Patent ID: 8117118

Claim:
A retailer debit card system adapted for use with at least one retail store operated by a retail corporation, the system comprising: at least one checkout lane with a point-of-sale (POS) device in the at least one retail store, wherein the POS device is configured to scan a magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) line from a check presented by a customer for purchasing one or more items from the at least one retail store during a purchase transaction, and the MICR line includes a demand deposit account (DDA) number and a routing number associated with the check; and a central computing network in communication with the POS device, the central computing network including: a comprehensive negative check file maintained by the retail corporation and comprising an internal negative check file and an external negative check file, wherein the internal negative check file includes at least a list of outstanding checks to the retail corporation which are unpaid due to non-sufficient funds, and the external negative check file includes a copy of a file compiled by a third party check authorization service, and a solicitation module configured to determine whether to solicit the customer to apply for a retailer debit card offered by the retail corporation based in part on the comprehensive negative check file, wherein the solicitation module is configured to compare the MICR line scanned by the POS device to the comprehensive negative check file, wherein: when the DDA number and the routing number of the MICR line scanned by the POS device match a DDA number and a routing number of a MICR line of a check in the comprehensive negative check file, the solicitation module is configured to determine not to solicit the customer to apply for the retailer debit card, and when the DDA number and the routing number of the MICR line scanned by the POS device fail to match a DDA number and a routing number of a MICR line of a check in the comprehensive negative check file, the solicitation module is configured to determine that the solicitation module will continue considering whether to solicit the customer to apply for the retailer debit card based on other considerations.