I have one client with a monthly recurring charge that is always the same amount. Every time we receive a check, this red printing is on the amount line. It is always this illegible/smudged, and there is no red ink anywhere else on the check, and everything else is always written in by hand
I have collected thousands of checks over the years, and never seen anything like it on any of the others. What is the purpose of the device?
It certainly is no benefit to me, so I’m assuming it must be something to aid my client in their record keeping?
it both printed and impressed the amount of the check onto the paper, so there was an additional way to verify the authenticity of the amount. usually used by businesses; maybe this person uses it because they have one and are “old school.”
unfortunately it looks like a piece of junk given the illegibility.
Antiquated and really provides no known control, other than the piece of mind of the bookkeeper that they are continuing to print checks in the same way they were instructed for over 40 years.
The device is supposed to make it harder to alter cheques for fraud by embossing and/or perforating the amount and payee line and make the recipient feel better that the cheque was issued legitimately by the issuer’s controller. They usually have a keyed lock on the side to prevent operation of the machine without the key. This person has over-inked or re-inked their ribbon by hand or something and rendered their machine worse than writing the amount by hand. They didn’t even put the effort into preventing someone from adding a number to the start of the amount line, like 9168.00$.
Wow! People are still using those? I worked at a place in the 70s where the janitor ran the machine because the owner trusted him more than anyone else.
Most places that take credit cards have one hidden away somewhere to take card impressions if the machine goes down for some reason. I have one under my desk that I kick around from time to time.
I had the tire shop use one of those last week during a power failure. It was that or take nothing and let me drive away because I had no way lay hands on that much cash at short notice without the car. He didn’t actually roll the slider over the numbers, he just rubbed the top page with the side of a pen. They could just write the numbers down, it’s going to cost them the same to process a card not present transaction later with handwritten numbers as an embossed slip.
Do banks even know what to do with the slips (they are deposit slips)? Seems like you would just need to write down the name and numbers and call the charge in and and embossed slip is just evidence that the cardholder was there. A copy or scan of the card probably works as well. We used to have to call to get an approval number for any purchase over some amount, probably $100, I don’t know if there’s anybody to call for that anymore. Credit card companies don’t even care about signatures anymore, it’s a voluntary step for the seller now.
It doesn’t look like the one in the OP did, but many of them also added a grid of raised dimples and/or printed something over the “Pay to the order of” line to make it even harder to mess with it.
I think all (or at least most) businesses still have those floating around somewhere. We have one under our checkout counter that we use when the power goes out. They’re still common enough that the processor sends us out a new metal embossing plate (the part that gets our name/info onto the carbon) every few years. Usually because of some kind of change with the account. They’ll also send us the carbon paper receipts that go in there for free.
Nowadays, if the power goes out we find a way to power it some other way, but then we also have to get the phone or internet up and running. If just the internet is out I’ll set up my cell phone as a hotspot and connect it to that. And, as a double secret backup, I have one of those Square/Paypal readers ready to go.
But, honestly, it’s easier to just a handful of cards with the knuckle buster and key them in later.
