Sonya BatemanMany U.S. retailers use the check acceptance/verification companies Certegy and TeleCheck to process and verify checks. While some consumers are able to remedy their check problems with Certegy or TeleCheck, others consistently experience problems, which leads them to seek out retailers that don’t use either of these check acceptance companies.
Below, we provide the list of retailers that don’t use TeleCheck or Certegy, along with a list of retailers that use these companies, so you’re not left wondering about your preferred retailer.
Table of Contents
What Are Check Acceptance Companies?
Check acceptance companies verify personal, payroll, and other types of checks. For stores that use them, the verification systems are typically integrated with the registers. So, if the electronic verification fails when the purchase is being processed, your check will be declined.
There are four major check acceptance companies in the United States:
- Certegy: Used by stores, merchants, and retailers; the largest retail check acceptance company[1]
- TeleCheck: Used by stores, merchants, and retailers[2]
- ChexSystems: Used by banks, financial institutions, and payroll companies[3]
- Early Warning Services: Primarily used by banks and financial institutions[4]
Services like Certegy and TeleCheck are used by merchants as a form of fraud protection. The verification process uses “predictive models” to look for possible fraudulent activity, such as check writing habits. If your history of check writing appears suspicious, the system will flag your check and the store may not accept it.
Unfortunately, this verification process is not always accurate. Many people have reported having their checks rejected by TeleCheck or Certegy when they have plenty of funds to cover the check, and the system does not give a specific reason for turning the check down at the register or point of sale.
Check Acceptance Issues
Contacting Certegy or TeleCheck can help you resolve your issue and perhaps prevent future check acceptance issues. If you’ve had a check denied by Certegy, you can use the declined check look up to try to identify the problem or call Certegy at (800) 237-3826. With TeleCheck, you may dispute any inaccurate personal information in its database by filling out its reporting form or call TeleCheck at (800) 366-2425.
If you believe your acceptance issue may be due to an error or identity theft, you may want to request your file disclosure report on Certegy’s website or Telecheck’s website to confirm whether there are any inaccuracies on your record. If there are any issues, you can file a dispute, which may help you remove these errors from your record.
Comparison Table
See the table below for a quick comparison of the stores that don’t use TeleCheck or Certegy, then click any business or scroll for more information.
| Store | Type | Checks Cashed |
|---|---|---|
| Giant Eagle | Grocery store | Payroll and government checks |
| Hannaford | Grocery store | Payroll, government, and pension checks considered “regular income” |
| Food 4 Less | Grocery store | Personal checks |
| WinCo | Grocery store | Payroll checks |
| Vons | Grocery store | Payroll and government checks |
| IGA | Grocery store | Payroll and government checks |
| BJ's Wholesale Club | Wholesale club | Personal checks |
| PLS Check Cashing | Check cashing store | Personal, government, out-of-state, and payroll checks |
| Check Into Cash | Check cashing store | Cashier's checks, government checks, insurance drafts or checks, loans, payroll, personal checks, and tax refunds |
| Speedy Cash | Check cashing store | Personal, payroll, government, insurance, tax refund, money orders, and cashier’s checks |
| Community Financial Service Center | Check cashing store | Business checks, employer bonuses, government checks, insurance, payroll, personal, settlements, Social Security, tax refunds, veteran's benefits, and unemployment checks |
| The Check Cashing Store | Check cashing store | Personal, payroll, government, insurance, small business, money orders, and tax refunds |
| Pay-O-Matic | Check cashing store | Business, government, insurance settlements, loans, payroll, tax refunds, and union checks |
Stores That Don’t Use TeleCheck or Certegy
There are some national and regional chains that do not use Certegy or TeleCheck to process personal checks. Instead, these stores use their own verification methods, like storing your check writing history in their system or requiring you to sign up for their store card and activate checking privileges. For many stores, their method is as simple as requiring that you show a government-issued, photo ID.
Keep in mind that a store’s check verification method may change, so you may want to contact your local store to double-check its policy. We’ve ordered the stores in each category below starting with the best overall options.
