Call them bounced, NSF (Non-Sufficient Funds), or other names not suitable for this article, but they are bad checks. There are a host of reasons for them like calculation errors, the person expects funds to hit their account and they didn't, or outright fraud. It is also big business with billions of dollars in fees assessed every year.
I've seen some creative ways to combat this. Some of our customers take credit card payments only. Others take everything under the sun except for checks. These solutions have their own issues, like making students hesitant to pay cash for high-dollar courses, cash being stolen, you are assessed a fee for taking a credit card, or students uncomfortable in putting their credit card online. Thus, sometimes checks are good things (and maybe the only way you can get paid).
So how do you process a payment in Manager if you get a returned check? Currently, you have to go void the payment record and assess an additional fee to the registration if your institution assesses a fee. The keyword in my previous statement is, "currently." In Student Manager 8.0.091 due out September 7th, there'll be a button on the payment screen, only enabled for checks, called Bad Check. Clicking it will void the payment. Additionally, there will be global preferences you can set that will let you set up what additional fee description to charge and how much. The Bad Check button will then add this fee to your registration.
Let's face it; bad checks are a part of life. Hopefully, the Bad Check easy button will make your life easier!
Contributed by Matthew Olson
