2004 Volume 2     

Who’s in Control of Your Cheques?

Central Cheque Imaging

Preparing for TECP

How Do I Get Started?

An Exceptional Addition!

 Internet Links:

OCBC Bank Truncation FAQ

The Canadian Payments Assoc.

 Newsletter Archives:

Volume 1

Who’s in Control of Your Cheques?
Document Imaging is a relatively new innovation to technology.  A document or item can now be scanned, indexed archived, retrieved and ultimately  viewed on the Web by using a combination of scanners, software and networkable storage technologies.  The combination of image and associated data may then be utilized as a legally admissible document that can be simply accessed as required.  Certain Financial Institution (FI's) in Canada have relied solely on their Central processors for access to such archival information, however these FI's can bear witness to the limitation this places on them in the ability to access and control their own items and documents. In some cases the Central Processors provide access to the FI's stored images online by both the FI and its members... but in what turnaround time, storage duration and ultimately at what cost per retrieval.  From a legal standpoint a very important question is -"to whom do such images belong?" Does the image and data fall under the ownership of the Central Processor or the FI to which the member belongs?  Apart from the legal considerations involved, this issue become of particular importance with the advent of cheque truncation.  The good news is that the solution to this very important question can be simply resolved in two words... 'Contact Innovations'.

Contact Innovations specializes in the design, development and implementation of cost effective software solutions in the area of financial transaction processing. CI's cheque processing applications automate workflow by replacing the manual, labor intensive processes requiring specialized knowledge workers.  After implementing CI’s IA Cheque, you will be able to quickly scan, index, archive and retrieve items without incurring additional per item fees.  Not only do you maintain control of all incoming and outgoing cheques, there is never a fee involved to retrieve an item that belongs to you in the first place.  Additionally, IA Cheque permits you to offer expanded imaging services such as 'Power Encoding', 'Image Statement Printing', and 'Web based item retrieval'.  And if those features are not enough to convince you of the benefits of IA Cheque, how about this one... not only will you have the key component to participate in the CPA’s plan for partial truncation (Receiving in-clearing as images), implementation of IA Cheque will provide you with the means to participate in a FULL Truncation environment (In-clearing & Out-going). Ultimately, this will empower you to eliminate all courier and handling costs associated with cheque processing.

Central Cheque Imaging - a savings or a cost?
As you may be aware by now, the Western Centrals are providing cheque images to their member institutions instead of returning the physical cheques themselves.  The Western Centrals can also provide images on the web and retrieval capability for each FI.  However, what the majority of the FI’s are unsure of are the costs involved and the potential savings and benefits, or lack thereof.  An additional important consideration are the process specifications and control issues involved. For example: if the Central is down, how do I retrieve my items?

The following figure illustrates implementation of partial truncation provided by a Central Processor and its impact on a individual Financial Institution.

One of the better kept secrets regarding production cheque imaging implementation is that individual Financial Institutions in Ontario; such as Pace Savings, and Kawartha Credit Union and across Canada such as IntesaBCI Bank, have been very successful in imaging their cheques for quite some time.  As an example; Pace Savings can provide members access to their images through internet banking, via regular monthly printed statements, email or  simply by sending a specific member retrieval request to a regular laser printer.  Additionally, Pace can retrieve any previously scanned cheque within seconds without incurring any additional fees to either the FI or the member.  With the advent of TECP, each of these FI's will be prepared to participate in a full truncation environment and will have eliminated the labour intensive handling of cheques and related costly courier fees.

How Can I Prepare For TECP?
It is important to exercise your right as individual FI’s and obtain all necessary information on the subject.  This includes asking questions such as,

• What are the benefits to me as a financial institution?
• How much will this cost me or more importantly how much will I save?
• If I am already able to capture images and data why must I still courier cheques to any location?
• Is TECP delivering on a full or partial truncation solution?

These are just a few of the questions that Financial Institutions should be asking in order to remain informed on all aspects of this new process and what it means to you as individuals.

This has been a brief introduction to the TECP project and we encourage you to gain as much knowledge on this subject as possible, and we at CI would like to help.  So, if this newsletter has sparked your curiosity into the TECP project, stay tuned as even more information will be available in our next edition to be coming shortly!

How Do I Get Started?
Getting prepared for TECP is easy; simply contact your nearest reseller for details on Contact Innovations’ ImageArchive and you’re well on your way there!

Contact Innovations’ image-oriented solutions for Financial Institutions consist of a series of customizable software modules: ImageArchive Cheque, IA WebView, IAEncode, ImageStatement Extract, and ImageStatement Print.  The ImageArchive product family is an easy-to-use, scaleable desktop or client/server imaging system, providing streamlined services for processing, archiving and retrieving financial documents.  ImageArchive is a cost-effective solution that saves time, reduces storage space, increases productivity, provides safe, long lasting storage of vital data and makes it quick and easy to find information.  It makes fast, easy and affordable electronic documentation, retrieval, management and storage a snap.

Rest assured that Contact Innovations will be ready for TECP, providing the necessary interface to interact with all specifications needed upon implementation.

Following are a few links to additional information discussed in this newsletter:

·  Contact Innovations Value Added Partner Listing

·  Product Brochure for ImageArchive Check

·  Product Listing for ImageArchive Check

·  Product Brochure for ImageArchive Statement Printing

·  Product Brochure for ImageArchive WebView

This concludes another in what I hope you'll have found to be an interesting and informative issue.  Contact Innovations is committed to providing you with the information you need in order to make an informed decision about the implementation of TECP in your environment.  If you have additional questions regarding this newsletter or other matters of interest regarding transaction processing, I would be very pleased to speak to you.  

Mike Copeland

Account Manager
Contact Innovations
(416) 784-5191 Ext. 222
mcopeland@contactci.com

Check out this Exceptional Addition!

Contact Innovations' ImageStatement Extract is designed to permit the printing of image enabled client statements. ImageStatement Extract is used in conjunction with IA Check (Limited or Professional) and your financial institution’s existing client statements to extract archived items (images & data), then to package and transfer such archived items to a third party printer for statement printing and mailing. 

• Just think, no more handling, sorting, filing or storage of client checks and the ‘in-house’ manual process of folding, stuffing and mailing of client statements has been eliminated!
  
• ImageStatement Extract can also automatically create an output file of valid account numbers based on client account numbers collected from statement source files. These files can be subsequently imported into the ImageArchive’s ‘IntellAccount’ module in order to verify the validity of scanned item’s account numbers and reduce or eliminate the possibility of account number errors.
  
• Reports can be generated and printed at any point in time in order to create a listing of Matched Items, Unmatched Items, or both on a per account basis.

Return to Top