If a store declined your check and pointed you to TeleCheck, TeleCheck’s file on you or its risk review may be the reason. FTC staff treat a report that a person has written bad checks as a consumer report under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), and when one is wrong, federal law gives you the right to see your file, dispute it and, in some cases, sue over it.
What TeleCheck is and who owns it
The CFPB’s list of consumer reporting companies places TeleCheck Services in its check and bank account screening category. It describes TeleCheck as helping retailers, financial institutions and other businesses reduce fraud and other risks, and as providing payments data to lenders.
The CFPB listing says TeleCheck is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fiserv, Inc. Fiserv’s Form 10-K for 2025, filed with the SEC, calls TeleCheck “our check acceptance business” and says it is subject to the FCRA and similar state laws. TeleCheck’s contact page lists its headquarters as TeleCheck Services, LLC, in Marietta, Georgia.
How TeleCheck decides on a check
TeleCheck says that at the register, the merchant sends it the check’s banking information and amount, and often the check writer’s ID number. It says it looks at transactions by identifiers meant to pinpoint who you are to the exclusion of everyone else, such as a driver’s license number. FTC staff have said that a company providing returned-check information to merchants is a consumer reporting agency.
TeleCheck says a risk-based decline “is not based on evidence of unpaid debt” and that its risk review weighs factors such as check-writing history, check number and check amount. It says it will identify up to three major reasons your check was declined, and that a “Code 3” tells the merchant the transaction carries a significant level of risk markers.
The 2014 federal case against TeleCheck
In January 2014, the United States, acting for the FTC, sued TeleCheck Services, Inc. and its affiliate TRS Recovery Services, Inc., a debt collector, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The complaint alleged that TeleCheck did not follow reasonable procedures to assure the maximum possible accuracy of its reports (§ 1681e(b)), mishandled consumer disputes (§ 1681i) and failed to promptly correct errors. It alleged that TRS, which reported information to TeleCheck, violated the Furnisher Rule.
The practices alleged included telling consumers who disputed an unauthorized transaction to contact the merchant instead of reinvestigating, and having no procedure to stop deleted information from reappearing. The companies agreed to a $3.5 million civil penalty and neither admitted nor denied the allegations. The stipulated order entered in the case barred TeleCheck from requiring consumers to contact third parties to resolve disputes and required procedures to keep deleted information from reappearing.
Where check-screening 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 (§ 1681i(a)(5)(A)). These are the problems to look for:
- A check keyed or tied to the wrong account. Because TeleCheck says it identifies check writers by numbers such as a driver’s license, a mis-keyed account number or a wrong ID number attached to your identity can put a returned check on the wrong person’s file.
- Another person’s check history. A file carrying someone else’s returned checks is the same failure behind a mixed credit file.
- A returned check you paid, still shown as unpaid. The 2014 complaint said TeleCheck’s recommendations weigh unpaid returned checks. If your file shows a returned check as unpaid after you paid it, dispute it with a receipt or bank record.
- A forged or stolen check in your name. TeleCheck lists a separate route for forged, counterfeit, lost or stolen checks and identity theft. Any consumer reporting agency must give you a free copy of your file once in 12 months if you certify in writing that you believe it contains inaccurate information due to fraud (§ 1681j(c)(3)). See the identity theft page.
- A deleted entry that comes back. Information deleted after a dispute may not be reinserted unless whoever supplied it certifies that it is complete and accurate, and the agency must tell you in writing within five business days of a reinsertion (§ 1681i(a)(5)(B)).
- A record past its reporting period. Most adverse items, other than criminal convictions, cannot be reported once they are more than seven years old (§ 1681c(a)(5)), with limited exceptions (§ 1681c(b)).
TeleCheck sits alongside Certegy, ChexSystems and Early Warning Services in the check and bank screening directory.
How to get your TeleCheck file
Every consumer reporting agency must, on request, disclose all the information in your file and its sources (15 U.S.C. § 1681g(a)). TeleCheck’s contact page lists a “free annual file disclosure pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act” at 1-800-366-2425 and an online request, and the CFPB listing says TeleCheck will provide one free report every 12 months if you request it. The FCRA’s free annual disclosure rule is written for the nationwide credit bureaus and for nationwide specialty agencies, a category that includes agencies compiling files on check-writing history on a nationwide basis (§§ 1681j(a)(1)(A), 1681a(x)). Two other free copies apply to any agency: one requested within 60 days after an adverse action notice (§ 1681j(b)), and the fraud-certification copy above.
TeleCheck says a mailed request should include a daytime phone number, a copy of your driver’s license, your Social Security number and a copy of a voided check, sent to TeleCheck Services, Inc., Attention: Consumer Resolution Services, P.O. Box 6806, Hagerstown, MD 21741-6806. The FCRA lets an agency require proper identification before it discloses a file (§ 1681h(a)(1)).
If a merchant takes adverse action based in whole or in part on a consumer report, it owes you notice (§ 1681m(a)). The notice must name the agency, with its address and telephone number, say the agency did not make the decision, and tell you about the free 60-day copy and your right to dispute. The FCRA’s definition of adverse action reaches a determination adverse to you in a transaction you initiated (§ 1681a(k)(1)(B)(iv)), and FTC staff give “a purchase by personal check” as an example of that kind of transaction.
How to dispute a TeleCheck entry
Dispute directly with TeleCheck, in writing. TeleCheck’s dispute page offers an online form and a PDF form to return by mail with your documents. The FTC tells consumers to explain in writing what is wrong, include copies of documents that support the dispute, and keep copies of everything sent.
Under 15 U.S.C. § 1681i, TeleCheck must conduct a reasonable reinvestigation free of charge within 30 days, extendable by up to 15 days if you send more information during that period. It must notify whoever supplied the disputed item within five business days, delete or modify anything inaccurate, incomplete or unverifiable, and send you written results within five business days of finishing. If the entry stays, you can add a brief statement of dispute (§ 1681i(b)).
Whoever supplied a disputed entry must also investigate once the dispute is forwarded, and modify, delete or block what is inaccurate, incomplete or unverifiable (§ 1681s-2(b)).
When a TeleCheck error becomes a legal claim
If your checks were declined over an entry that was not yours, not accurate or not reportable, and a proper dispute did not fix it, the FCRA may give you a claim:
- Accuracy (15 U.S.C. § 1681e(b)). TeleCheck must follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy of its reports.
- Reinvestigation (15 U.S.C. § 1681i). TeleCheck must actually reinvestigate a dispute, not simply repeat what it already has.
- The furnisher’s investigation (15 U.S.C. § 1681s-2(b)). Whoever supplied a disputed entry must investigate a dispute forwarded to it.
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. One case I filed against TeleCheck Services, in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in 2024, began with a $13.36 check a store mis-keyed that was then coded as an insufficient-funds return; it is described on the cases I have filed.
Have your TeleCheck file reviewed
Send me your TeleCheck file, any notice the store gave you, and whatever TeleCheck 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 TeleCheck Services, Fiserv, Inc., TRS Recovery Services, or any merchant named on this page, and this page is not a complaint about any of them. It describes how check-writing, returned-check and risk-review information can appear in a check-screening file and the rights consumers have when an entry is wrong.