Kum & Go to Stop Accepting Checks Chainwide

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa -- Kum & Go LC convenience stores will no longer accept checks starting July 1, according to a Gazette report. Door signs at all the chain's locations are alerting customers to the impending change.

"We find that checks result in slower customer service and they also lead to greater complexity in our stores," said Megan Elfers, Kum & Go’s director of marketing and communications. "Check-paying customers represent a really small but valuable set of our customers. They are less than 1 percent, but we absolutely understand this will be a difficult transition for them."

The family-owned, West Des Moines, Iowa-based chain operates more than 400 c-stores in Iowa, Arkansas, Colorado, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Wyoming.

Of Kum & Go's regional competitors, Ankeny, Iowa-based Casey's General Stores Inc. will not change how customers can pay; Rockford, Ill.-based Road Ranger LLC will continue to accept personal checks with identification and processing through check processing service TeleCheck; and La Crosse, Wis.-based Kwik Trip Inc. will continue to accept personal checks drawn on local banks and credit unions but not from out-of-state financial institutions.