The Control Panel

When you first login to your Vcheck account, you will land on the Merchant Homepage. The Homepage is where you can view/download/print your new checks and have access to all the other functions that are enabled for your account.  The top section of the Homepage contains a System Message that we update to let you know of important news or upgrades to the system.  You can also view a summary of your check statistics and current contact information.

The main navigation menu is on the left. You can expand or collapse the left navigation using the icon as shown in the screenshot to the right (click to enlarge). Many of the navigation links (Customers, Merchant and such) have sub-menus that are revealed when you click on the main link.

Until you delete them, all your checks will appear in the Waiting Checks table in the main section of the Hompage. If you have the Check Batching feature enabled, check batches will appear in a table above the Waiting Checks.  If you use the optional Check Verification service, checks that are declined by the verification service will appear in a Declined Checks table. To the right of all checks and batches you will see the Options button.  Clicking on that button will present all the actions you can perform. If you do not have certain upgrade options enabled, the option for those actions will not appear.

Security Notice:  For the security of your customers, we recommend you delete checks from the Waiting Checks table once you have processed them and know the check has cleared.  Don't worry, we can restore a deleted check upon request for up to 30 days after it has been deleted.  Also, you can always see all the details about any check that has come through your account via the Search or Reports functions (the routing and account numbers will be truncated on search and reports).

Below is a screenshot of a Waiting Checks table with explanations below that.

If you are an ACH merchant, your checks table will be slightly different. However, the remaining sections of this page apply.

On the top right of the Waiting Checks table is a link for Print Endorsement for Deposit. See this page for details.

The checkbox to the left of each check is used to select the check to be deleted or to be Batched (check Batching is included in the Pro Version or as an optional upgrade). You may use the Select All link at the bottom of the table to select all the checks, or the Select None to deselect any or all checks.

The Confirmation number is unique to every single transaction. Your customers get this confirmation number in their receipts, so if they call about any given payment, that number is probably the easiest way to locate a check. The Date and Time of a check is stamped the moment the "Submit" button is clicked. The time may be adjusted to match your own time zone and daylight savings time use (or non-use). The Payer is the checking account owner's name as submitted on the check and is hyperlinked to the email address they submitted. This allows you to quickly send the Payer an email if necessary. The Amount is the amount of the actual check as it was submitted or populated by a Send Payment link or custom pre-form.

Clicking on the Options button on the right of each check row will present some or all of the following options:

Preview Check - will pop-up a rough image of the check. This is handy for quick verification or identification of a specific check. This IS NOT the image you use to print.

View Check Details - will pop-up all the raw data from the check submission. This raw data will show information that is not printed on the check such as the submitter's IP address along with any additional form field data that was passed along from a pre-form or integration into another ordering process. Click the small printer icon next to the Check Details title within the pop-up to send the data to your default printer.

NOTE: The IP address of the check submitter is displayed in the Check Details and is hyperlinked to a GeoLocation service. By clicking on that IP address - you can see where the submitter was located, the ISP and a lot more.

Print Check - will call the ready to print PDF file into a new browser window or tab or into your default PDF Reader directly. Once you print the check and close the tab, no copy of the PDF file remains on your hard drive. If you are using Internet Explorer and get any type of error when trying to use the Print Check icon - it is due to the way certain versions of IE handle the way the system generates and present the PDF file. It this event, follow the instructions below for Download Check. Also, to help you keep track of which new checks have been printed or downloaded, the instant either of those options have been completed (which we assume means that the PDF file was then either printed or downloaded), the Options button will change color - see the legend at the top of the Table for guidance. You can verify all actions taken on any check by viewing the Log files (if you have permissions to do so).

Download Check - If, for record keeping or verification purposes you wish to keep a copy of the PDF check file, you may download a copy to your hard drive by clicking on this icon. It will prompt the Open or Download dialog box. If, as stated above, you get an error such as Page Can Not Be Displayed or similar when using the Print Check option, use the Download Check option and when presented with the Open or Save dialog, click on Open. This will download the PDF file and open it directly into your default PDF viewer instead of the Browser Plug-in. If, on the other hand, you wish to keep a copy of the PDF file, click on the Save button and you will be prompted for a file name and location to save the file. Please keep in mind, that keeping a copy of the PDF file on your hard drive should only be done in a secure work environment. This is sensitive financial and personal data and can be easily misused.

Make Recurring - This icon will only appear if you have the recurring payments/repeat customers option on your account. When you have this option enabled, an additional field appears on your check form whereby the check submitter agrees to allow recurring payments to be created through the system. Obviously, this would be a separate, previous agreement you have come to with the customer prior to them submitting the initial payment. In essence, you can setup any check to be a recurring payment by clicking on that option for the check.

