Sedgwick County, Kansas
June 2002

It's said that there are two things in life that you can be sure about: death and taxes. And we can't control either. Though some people try to get out of paying taxes. Like other government agencies, Sedgwick County, in south-central Kansas, was burdened with citizens writing bad checks for their license plates and taxes. "The number of bad checks coming through the door was staggering," said Jan Kennedy, Sedgwick County Treasurer. "We needed an efficient method of collecting on those checks and collecting them quickly." Kennedy found the solution with CheckAGAIN. During three years of working with the company, Sedgwick County has collected much of its delinquent taxes…and saved money in the process.

Every year taxes are due, and every year Sedgwick County can count on some wayward tax payers to bounce checks. "It's critical to recover this money so the county can continue to flourish and provide valuable programs and services to the community," said Kennedy. CheckAGAIN helps Sedgwick County by electronically re-presenting a citizen's check directly into the person's bank account. Out-dated and lengthy manual collection processes are eliminated. "Before CheckAGAIN, we were regularly holding up to $180,000 in bad checks. Since using CheckAGAIN's electronic re-presentment service, that number has been reduced to as little as $35,000. We are very pleased with these results."

Electronic re-presentment is the most effective way to recover checks returned for insufficient funds. The process works like this: CheckAGAIN scans an image of each returned check, keying in all information. The check is then electronically re-presented to the consumer's bank account via the Automated Clearing House (ACH) network. Electronic checks have first-in-line status at the originating bank so they are processed faster. Sedgwick County sees a 20 to 30 percent higher recovery rate with CheckAGAIN.

"We're getting the revenue faster without having to pass the recovery costs on to our citizens," reports Kennedy. The county receives 100% of the check principal upon successful recovery, and CheckAGAIN's services are paid through fees on the wayward taxpayer. In fact, Sedgwick County can actually save money because electronic re-presentment eliminates bank fees from banks of first deposit. "It's a win for honest taxpayers because they don't have to pay to recover another taxpayer's delinquent checks, and it's a win for the county because we're recovering revenue and saving money at the same time."

"It's been surprisingly easy to collect the money that is due the county, and we owe it all to CheckAGAIN," concludes Kennedy. "It just makes sense to use their services... not only for our county, but for any county or business that accepts checks." While there will always be citizens who try to get out of paying taxes, there will always be CheckAGAIN helping to recover money that is due.

About CheckAGAIN

Established in 1998, CheckAGAIN uses innovative technology to simplify and improve the recovery process on returned checks for merchants. The widely used system helps businesses nationwide increase their recovery on return checks, while lowering associated transaction fees. CheckAGAIN assists consumers by significantly reducing inconveniences normally associated with resolving misunderstandings due to returned checks. For additional information please visit www.checkagain.com or call 800/666-5222.