke it? (If authorized signer answers “Yes,” continue. If the authorized signer answers “No,” stop the authorization process.)
Do you accept these terms, acknowledge these disclosures, and authorize this payment on behalf of [insert signer’s Company Name] and further agree, on [insert signer’s Company’s Name] behalf, that [insert signer’s Company Name] shall be bound by the Nacha Rules in effect, both now and as amended from time to time? (If authorized signer answers “Yes,” continue. If authorized signer answers “No,” stop the authorization process).

Settlement template

Personal Check: Settlement Only

Today, being [insert today’s date], I’d like to confirm that you, [insert first and last name of consumer], are authorizing a one-time payment in the amount of [insert amount] to be processed as an electronic funds transfer or draft drawn from your [specify checking or savings] account identified as routing number [insert routing number] and account number [insert bank account number] and, if necessary, electronic credits or debits to your account to correct errors.
Your payment will be processed within 1-2 banking days. Do you authorize your account to be debited as described? (If consumer answers “Yes,” continue. If consumer answers “No,” stop the authorization process).
You may call [insert Originator’s customer service phone number] during [insert Originator’s consumer service hours of operation] with any questions.
Due to the speed of electronic payment processing do you understand that you will have until the end of this phone call to revoke this authorization by telling me you wish to revoke it? (If consumer answers “Yes,” continue. If consumer answers No, stop the authorization process).
Based on the terms and conditions we have discussed, and the disclosures made to you, do you agree to and authorize the payment? (If consumer answers “Yes,” continue. If consumer answers “No,” stop the authorization process).

Business Check: Settlement Only

Today, being [insert today’s date], I’d like to confirm that you, [insert first and last name of Company’s representative], as an authorized representative of [insert signer’s Company Name], are authorizing a one-time payment in the amount of [insert amount] to be processed as an electronic funds transfer (EFT) or draft drawn from [insert signer’s Company’s Name] [specify checking or savings] account identified as routing number [insert routing number] and account number [insert bank account number] and, if necessary, electronic credits or debits to the account to correct errors.
The payment will be processed within 1-2 banking days. (If authorized signer answers “Yes,” continue. If authorized signer answers “No,” stop the authorization process).
You may call [insert Originator’s customer service phone number] during [insert Originator’s consumer service hours of operation] with any questions.
Due to the speed of electronic payment processing do you understand that you will have until the end of this phone call to revoke this authorization by telling me you wish to revoke it? (If consumer answers “Yes,” continue. If consumer answers No, stop the authorization process).
Do you accept these terms, acknowledge these disclosures, and authorize this payment on behalf of [insert signer’s Company Name] and further agree, on [insert signer’s Company’s Name] behalf, that [insert signer’s Company Name] shall be bound by the Nacha Rules in effect, both now and as amended from time to time? (If authorized signer answers “Yes,” continue. If authorized signer answers “No,” stop the authorization process).

Identify a template to use

To know if your merchant is signed up for a Warranty or Settlement product, check the JSON section of the ecom_config endpoint.

Example: Merchants who support the warranty product.

"ach_products" : [ {
      "name" : "check_by_phone",
      "features" : [ "E_CHECK_CBP_BUSINESS_WARRANTY", "E_CHECK_CBP_PERSONAL_WARRANTY" ]
    },

Example: Merchants who support the settlement product.

"ach_products" : [ {
      "name" : "check_by_phone",
      "features" : [ "E_CHECK_CBP_BUSINESS_SETTLEMENT", "E_CHECK_CBP_PERSONAL_SETTLEMENT" ]
    },

Return payment fees

See TeleCheck Returned Check Fees for the state-by-state collection fee and cost table for returned payments. These state-specific collection fees and costs are subject to change, and linking to a TeleCheck-hosted page minimizes the number of maintenance updates required. You can select how to display these state fees and costs.