What is a returned check?
An eCheck might be returned for several reasons: the patient had insufficient funds in their account, an account or routing number was entered incorrectly, or the patient’s bank does not support electronic checks.
If a check was returned, it will appear in SimpleePAY as a new record with the status “Returned”. The record from the original check payment will remain. When a check is returned, the patient’s account was never debited. Note that it may take a few days from when a check was collected for the return to happen. The length of this lag depends on the patient’s bank.
The returned check report
To returned check report will show you all the checks that have been returned, by patient account number, for any period of time. You can find this in the “Reports” section of the back office. Your team should monitor this report on a regular basis so you can follow up with patients whose checks have been returned.
How to handle returned checks
A returned check means the patient still has an unpaid balance. Depending on the reason for the return you may either attempt to re-run the check through SimpleePAY or you will need to contact the patient for another form of payment. Your facility may have specific guidelines on how to handle returned checks.
Here are common return reasons and the recommended way to handle them:
- Unable to Locate Account
- Invalid Account Number
- Invalid Routing Number
These return reasons are caused by incorrectly entering the account or routing number on the check. SimpleePAY includes some verification on these numbers, such as the number of digits entered, but you must be careful to type the correct number when submitting a check payment. If you see that an error has been made, you may re-submit this check in Simplee as you normally would.
- Bank Account Frozen
- Insufficient Funds
- Account Closed
These are return reasons where there was a problem with the patients checking or savings account that they must correct. You can contact the patient to determine whether the problem has been fixed or if they would like to provide a different form of payment. If the problem has been fixed, you can run the check again as you normally would
- Not Authorized
- Corporate Customer Advises Not Authorized
- RDFI not Qualified to Participate
These return reasons mean the patient’s bank does not accept electronic check or ACH transfers. This may occur for institutional checks, or bill pay checks sent directly from a bank on the patient’s behalf. You should not attempt to re-submit these checks in SimpleePAY. Please contact your supervisor if you receive one of these checks.
If you see a return reason not on this list or have further questions, please contact support@simplee.com.