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Certegy · Check and ACH verification

Check declined because of Certegy?

Certegy Payment Solutions tells merchants and other businesses whether to accept your check or ACH payment. If Certegy's file on you is wrong and the company won't fix it, the Fair Credit Reporting Act gives you the right to sue.

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Who Certegy is and who relies on its reports

Certegy Payment Solutions, LLC is a check and ACH verification company. According to the CFPB’s list of consumer reporting companies, Certegy provides check and ACH verification services for financial institutions and a range of consumer-facing industries, including gambling, government, health care, retail and transportation, and is owned by Variant Equity Advisors, LLC. Certegy’s website lists its headquarters as P.O. Box 7189, Clearwater, Florida 33758.

When you pay by check or authorize an electronic payment from your bank account, the business may send the transaction to Certegy for a decision. If Certegy’s records link you, your bank account or your ID to returned checks or fraud, the payment can be declined at the register or online. The CFPB notes that retailers may use this kind of report to decide whether to accept your checks. Certegy’s own request form says it stores information using identifiers such as your bank routing and account number, driver’s license or other government ID, and Social Security number, which is one reason other people’s records can end up attached to you.

The FTC’s 2013 case against Certegy Check Services

In August 2013, the FTC announced that Certegy Check Services, Inc., which it described as one of the nation’s largest check authorization companies and based in St. Petersburg, Florida, had agreed to pay $3.5 million to settle charges that it violated the FCRA and the Furnisher Rule. The FTC called the penalty the second-largest in an FCRA matter at the time. According to the FTC, the complaint alleged that Certegy:

  • did not follow proper dispute procedures for consumers whose checks were declined, including putting the work of resolving disputes on consumers by telling them to contact the merchant;
  • did not maintain reasonable procedures to assure the maximum possible accuracy of the information it gave merchants;
  • did not set up a streamlined process for consumers to get free annual file disclosures; and
  • did not have reasonable written policies on the accuracy and integrity of information it furnished to other reporting agencies.

The settlement was filed as a proposed consent decree in federal court in Washington, D.C. The complaint’s allegations are the FTC’s charges, not findings after a trial. The FTC’s release names Certegy Check Services, Inc.; it does not say how that company relates to today’s Certegy Payment Solutions, LLC, so this guide does not treat them as the same company. The case is more than a decade old, but it shows what the law expects of check verification companies when a consumer disputes.

Errors that show up on Certegy files

  • Wrong-person records. Returned checks or unpaid items belonging to someone with a similar name or ID number.
  • Identity theft. Checks or ACH debits made with your stolen account information or ID.
  • Paid items still reported. A returned check you made good on still shown as outstanding.
  • Shared-account problems. A joint account holder’s or prior account owner’s history attached to you.
  • Unexplained declines. A “decline” recommendation based on risk scoring that you cannot connect to anything in your file.
  • Disputes passed back to the merchant. Being told to sort it out with the store instead of having Certegy investigate.

How to dispute Certegy

  1. Keep the decline notice or receipt. A merchant that declines your check based on a check verification company’s information must tell you so and explain how to get a free copy of your file.
  2. Request your Certegy file. Mail or fax Certegy’s FACT Act request form to Certegy Payment Solutions, LLC, Attn: CFDR Request, P.O. Box 908, Grand Junction, CO 81502, or fax (727) 570-4936. The CFPB’s listing also links to an online request form. Including your bank routing and account numbers, ID number and Social Security number helps Certegy find every record, because it stores data under those identifiers. The CFPB says Certegy provides one free report every 12 months on request.
  3. Call Customer Care with questions about a decline. Certegy’s contact page lists Customer Care at 800-237-3826 for affidavits, forgery and customer decline disclosures; the CFPB lists the same number.
  4. Dispute every wrong entry in writing. Identify the transaction, merchant, date and amount, and explain why it is wrong. Send the dispute to Certegy, not just the merchant.
  5. Attach proof. Bank statements, proof you paid a returned check, a police or FTC identity theft report, or proof the account was never yours.
  6. Keep copies of your request, dispute, fax confirmations and mailing receipts.

