LEXINGTON, Ky.-University of Kentucky FCU has cut courier charges in half, saved six staff hours a day, and eliminated empty envelope fraud by installing 13 image-enabled ATMs through an outsourcing agreement with Diebold.
In addition, ATM deposit volume has grown by 16% since the move was made just under three years ago. "That alone is confirmation that we made the right decision," said Kathy Begley, VP of operations at UKFCU.
The credit union was able to make the move after its payments system provider, the Columbus, Ohio-based Corporate One FCU, partnered with Diebold to create a software application that allows check images to be seamlessly integrated into UKFCU's Check 21 solution.
The ATMs have significantly reduced check kiting and completely eliminated empty envelope fraud, saved the CU $48,000 annually on courier charges, and reduced per-transaction costs, according to Begley.
"What makes this solution unique is that the University of Kentucky FCU's ATM depository service is integrated into its back-office electronic forward cash collection service," said Robert Coyan, SVP of operations and marketing for Corporate One. Corporate One has 12 participating credit unions with the image-enabled ATM remote deposit capture solution.
Mitch Preston, manager of payment solutions at the Canton, Ohio-based Diebold, said the system manages unreadable checks. "There are image quality analysis functions resident in the terminal-driving software that will determine suitability for forward presentment in the standard set by Check 21. For example if a check does not meet the criteria for forward presentment, the capability to return that item to the member is present."
Coyan said Corporate One charges a "nominal" implementation fee of less than $1,000 for each ATM. UKFCU is using Diebold's Opteva image-enabled ATM, but Preston said many existing ATMs can be retrofit. Diebold declined to share the costs for its ATMs and pricing of the outsourcing agreement with UKFCU.
Preston said the imaging solution can be integrated into existing teller and mobile Check 21 solutions. "The image-enabled ATMs drive costs out of routine deposit processing and make it feasible to introduce a branch transformation strategy focused more on revenue-generating activities than cost-intensive deposit processing," he added.