Grocery Stores
1. Giant Eagle
- Checks cashed: Payroll and government checks[5]
- Check verification method: You must have a Giant Eagle Advantage Card with the ability to cash checks. You can apply for the card with just a valid ID, but approval can take as long as two days.[5]
- Find a Giant Eagle
2. Hannaford
- Checks cashed: Payroll, government, and pension checks considered “regular income”[6]
- Check verification method: Must present a valid, government-issued photo ID with your check[6]
- Find a Hannaford
3. Vons
Note: While Vons does not use check acceptance services, the chain’s parent store, Albertsons, does use Certegy.[7]
- Checks cashed: Printed payroll and government checks (as previously reported)
- Check verification method: Must present a valid, government-issued photo ID to use checks[8]
- Find a Vons
4. IGA
- Checks cashed: Payroll and government checks (may vary by location)[9]
- Check verification method: Must present a valid, government-issued, photo ID with your check (individual store’s check policies may vary)[10]
- Find an IGA
5. Food 4 Less
- Checks cashed: Personal checks[11]
- Check verification method: Must present valid government-issued, photo ID with check[11]
- Find a Food 4 Less
6. WinCo
- Checks cashed: Payroll checks[12]
- Check verification method: Must present a valid, government-issued photo ID when paying with a check[12]
- Find a WinCo
7. BJ’s Wholesale Club
- Checks cashed: Personal checks[13]
- Check verification method: Must be a BJ’s member; must present a valid government-issued, photo ID with check[13]
- Find a BJ’s Wholesale Club
Check Cashing Stores
1. PLS Check Cashing
- Checks cashed: Personal, government, out-of-state, and payroll checks[14]
- Check verification method: Must present a valid government-issued, photo ID with your check[14]
- Find a PLS Check Cashing
2. Check Into Cash
- Checks cashed: Cashier’s checks, government checks, insurance drafts or checks, loans, payroll, personal checks, and tax refunds[15]
- Check verification method: Must present a valid, government-issued photo ID with your check[15]
- Find a Check Into Cash
3. Speedy Cash
- Checks cashed: Personal, payroll, government, insurance, tax refund, money orders, and cashier’s checks[16]
- Check verification method: Must present a valid government-issued, photo ID with your check[16]
- Find a Speedy Cash
4. Community Financial Service Center
- Checks cashed: Business checks, employer bonuses, government checks, insurance, payroll, personal, settlements, Social Security, tax refunds, veteran’s benefits, and unemployment checks[17]
- Check verification method: Must present a valid government-issued, photo ID with your check[17]
- Find a Community Financial Service Center
5. The Check Cashing Store (Florida)
- Checks cashed: Personal, payroll, government, insurance, small business, money orders, and tax refunds[18]
- Check verification method: Must present two forms of ID with your check[18]
- Find a Check Cashing Store
6. Pay-O-Matic (New York)
- Checks cashed: Business, government, insurance settlements, loans, payroll, tax refunds, and union checks[19]
- Check verification method: Must present a valid government-issued, photo ID with your check[19]
- Find a Pay-O-Matic
Stores That Use TeleCheck or Certegy
While there are a few stores that don’t use check acceptance services, we found that most of the largest retailers use either Certegy or TeleCheck to verify funds before accepting a check. At these stores, you’ll want to use a different payment method like cash, debit, or credit if you’re trying to avoid TeleCheck or Certegy. Here’s the list of the national and regional chain stores that use these services, and which service they use.
Grocery Stores
- Albertsons: Certegy[20]
- Brookshire’s: TeleCheck[21]
- Costco: Certegy[22]
- Food Lion: Certegy[23]
- Giant Food: TeleCheck (as previously reported)
- Harris Teeter: Certegy[24]
- King Soopers: Certegy (as previously reported)
- Kroger: Certegy (as previously reported)
- Publix: Certegy (as previously reported)
- Safeway: Certegy (as previously reported)
- Save-A-Lot: TeleCheck[25]
- Shaw’s: Certegy[26]
- Stater Bros. Markets: TeleCheck[27]
- Stop & Shop: TeleCheck (as previously reported)
- Wegmans: Certegy[28]
- Winn-Dixie: Certegy[29]
Department Stores
- Big Lots: Certegy (as previously reported)
- Dollar General: Certegy (as previously reported)
- Family Dollar: TeleCheck[30]
- Kmart: Certegy (as previously reported)
- Meijer: TeleCheck[31]
- Sears: Certegy[32]
- Target: Certegy (as previously reported)
- Walmart: Certegy or TeleCheck (as previously reported)
Pharmacies
Check Cashing Stores
- ACE Cash Express: Certegy[35]
- Check ’n Go: Certegy[36]
- Money Mart: Certegy[37]
- United Check Cashing: Certegy[38]
Lindsey Desmet
Joseph Cho
Loren Eaton
Ashley Derrington
Erika Crawford
Cathy Desmet
William Lipovsky
Maria R. Riegger, Esq.
Kait Scirri
Do Stater Bros. Markets use Certegy?
Hello, Al! We contacted Stater Bros. Markets and found that it uses TeleCheck, not Certegy. We have updated our research to include this information.
Does Save-A-Lot grocery store use TeleCheck or Certegy?
Hello, Stephanie! Save-A-Lot uses TeleCheck. We confirmed this information with several store locations and have updated our article to include it.
Does Meijer use Certegy?
Hello, Jill! Meijer uses TeleCheck, as noted in its website FAQ and confirmed by a corporate customer service representative. We have updated our article to include information about Meijer.
You should update your list. Wegmans uses Certegy.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention, Lisa! We have confirmed this information with Wegmans and have updated our article.
Does Brookshires use TeleCheck
Yes, they use it.
Hello, Kassi! Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We have added Brookshire’s to the list of stores that do use Certegy or TeleCheck.
Kroger uses Certegy. I have been to multiple locations that use certify for checks
Did Costco just start using Certegy? They never did before?
Food Lion uses Telecheck