a day ago
- TeleCheck was founded in 1964 by Harry M. Flagg as a check guarantee service that used a centralized database of bad check writers to help retailers verify checks in real time.
- The service operated via phone calls to operators who checked the database, and TeleCheck guaranteed approved checks, reimbursing merchants if they bounced.
- TeleCheck expanded rapidly through franchises, built a nationwide network, and diversified into medical billing, matchmaking, and other data processing ventures.
- In 1980, TeleCheck was acquired by Tymshare, a time-sharing and networking company that built the Tymnet packet-switched network used for transactions.
- After Tymshare, TeleCheck passed to McDonnell-Douglas and then First Data (now Fiserv), evolving into a general payments processor, including electronic check conversion via ACH.
- The company faced legal challenges over its credit reporting practices, including linked identity databases, and spun off its debt collection arm as TRS Recovery Services.
- Despite the decline of personal checks, TeleCheck still operates as a legacy cash cow, integrated into modern payment terminals and online ACH payments.