PNC Now Live on SVPCO Image Payments Network

"The Image Payments Network supports PNC's strategic objective of streamlining its check processing operations," said Thomas Kunz, PNC senior vice president of Payments and E-Business. "Our leading edge technology and support services enable PNC's customers to more quickly and efficiently process their checks."

In addition to PNC, institutions participating in the Image Payments Network are Bank of America, BB&T, Comerica Bank, Fifth Third Bank, HSBC Bank, Huntington National Bank, JPMorgan Chase Bank, KeyBank, LaSalle Bank, M&T Bank, National City Bank, Union Bank of California, Wachovia Bank, and Wells Fargo Bank. Through its relationship with the Federal Reserve, the Image Payments Network can reach more than 10,000 endpoints and help financial institutions of all sizes take advantage of image exchange.

"PNC's participation in the Image Payments Network is another important step in migrating paper checks to electronic images to improve the efficiency of the nation's check processing system," said Susan Long, Senior Vice President of The Clearing House, responsible for SVPCO-Electronic Clearing Services. "Most of the country's largest financial institutions are now benefiting from the Image Payments Network and are processing a growing volume of check images each day."

How the Image Payments Network works

The Image Payments Network is a single, end-to-end system that provides unparalleled control, security and processing efficiency for transmitting and settling check images directly between industry participants. The network enables financial institutions to exchange and settle check images peer-to- peer without a cumbersome central processing system, thus eliminating the expense of transporting physical checks.

The Image Payments Network offers financial institutions a variety of connectivity options. SVPCO Distributed Traffic Agent (DTA), a solution developed by SVPCO with technology partner VECTORsgi, enables financial institutions with larger volumes to transmit check images directly to each other. SVPCO Gateway DTA is a cost-effective solution designed for institutions that process less than 100,000 images per day or are interested in gradually ramping up their image processing capabilities. The Image Payments Network can also be accessed through an institution's correspondent banking relationship or through a third-party processor.

All financial institutions that exchange images directly with each other via the Image Payments Network utilize the automated settlement function. Automated settlement provides real-time net and bilateral settlement position reporting and eliminates the manual intervention required with other settlement arrangements. Financial institutions can see their net debit or credit position online and view their position with all of the financial institutions participating in the Image Payments Network at any time.

For more information about the SVPCO Image Payments Network, contact Susan Goold, Vice President, Products and Services, SVPCO-Electronic Clearing Services, 201.319.5554, susan.goold@svpco.com.