WASHINGTON The Office
of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) issued a consumer advisory today
giving consumers important facts about
their rights when using checks to make payments.
The advisory, Writing
a Check: Understanding Your Rights, discusses the different ways checks can be
processed, and the significance for consumers of those differences. Many checks are now being processed
electronically, which may mean that funds are taken from consumers bank
accounts more quickly than before. As a
result, it is even more important that consumers are careful to assure that
they have enough money in their accounts to cover checks at the time they write
them. In addition, consumers may be
surprised to learn that when checks are processed electronically, the original
paper check is not required to be preserved and is often destroyed instead of
being returned to the consumer.
The advisory also
discusses the different laws and regulations governing check transactions, how
consumers rights may vary depending on how a check is processed, and how
consumers may resolve problems if something goes wrong.
If consumers have
problems with a check transaction that they cannot resolve with
their bank, they can contact their banks regulator for help. The advisory
provides a list of these agencies, with web addresses and phone numbers, and
advice on how to find the right agency to contact. Questions involving
national banks can be addressed to the OCCs Customer Assistance Group at
1-800-613-6743 or at customer.assistance@occ.treas.gov.
Writing a Check:
Understanding Your Rights is
available on the OCCs
website, www.occ.treas.gov.
# # #
The Office of the
Comptroller of the Currency was created by Congress to charter national banks,
to oversee a nationwide system of banking institutions, and to assure that
national banks are safe and sound, competitive and profitable, and capable of
serving in the best possible manner the banking needs of their customers.