Crescent Foods modernizes two Piggly Wiggly stores

Crescent Foods owns and operates two independent Piggly Wiggly stores in North Carolina, one in Mt. Olive and the other in Faison, serving a diverse customer base that includes the unbanked community. Their hand-written lists of bad check makers and cashers made risk hard to control and left them open to repeat fraud, right as North Carolina began regulating them as a check casher with rigorous record keeping requirements.

In September 2005 Crescent Foods implemented Paycheck Secure. Identity and check cashing history are verified against the nationwide negative check maker and writer database, which also deters would-be fraudsters: when a group passing counterfeit checks hit several nearby retailers and a local bank hard, Crescent's losses were minimal. Detailed customer and transaction reports are available online 24/7 for both stores, so a state inspector review that used to take an entire day now takes minutes. Returned Item Reports package the bad check writer's photo, contact information, and check images so incidents escalate to law enforcement quickly.

In 25 months on the system, Crescent Foods processed $42 million in check cashing transactions and generated over $500,000 in fee revenue, with greatly reduced check losses and increased store traffic. Their estimate: stores cashing $1 to $1.5 million a month will see a minimum of $5,000 to $10,000 in fraud savings after installing the system.

"Paycheck Secure provided the added security we were looking for, and the simplified, comprehensive record keeping ensures that we stay compliant with state regulations."General Manager, Mt. Olive, NC