However, when the table row for any given check is a pale orange in color - it indicates that the customer had indeed checked the agreement to allow recurring payments - and indicates you need to complete the process of setting up the amount and frequency of the recurring payments by clicking on that option. For complete details on how to setup and manage recurring payments - see this page.

Make Repeat - This option will only appear if you have the Repeat Customers option on your account. Depending on your business, you may have repeat customers that wish to pay by Vcheck - but on a non-regular basis - such as non-scheduled orders, each for a different amount, etc. If this is the case, you can make any customer a Repeat Customer by clicking on this option. You will be asked to confirm the basic data that will be used for future checks. See this page for complete details on managing and creating new checks for repeat customers.

Delete Check - You will be asked to confirm the deletion. The deletion of a check can only be done by request and only for 30 days after deletion. Another database is maintained with records of all transaction (using a truncated account number) for reports and searches - but can not be used to recreate the printable PDF file. HOWEVER, for data security reasons, once you print and deposit a check, there is no reason to keep the "live" check data, so it should be deleted.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Deleting a check only deletes that specific, current check. It does not remove any recurring payment schedule or repeat customer information. So, if you delete a current check, but leave the customer setup as a recurring payment, new checks will continue to be created on the recurring schedule. You have to go into the Merchant - Manage Recurring Payments menu and delete the recurring payment to prevent this. To delete multiple or all current checks - you can use the checkboxes next to each check to select them (or use the Select All link under checks table) and then the Delete Selected option.

NOTE: If you are using the Insurance Industry version of the system, you will also see columns for New? and Policy#.

The Insurance pre-form asks the submitter if the payment is for a new policy, if not, they must provide the Policy or Invoice number the payment is for.

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A Brief Summary of the Main Menu Options

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Please note that not all menu items or options described below may be available to you. This will depend on the level of service your account has and if you are the Master Admin or a secondary Admin with restricted rights.

Home - Returns you to the main page containing your table of checks

Customers

• Phone Order Vcheck Form - Used for Phone or Fax orders when you don't have the customer's email address.
  
• Full Vcheck Form - Takes you to the full-blown check form that your customers would use online. You can also use this form to create a check for your customer if you have their email address and want the system to send them a receipt.
• Manage Recurring Payments -(Recurring Payments Upgrade or PRO Account Only) - Lets you manage your recurring payments.
• Manage Repeat Customers - (Recurring Payments Upgrade or PRO Account Only) - Lets you manage your repeat customers and to create new checks for a repeat customer providing only the new check number, amount and memo field.
• Create Send Payment Link -Lets you create a hyperlink (a short URL) to your check form that will pre-populate the Amount and Memo Field.
• Ban Check Submitter -Lets you ban an IP address or routing/account number from submitting checks.

Merchant

• ABA Lookup -A quick lookup of any ABA routing number to confirm it is valid and to view the bank information.
  
• Edit Contact Information - Lets you edit your basic contact information and time zone.
• Edit Vcheck Form Text - Lets you edit text that appears at the top of the check form, confirm data and receipt pages.
• PDF Settings - Lets you fine tune the printing alignment for the checks, and select how many different checks per page.
• Check Verification- Provides access to the functions of the optional real-time check verification service.
  • Edit Payees - (Multiple Payees and Pro Accounts Only) - lets you add or edit the Payees that can be used to accept checks.
  • Edit MOTD - Lets you edit the Message Of The Day that appears on the Home page under Merchant Message.
  • Edit E-Mail Content (PRO Only) - Lets you edit the Subject line and body content of payment receipts and notifications.
  • Upload Check File -
  • Endorse Checks -
  • Renew / Upgrade Account - Secure forms to renew or order upgrades to your account.

Users

• Add User (included in the Pro Version or as an optional upgrade) - Lets you add a new user with unique username/password and different rights within the system.
• View / Edit Users (included in the Pro Version or as an optional upgrade) - Lets you view a list of current users and edit or delete specific users.
• Change My Password - Allows you to change your password.
• Edit My Email Address - If there is only one user on your account, the TO: address set under your contact info is used.  This email address is used to send reset password messages.  Each additional user can have their own email address set so they receive any such requests.

Search | Logs | Reports | Support

• Search - Allows you to search your entire check history by a variety of variables.
  
• Logs -View the log files of all actions taken by all admins of your account.
• Reports - View Monthly or Batch reports including all details of checks during the specified time period. Advanced Reports allow you to download any/all reports as a .csv (Excel, OpenOffice, LibreOffice) file.
• Support User's Manual - Launches this site into a new browser window.
  
• Video Tutorials -Opens a list of all tutorial videos in a new browser window.
  
• Tech Support -Displays all methods to contact us or submit a support ticket.
• Terms of Service -Displays the Terms of Service for your Vcheck account.
• Rate Us -Let's you submit a review of our service that may be displayed on our sales site.
• Order Supplies - Order blank check paper, MICR toner and printers.