Union Bank of California Offers UPICs

No system changes are needed to accounts payable, accounts receivable or cash management systems to use a UPIC. The UPIC looks and acts like a standard bank account number, travels through the ACH network with the Universal Routing and Transit number. However, a UPIC can only be used for ACH credit payments. A UPIC cannot be used to electronically debit an organization's account or create a check or demand draft, thus reducing the risk of unauthorized debits. The UPIC can be printed on invoices, provided on matched gift forms and displayed on the Internet. Account information is kept private.

The UPIC becomes an organization's permanent electronic payment address. Portability of the UPIC reduces the effort required in changing accounts due to bank mergers or changes in banking relationships, including the cost of communicating new bank account information to trading partners.

Union Bank's first UPIC was issued to Coastline Community College of Orange County, California. The UPIC will enable Coastline to streamline its electronic reimbursement process for the college's contract education programs and provide the UPIC instead of the actual routing and bank account number. The UPIC will also enable Coastline to securely meet a mandate by the Central Contractor Registration that requires participation in the Electronic Fund Transfer ("EFT") process to receive government payments for services provided to military students. Coastline's use of a UPIC is part of the college's progressive approach to the development and use of educational and instructional-related technology and to integrate technology into business operations, including accounting.

"UPICs are a highly effective tool to streamline and expand payments options for a wide range of customers, while offering additional fraud protection," said Jesse Sandoval, Vice President of Union Bank of California. "UPICs are part of Union Bank's commitment to state-of-the-art products that take advantage of opportunities as the payments business evolves. Union Bank is pleased to launch this important product with an innovative institution such as Coastline Community College, which realized early the cost savings potential and improved risk management from using a UPIC."

UPICs are currently used by public and private entities across the U.S. and have been assigned to corporations in various industries, including technology, telecommunications, medical technologies, real estate, agriculture and public education.

"UPICs are helping remove two of the key barriers identified in the recent research from the Association of Financial Professionals -- lack of accurate bank account data for vendors and the reluctance to give out bank account information. The UPIC makes it safe and easy to pay trading partners," said Rossana Salaris, Senior Vice President of The Clearing House Payments Company responsible for the Electronic Payments Network. "We're pleased with Union Bank's support for UPIC, and we believe 2005 will be the pivotal year for UPIC adoption."