If a store, casino or other business turned down your check or electronic check payment and the notice named Certegy, the decision may have rested on a file Certegy keeps about you. Certegy says it is a consumer reporting agency, its file is governed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, and when that file is wrong, federal law gives you the right to see it, dispute it and, in some cases, sue over it.
What Certegy is and who runs it
The CFPB’s consumer reporting company list places Certegy Payment Solutions, LLC in its check and bank account screening category and describes it as providing check and ACH verification services for financial institutions and a range of consumer-facing industries, including retail and gambling. Certegy’s legal page says it is both a consumer reporting agency and a nationwide specialty consumer reporting agency under FCRA sections 603(f) and 603(x) (15 U.S.C. § 1681a(f), (x)).
The CFPB names Certegy among several checking account reporting companies, along with TeleCheck, ChexSystems and Early Warning Services. The rest are in the check and bank screening directory.
In 2013, Certegy Check Services, Inc. agreed to pay a $3.5 million civil penalty to settle a federal complaint, filed on the FTC’s referral, alleging that it failed to follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy, did not follow proper dispute procedures, and did not maintain a streamlined process for free annual file requests. The company neither admitted nor denied the allegations.
What is in your Certegy file and how businesses use it
Certegy says it compiles and maintains information on consumers’ checking account transaction history, which its clients use to decide whether to accept a check or ACH payment for goods, services or cash. In its 2013 case, the FTC described Certegy as helping retail merchants decide whether to accept consumers’ checks, with recommendations that take account of unpaid returned checks.
A business needs a permissible purpose to get your report, and a transaction you initiate, such as paying by check, can supply one (15 U.S.C. § 1681b(a)(3)(F)(i)). The CFPB says the report should show which bank, credit union or company supplied each item.
Where check-verification files go wrong
An accurate record that is yours can lawfully stay: the FCRA requires deletion only of information that is inaccurate, incomplete or unverifiable. These are the problems to check for, each tied to a duty the FCRA states directly:
- A returned check the file gets wrong. If the file shows a returned check as unpaid after you paid it, or otherwise reports it inaccurately or incompletely, the FCRA requires a reinvestigation of the item you dispute (15 U.S.C. § 1681i(a)).
- A deleted entry that comes back. A deleted item may not be reinserted unless the business that supplied it certifies it is complete and accurate, and the agency must tell you in writing within five business days (§ 1681i(a)(5)(B)).
- An entry from check fraud or identity theft. The CFPB tells consumers who have experienced check or bank fraud to review the report and dispute any inaccuracies, which triggers the same reinvestigation duty. The identity theft page covers the credit-report side.
- An entry past its reporting period. Most adverse items cannot be reported more than seven years after they occur (15 U.S.C. § 1681c(a)(5)).
How to get your Certegy file for free
The CFPB’s listing says Certegy will provide one free report every 12 months if you request it. The FCRA requires a nationwide specialty consumer reporting agency, a category that includes agencies keeping nationwide files relating to check writing history (15 U.S.C. § 1681a(x)), to provide your file free once in any 12-month period on request (§ 1681j(a)(1)(A)) and within 15 days of the request (§ 1681j(a)(2)). Certegy describes itself as that kind of agency, and the FTC’s 2013 complaint alleged the same.
The CFPB lists three ways to ask: online at askcertegy.com, by phone at 800-237-3826 (also on Certegy’s consumer contact page), or by mail to Certegy Payment Solutions, LLC, Attn: CFDR Request, P.O. Box 908, Grand Junction, CO 81502, the address on Certegy’s free annual file disclosure request form. The form also accepts fax at 727-570-4936 and asks for at least one form of identification: your bank routing and account numbers, a government-issued ID, or your Social Security number or ITIN. The FCRA allows an agency to require proper identification (§ 1681h(a)(1)). If your notice gives different contact details, use the notice.
An adverse action notice gives you a separate 60-day right to a free copy (§ 1681j(b)), and every consumer reporting agency must, on request, disclose all the information in your file and its sources (§ 1681g(a)).
