Diebold To Cash Checks At ATMs With Valid Systems Software

Consumers will be able to cash checks at Diebold Inc. ATMs that use Valid Systems' check-cashing software, the two companies announced Monday at SourceMedia's third annual Underbanked Financial Services Forum in Miami. Diebold plans to offer the check-cashing services with its Opteva line of ATMs, Margaret Bost, Diebold director of financial industry marketing, tells CardLine. The Opteva ATMs create an image of a consumer's check, verify the user's identity and the check's validity using Valid Systems' software, and pay the consumer the check amount minus a fee, Bost says. Deployers can set the ATM so check-cashers do not need a debit or credit card to use them, she says. Valid Systems already provides software to such banks as Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp and Cleveland-based KeyBank that enables them to offer check-cashing services through tellers, John Templer Jr., the Fort Worth, Texas-based company's CEO, tells CardLine. Consumers must register with a bank by providing identifying information such as a driver's license, fingerprint and Social Security number, he says. Consumers do not need to provide all the information each time they cash a check, so the bank can decide which information it wants customers to use to identify themselves at ATMs, Bost says. The software then examines each transaction to ensure it complies with the Bank Secrecy Act, Office of Foreign Asset Control and Patriot Act regulations, Templer says. It also processes the check's bank-routing and account numbers to ensure the document is legitimate, he says. SourceMedia publishes CardLine.