How to contact Certegy

  • File disclosure requests by mail: Certegy Payment Solutions, LLC, Attn: CFDR Request, P.O. Box 908, Grand Junction, CO 81502
  • File disclosure requests by fax: (727) 570-4936
  • Request form: Certegy FACT Act request form (PDF)
  • Customer Care (decline disclosures, forgery, affidavits): 800-237-3826
  • Headquarters: Certegy Payment Solutions, LLC, P.O. Box 7189, Clearwater, FL 33758

Your rights under the FCRA

  • Accuracy (15 U.S.C. § 1681e(b)). Certegy must follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy of the information it reports.
  • Reinvestigation (§ 1681i). Certegy must reasonably reinvestigate your dispute, free of charge, generally within 30 days, and correct or delete inaccurate, incomplete or unverifiable information. It cannot simply send you back to the merchant.
  • File disclosure (§ 1681g). You may see all the information in your file and where it came from.
  • Free annual disclosure (§ 1681j). Nationwide specialty consumer reporting agencies, including those that report check-writing history, must provide a free disclosure once every 12 months on request, and you are entitled to a free copy within 60 days after an adverse action.
  • Identity theft blocks (§ 1681c-2). With an identity theft report, fraudulent information generally must be blocked.
  • Reporting time limits (§ 1681c). Most adverse information older than seven years may not be reported.
  • Adverse action notice (§ 1681m). A business that refuses your check based on Certegy’s information must tell you and explain your rights.

Can you sue Certegy?

Yes, if Certegy reported inaccurate information because it did not follow reasonable procedures, or if it failed to reasonably reinvestigate after you disputed. Examples include a file that kept another person’s returned checks after you proved they were not yours, or a dispute Certegy refused to investigate and sent back to the merchant.

What you may recover. For a negligent violation, you may recover your actual damages, such as fees, lost purchases or services, embarrassment and emotional distress, plus attorney’s fees and costs (15 U.S.C. § 1681o). For a willful violation, you may recover actual damages or statutory damages of $100 to $1,000, punitive damages, and fees and costs (§ 1681n).

The deadline. An FCRA lawsuit generally must be filed within two years after you discover the violation and no later than five years after it occurred (§ 1681p).

Get a free case review

If Certegy keeps declining your payments over records that are wrong, save the decline, your file and your dispute. FCRA Attorneys has offices in Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Los Angeles and Atlanta, and files FCRA cases in federal court nationwide, directly or with local counsel. We work on contingency, so there is no fee unless we win. Contact us for a free case review, or see our FCRA practice, our ChexSystems and TeleCheck pages, and the other companies we cover.

Questions about suing Certegy

Can I sue Certegy?

Yes, if the facts support a claim. Check verification companies like Certegy act as consumer reporting agencies when they supply information merchants use to decide whether to accept your check. If Certegy reports inaccurate information without reasonable procedures, or fails to reasonably reinvestigate your dispute, you may have a claim under the FCRA.

Who owns Certegy?

According to the CFPB's list of consumer reporting companies, Variant Equity Advisors, LLC owns Certegy Payment Solutions, LLC. Certegy's website lists its headquarters in Clearwater, Florida.

How do I get my Certegy file?

Certegy's FACT Act request form says to mail or fax a signed copy to Certegy Payment Solutions, LLC, Attn: CFDR Request, P.O. Box 908, Grand Junction, CO 81502, or fax (727) 570-4936. The CFPB also links to an online request form and says Certegy provides one free report every 12 months on request.

Has the government taken action against a Certegy company before?

Yes. In August 2013, the FTC announced that Certegy Check Services, Inc., then based in St. Petersburg, Florida, agreed to pay $3.5 million to settle FTC charges that it violated the FCRA and the Furnisher Rule, including charges about how it handled disputes and the accuracy of information it gave merchants. The company did not admit the charges, and the FTC's release does not address how that company relates to today's Certegy Payment Solutions, LLC.

What does it cost to bring a case?

There is no fee unless we win. FCRA Attorneys handles these cases on contingency, and the FCRA lets a successful consumer recover reasonable attorney's fees and costs from the company.

Related reading

Sources

Updated November 2026. This page is general information, not legal advice.

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