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Be careful when depositing one of those Bodog (BodogLife.com) checks. They could be rubber and bounce like an NBA basketball. News that customers continue to receive bouncing checks from Bodog seems to be an ongoing thing. One affiliate informed us that he had received three of these.
Not good!
Bodog has had a tougher time than most online gambling companies building new relationships with payment processors - an issue that has emerged as a result of the group's insistence on utilizing more internal avenues of processing as opposed to working with outside companies. It is with some irony that this business model has played a major role in building the Bodog brand in recent years.
But the environment has changed.
For those depositing these "suspect" checks, there is more than just an insufficient funds fee at stake. One's credit score can be damaged as well.
Bounced checks can trash your credit!
Obviously, it goes without saying that when you send a check to a pay a bill and that check bounces, your credit will be adversely affected. But the issue can become far more complicated.
There are actually companies out there who monitor those who bounce checks. The FICO Expansion formula draws on databases compiled by such "nontraditional" sources.
ChexSystems keeps records similar to credit reports on all consumers who write checks and negative information is stored in your file for five years. This company acts as a "credit bureau" for organizations that are interested in how you manage your checking account and whether you have a pattern of bouncing checks. Interested parties would include banks, landlords, mortgage companies, utility companies, cellular carriers, insurance companies and many others. More and more employers are looking at these files in addition to credit reports to make hiring and promotion decisions.
Typically, people who repeatedly bounce checks (and who don't have overdraft protection) can wind up on blacklists created by companies like ChexSystems. These blacklists can prevent you from getting another bank account for five years.
Fortunately for those doing business with Bodog who have been exposed to the bad checks, lenders who use traditional credit scores might not know about your troubles. But with the economy what it is today, more and more lenders are moving towards the nontraditional verification methods. And it's not just lenders, it's employers.
Now to be fair, Bodog has every intention of paying their customers, even when they are not entirely upfront about what is transpiring. The company hopefully will be able to overcome their processing woes, especially if the US political landscape should change, though we should point out that Bodog has done little if anything to immerse itself in the regulatory efforts of industry colleagues (see iMEGA.org here)
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Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com Publisher
