Arkansas Systems Inc. has reached an agreement with the People's Bank of China, the equivalent of the U.S. Federal Reserve System, to provide regional clearinghouses in three major Chinese cities.
Arkansas Systems, Little Rock, will provide check processing software converting the Chinese banking system from a paper-heavy operation to a high-speed electronic system. The clearinghouses are being established in Nanjing, Shenyang, and Harbin. They should be operational by October.
The sites will serve as regional clearing centers for the People's Bank of China, which controls more than 100,000 branches nationwide. Similar clearinghouses are planned for 76 other regions.
The base software is Arkansas Systems' Flexi-Check system, running on the International Business Machines Corp. midrange AS/400 computers along with 3892/XP document processors. The automated clearinghouses will receive batches of transaction data from the bank in each region in paper form. The paper batches will be captured and sorted on document processors at each site.
The system will enable the clearinghouses to automate balancing and control of input, maintain control of work in process, help in researching and locating items, provide automated control and posting of incoming and outgoing items, provide returned item processes, allow sorting and product control, and analyze reports of transactions. It will also provide support for automated billing/account analysis, handling of exception items, and on-line fine sorting.
