Lost Official Check Program
SRMA’s Lost Official Check Program is a one-of-a-kind surety product. Designed specifically for retail financial institutions, this program addresses an often overlooked and undervalued customer service issue… lost checks. Below are some key questions your financial institution should be asking itself.
- Do you know how many official/certified checks are lost, damaged or stolen annually?
- Are you aware how easy or difficult it can be for customers to replace a check that is lost, stolen, or destroyed?
- Do you know how satisfied your customers are with your process (or lack of one) for replacing lost, stolen, or destroyed checks?
- How much does it cost your institution to service and replace these lost checks?
- How much off book liability do you currently have from these lost checks?
- Does your retail bank have a way to manage and track the potential unforeseen off-book liability and risk associated with lost checks?
Why do you need a Lost Official Check Program?Every check that is lost, stolen, or damaged has a cost to your financial institution.
Liability Cost
What is the unknown potential cost of off-book liability you might be incurring?
- How many of your branch managers are just re-issuing checks to keep customers happy because no Lost Official Check Program exists?
Customer Cost
What is the potential damage and cost to your customer relationships?
- Disappointment learning there is no official trusted bank program to help them get through this process
- Time spent identifying, researching, and obtaining a surety bond on their own with no guidance
- Paying a fee that could be as high as twice the amount of the lost check
Administrative Cost
How much time are your employees spending trying to help customers dealing with a lost check?
- No organized, effective, and efficient program in place. No centralized repository for record keeping
Customer Experience WITHOUT a Lost Official Check Program
The check replacement process without a Lost Official Check Program is confusing and time consuming. Customers are left to navigate the situation by themselves with no help from the bank and must pay a much larger premium for the same bond. This poor experience can be a reflection on the bank itself.
- Customer misplaces, damages or loses check
- Customer visits the bank branch and reports to the bank that they have lost/misplaced an official/certified check
- The bank informs the customer that they must go get a surety bond on their own
- Customer must take the time to research, identify, and select a surety bond provider that offers this type of bond product
- Customer submits application for the bond and waits 1-2 days for approval
- Customer must pay a higher bond premium fee, typically twice the amount of the face value of the lost, damaged, or stolen check
- Customer waits 2-3 days for the bond
- Customer returns to bank with bond
- Customer issued a replacement check days later
Customer Experience WITH a Lost Official Check Program
The check replacement process with a Lost Official Check Program is simple, efficient, and inexpensive. The customer can navigate the process easily within the confines of the bank and with the assistance of the bank employee. Based on the amount of the lost check, customers can receive a replacement check in a matter of minutes.
Customer misplaces/loses check- Customer visits the bank branch and reports to the bank that they have lost/misplaced an official/certified check
- The bank employee aids the customer to obtain a surety bond (typically less than ½ the cost of getting a bond independently)
- The customer’s bond is approved automatically if under $20,000
- The bank reissues a check while customer waits
