National Print Database (NPD) is using the cheque guarantee services of Transax so its customers can accept cheques as if they were cash.

Transax is offered by Equifax, the largest cheque guarantee service outside the US. The system can instantly authorise cheques at the point of sale, guaranteeing payment to the printer even if the cheque is later dishonoured.

NPD partner Steve Mepham said: "It guarantees one pound in the pound, so if its a cheque for 10,000 the whole lots covered by that phone call. If a job has been taken out of your factory before a cheque has cleared youre taking a chance."

The service is aimed primarily at protecting the small printer and costs 4% of the value of the cheque.

"If the cheque is worth 1,000, then it costs 40. People might say that is their profit line, but if clients want to use cheques you are entitled to charge an acceptance fee," Mepham said.

He said that using the service this way would act as a deterrent against bouncing cheques.
"The letters COD mean cash on delivery, not give me a piece of paper that promises to pay me in three to five days. Its about moving the risk element on."

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Story by John Davies