TigerDirect speeds up payment time with new electronic check service

TigerDirect Inc. has cut two weeks out of the order process and closed more sales since it began accepting electronic checks processed by Intell-A-Check a month ago, Lonny Paul, TigerDirect director of e-commerce, tells Internet Retailer.TigerDirect is accepting electronic checks for orders placed with its call center and plans to accept electronic checks over its web site TigerDirect.com within three months. “When a customer pays by check, the order extends to a couple of weeks because customers don’t always write a check as soon as they get off the phone,” Paul says. “The Intell-A-Check application helps bring closure to the order.”

When a customer wants to pay by check, TigerDirect call center operators link to the Intell-A-Check web site and enter the checking account information. Equifax Check Services approves or disapproves the check and guarantees payment on approved checks. The payment is cleared through the Automated Clearinghouse. Retailers accepting Intell-A-Check pay a discount of less than 1%. Intell-A-Check is rolling out its payment service; several retailers are beta testing the service now.

Previously, 60% of all customers who wanted to pay by check never followed up, meaning that TigerDirect processed the order but the customer never paid. About 5% of TigerDirect orders are paid by check; after only a month, 75% of those have been converted to Intell-A-Check. TigerDirect is a division of the $1.7 billion Systemax Inc.

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