COLUMBUS, Ohio — News over the past year related to corporate credit unions has generally focused on balance sheet challenges and even conservatorships.
But beyond those headlines a number of the corporates have been working to develop product and service innovations, particularly in the areas of remote deposit capture and expedited clearing and verification of checks.
Corporate One FCU, for instance, has worked with Norcross, Ga.-based Goldleaf Financial Solutions to develop a customized deposit automation process. Robert Coyan, senior vice president at Corporate One, told Credit Union Journal it spent months tailoring Goldleaf's "Sierra Xpedite" product to the particular needs of credit unions.
"It was an overnight sensation that was two years in the making," he said with a chuckle. "We can ascertain the most efficient and effective way to clear any item, based on amount of check and routing number, with any of our trading partners. Through the power of aggregation of the many credit unions it works with, Corporate One can see which partner offers the lowest price and fastest clearing time."
The result, reported Coyan, is a reduction of costs for Corporate One's member CUs. He noted deposit automation lessens the need for courier runs, storage and handling of paper checks, and reduces exposure to insufficient funds or fraudulent items.
"In addition, the ability to send images to clearing partners throughout the country means a credit union gets access to funds 100% the next business day, rather than two to three days to clear a physical item from out of state," he explained. "That allows a credit union, if it has a policy of two-day holds on deposited items, to verify if the item is good.
"We are very proud of it and pleased with it, and more important, our members are pleased with it," Coyan added
An additional benefit, noted Coyan, is that modern check processing technology can defeat the kind of fraud spotlighted in the 2002 movie "Catch Me If You Can" with Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio. The film dramatizes the life of legendary con artist Frank Abagnale, Jr., played by DiCaprio. In one scene, Hanks' FBI agent character, Carl Hanratty, notices Abagnale is doctoring the MICR numbers at the bottom of fake checks in a manner that causes banks to ship the rubber checks across the country for an attempt at processing-thereby extending the amount of time the fraudster could linger in one city passing worthless pieces of paper.
Today, "we can catch things on the fly" thanks to technology that is "pretty impressive," according to Coyan. He said one customization Goldleaf made to its Sierra Xpedite product was to allow Corporate One to build into the software a database of 30,000 routing numbers.
"This helps prevent fraud and expedites clearing of items," he said.