How to dispute a Certegy entry
Dispute in writing with Certegy, using the contact details on your report or notice, and with the business that supplied the information; the CFPB recommends both and offers sample letters. Identify each item and why it is wrong, include copies, not originals, of records that show the error, such as a bank statement showing the check was paid, and keep a copy of everything you send. If the case comes to litigation, your copies are the record.
Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681i, Certegy must conduct a reasonable reinvestigation free of charge, generally within 30 days, a period that can run up to 15 more days if you send additional relevant information during it. Within five business days of receiving your dispute, it must notify whoever supplied the item. Anything found inaccurate or incomplete, or that cannot be verified, must be deleted or modified, and Certegy must send you the results in writing.
The reinvestigation is Certegy’s own duty; the FTC’s 2013 complaint alleged that Certegy told consumers disputing a returned check to resolve it with the merchant themselves. The business that supplied a disputed entry has a separate duty: once the dispute is forwarded, it must investigate and modify, delete or block an item that is inaccurate, incomplete or cannot be verified (§ 1681s-2(b)).
If the entry stays, you can file a brief statement of dispute (§ 1681i(b)). The credit dispute letter and ChexSystems dispute guides cover the same steps for other files. If an entry is not yours at all, the mixed credit file page explains how someone else’s information ends up on a report.
The adverse action notice you are owed
If a business takes adverse action based in whole or in part on a Certegy report, it owes you notice (15 U.S.C. § 1681m(a)). Outside credit, insurance and employment, adverse action includes a determination, made in connection with a transaction you initiated, that is adverse to your interests (§ 1681a(k)(1)(B)(iv)); FTC staff give “a purchase by personal check” as an example. The CFPB says a bank or credit union that denies you an account based on a screening report must send you a notice naming the company.
The notice must name the reporting agency with its address and phone number, state that the agency did not make the decision and cannot give the reasons, and tell you that you can get a free copy within 60 days and dispute anything inaccurate or incomplete. Keep the notice.
When a Certegy error becomes a legal claim
If a check was declined, an account refused or a purchase lost over a Certegy entry that was not accurate, and a proper dispute did not fix it, the FCRA may give you a claim:
- Accuracy (15 U.S.C. § 1681e(b)). Certegy must follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy of the information it reports.
- Reinvestigation (15 U.S.C. § 1681i). Certegy must actually reinvestigate a dispute, not simply repeat what it already has.
- The furnisher’s investigation (15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(b)). The business that supplied the entry must investigate a dispute forwarded to it.
- Reporting periods (15 U.S.C. § 1681c). Most adverse items cannot be reported once they are more than seven years old.
For a negligent violation, the FCRA provides actual damages plus attorney’s fees (§ 1681o). For a willful violation, it provides actual damages or statutory damages of $100 to $1,000, punitive damages as the court allows, and attorney’s fees (§ 1681n). Suit must be filed by the earlier of two years after you discover the violation or five years after it occurs (§ 1681p).
I handle these cases on contingency. In a case I filed in 2024 against another check-verification company, TeleCheck Services, a $13.36 check the store had mis-keyed was recorded as an insufficient-funds return, and TeleCheck told merchants to decline my client’s checks for several years. It is on the cases I have filed. The page on The Retail Equation covers return denials.
Have your Certegy file reviewed
Send me your Certegy file disclosure, the decline or adverse action notice you received, and whatever Certegy sent back after your dispute, and I will tell you whether I see a claim. The FCRA attorney page covers how these cases work. Contact the firm to have your file reviewed.
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This page is about consumer report accuracy. The Kim Law Firm is not affiliated with Certegy Payment Solutions, LLC, Certegy Check Services, Inc., TeleCheck Services, ChexSystems, Early Warning Services, The Retail Equation, or any merchant or bank, and this page is not a complaint about any of them. It describes how check and ACH payment history can appear on a check-verification file and the rights consumers have when an entry is wrong.