Headlines:
New Viewpointe Image Service NetDeposit Has Printer Partners Fiserv Unit Offering Check 21 Education U.S. Bank Imaging Checks, Deposits
New Viewpointe Image Service
Viewpointe Archive Services LLC is offering a disaster-recovery service for banks that do not use its check-image archive as their primary repository.
The ImageAssure service, which the Charlotte vendor began offering Monday, provides data backup for banks with in-house check archive operations. It is designed to enable images to be loaded simultaneously into the Viewpointe archive and the bank's in-house one.
The service is meant to protect image files against the risk of power failure, virus attack, or any other incident that could cause them to be lost or corrupted, said Jennifer Lucas, a spokeswoman for Viewpointe.
Many banks developed their archives before the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act was passed; they expected to use the archives primarily for things such as improving customer service and creating image statements, Ms. Lucas said in an interview.
But Check 21, which will take effect Oct. 28 and will allow the use of images for clearing and settling transactions, could make images more critical to banking operations, she said.
Viewpointe said it would offer variable pricing, depending on how many images a bank produces and how long the images are stored in the Viewpointe archive. The service includes simulated disaster testing to ensure seamless transmission between Viewpointe and the bank's principal archive.
Viewpointe's shared image archive has 10 major banks as customers and stores nearly 50% of checks written in the United States.
NetDeposit Has Printer Partners
NetDeposit Inc. a check-imaging and technology subsidiary of Zions Bancorp. of Salt Lake City, has endorsed three check printers to produce image replacement documents.
Each of the printers has tested its magnetic ink character recognition printers with NetDeposit's Distributed Print Server software to ensure compliance with industry standards for image clarity, sharpness, and clearing viability, NetDeposit said last week.
The three vendors participating in the NetDeposit MICR Printer Provider Program are Acom Solutions Inc. of Long Beach, Calif.; Oce NV of the Netherlands, which has its U.S. headquarters in Chicago; and Rosetta Technologies Corp. of Tampa.
William T. Wong, the senior vice president of engineering at NetDeposit and its chief technology officer, said the three printers' hardware and software could be used by banks, printing vendors, or other commercial businesses to create high volumes of image replacement documents.
"We absolutely would expect that other printer vendors would join the NetDeposit program," Mr. Wong said in an interview Tuesday.
The Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act, which will takes effect Oct. 28, requires banks to accept image replacement documents as substitutes for original checks.
Fiserv Unit Offering Check 21 Education
Fiserv Corp.'s compliance services subsidiary has started an online training program to help banks understand how the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act will affect the financial services industry.
The Brookfield, Wis., banking services vendor said Monday that the RegEd unit will offer classes for members of banks' operational staff and for tellers and other employees who will have to explain changes to customers.
The law, which will take effect Oct. 28, will allow banks to begin clearing transactions with image replacement documents, created from digital images of paper checks. The introduction of IRDs could lead to customer confusion, and will require banks to modify some of their processing practices.
U.S. Bank Imaging Checks, Deposits
U.S. Bancorp has begun allowing its online banking customers to view electronic images of checks and deposit slips.
The Minneapolis company added the service to provide "instant peace of mind and overall better service to our customers through the Internet, by phone or at the branch," Steve SaLoutos, its senior vice president of products and services, said in a press release last week. "Gone are the days when you have to struggle to recall where you wrote a certain check and for what amount."
The images are available for free for 90 days after the transaction clears; to access older images, customers must contact a customer service representative and pay a fee.
U.S. Bancorp said it is trying to support check imaging, which is going to become a key part of the nation's banking system when the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act takes effect next month.
