Cashing a personal check-2014

For 25 years I've always taken a couple of personal checks with me. Never had to use them since we always bring an ample amount of travelers checks (by far the best choice if you can finagle them free from AAA or your credit union) and cash. I'm an A-hole in that I religiously REFUSE to pay money to get my own money so credit and debit cards are always out with me.
I'm wondering if in 2014 one can still cash a personal check at the cage of the place your staying at. I'm talking $500 or so with the money verifiably in the account during banking hours.

 

u can cash a check at the cage there is a charge, cet waves it certian players, and the amount u can cash is determined by a company called synergy , they have to verify your good for the funds even if u have it in the bank u still might not be aproved to chash the amount u want.
its vegas there are fees for all

 

Certegy is the name of the company. It was spun off of Experian, the credit reporting company.

I was curious about this, so I went to their web site and there were a couple of interesting FAQ:

• 
  How does Certegy assist merchants in reducing the risks of accepting checks?
• Certegy uses proprietary risk models for the decisioning process regarding the acceptance of checks. Certegy's risk models are based upon factors that closely model previous transactions that resulted in losses for our merchants. To know those factors would give anyone, including fraudulent and bad check writers, a way to bypass our system. For those reasons, even our employees are not privy to that information.
  
  Do you contact my financial institution to verify the amount of money in my checking account?
• Depending on the specifics of your check transaction, we may attempt to verify funds with your financial institution. Our ability to contact financial institutions, though, is dependent upon the time of the transaction (i.e., during normal banking hours) as well as the financial institution's policy on disclosing account information to third parties. For privacy purposes, many financial institutions will only verify funds with other financial institutions or with the account holder.
  
  Is there anything that can be done to try and avoid having future check transactions declined?
• Yes, in order to assist you in possibly avoiding a decline in the future, you can complete and submit to Certegy a Certegy VIP Enrollment Form. Membership in the Certegy VIP program is free. By completing the Certegy VIP Enrollment Form, we can assess any additional information not provided with your original check transaction. The additional information will elevate your check acceptance level in our system and help you to avoid most types of declines in the future.
  
  If you would like more information on how you can become a member of the Certegy VIP program to assist in future purchases using your checking account, you can click here to download and print the Certegy VIP Enrollment Form.

 

thanks as we all know i cant spell but you got the gist off it, yes i belive all the casino us this company to see if your aprroved and how it works is your aprroved to cash x number of dollars per month by check , then it starts all over again.

a few years ago i was up to 2500.00 a month aproved thru them and no fees becuase i was a diamond at cet.

 

This makes no sense, you do know you are costing yourself money this way? Get a credit card with no annual fee...there are plenty of them. Charge things to the card and payoff the balance each month so you don't pay any interest. The cash that you had been using would be in a savings account earning interest until you used it to pay the credit card bill. Granted interest rates suck now so it is not a lot of money but to suggest that you are saving money by using cash vs. credit is simply not true.

 

Totally agree. I charge all I can to my cards and pay them off at the end of the month. There is no interest or finance charges and a little kickback as well. You are shooting yourself in the foot when you think you are saving money by not having one. I love being a "deadbeat" in the CC company's eyes :evillaugh

 

OP, Depending on where you live you could always get a bank account that has locations, and ATMs, in Vegas. Bank of America & Wells Fargo are both in Vegas. I bank with Wells Fargo and I never have to worry about getting any money I may need while in Vegas.

 

the only problem with that unless u have a car there really arent any on the strip,

theres a citi bank no fee at the 7/11 behind ballys . but basicaly i belive un less u go off strip u will hit some type of fee thru a casino

i agree about paying things off, especily if u can get money back from like citi back or frquent flier miles or free checked luggae

and i always use my amex ive never lost a dispute when ive had a problem

 

I have multiple credit cards with no fees and use them. What I was referring to was getting cash advances off of them which is not free on any credit card I know of.

 

Yep... Certegy is the way to go! Makes cashing checks in casinos a breeze. I have a bank that has tons of branches in town, but may wanna cash a check and keep on my roll... not get in a car and drive to my bank. Being in the Ceregy system makes it fast and easy at any casino cage.

 

Two things the OP should look into. First get a good rewards credit card and charge everything to it, I mean everything. I am able to make my mortgage and car payment on mine. Then pay it in full every month. With a good rewards card, not only are you able to keep your money in savings to earn interest, but you get perks for spending money you are already spending. Last year I earned over $1000 in cash back from my daily use card. Not to mention the sign on bonuses for these cards. I was able to earn 110,000 points with Southwest without spending a dime. That qualifys me for the companion pass (my wife flys totally free with me) and good for 8-10 round trip flights if I book early enough.

Second look for a bank that offers free ATM usage. Not just at there ATM's but all ATM's. My credit union does this, basically I run the card and they reimburse the fee up to $25 a month.

 

Am I missing something? When do you earn rewards for cash advances which the OP was trying to avoid? Also, if you have a good community bank that can service your needs, I don't know why it's worth sacrificing that for potential free ATM service in Vegas if you can rundown their branch. It's not hard to get check cashing privileges with Certegy, it's free and they probably have most casinos nationwide under their service by now. If you write checks occasionally, the better your limit will be. On vacation, ATM fees only become a concern on gaming trips because they go out of their way to soak you in casinos and that is why people who normally wouldn't have a problem with third party ATMs try to avoid them in Vegas.

BTW, if you do have a national bank, try the drugstores for national bank ATMs.

 

Okay, cash advances on a credit card are bad, bad news. Don't do it. It makes 6:5 blackjack look like you won the lotto.

But - use credit cards for everything. Get points, or miles, or cash back. It is FREE.

As to cashing a check for $500 - why not just take it with you when you travel. Taking a few thousand is easy.

And really, paying $5 to get $1,000 from an ATM is really not that bad. Really.

 

all that for $500?

withdraw it at home before you leave and put it in your pocket.

free.

 

Too funny!
But $500 to someone is just like $5,000 to someone else. Just set up a credit line at the casino you're staying at. Sooo easy and secure…I have about 10 casino credit lines in LV all hooked into my checking account. My first day there I go to 'Credit' to activate it and in a few hours the line is active and I can take a marker (check) that goes right into my bank account. Nothing could be easier. And, if you win, you can buy the check back so you don't see your dismal losses when you get home!

 

Too funny!
But $500 to someone is just like $5,000 to someone else. Just set up a credit line at the casino you're staying at. Sooo easy and secure…I have about 10 casino credit lines in LV all hooked into my checking account. My first day there I go to 'Credit' to activate it and in a few hours the line is active and I can take a marker (check) that goes right into my bank account. Nothing could be easier. And, if you win, you can buy the check back so you don't see your dismal losses when you get home!

 

I am also with Wells Fargo. There's no fee for the Visa debit and Visa credit cards that I carry. They have ATMs all over Las Vegas. Not very many on the Strip (I know of one), one near downtown (but kind of a dicey area) and in the airport and car rental center. I've never had to use those extortive machines in the casinos.