As for there being an "amazing amount of check fraud" in the retail industry, I'd have to disagree. Being in the point of sale business, we have MANY customers who choose not to use a check verification service, such as Equifax, Checkcare, Telecheck, etc.

When the costs are calculated, most businesses find that the cost of processing checks (the money they pay Equifax or whoever) outweighs the losses they would normally encounter by taking bad checks.

There are still some retail companies, however, that are convinced that these services are absolutely necessary. Some retailers believe that these verification services wouldn't exist if the need for such services weren't a reality. Personally, I subscribe to the theory that these companies exist because they scare retailers into believing their services are needed.

We do have a very few customers who actually get more bad checks in a year than they pay in check verification fees. This is generally the exception, not the rule. And don't even get me started on check guarantor services.