More Companies Using UPICs To Securely Receive Electronic Payments

For 2006, EPN reported the following UPIC highlights:

• 251 entities are now using UPICs. Eighteen organizations have multiple UPICs.
• UPIC payments increased 730% to a record $4.7 billion, up from $571 million in 2005.
• The total number of UPIC payments grew to 80,459, up from 9,696 in 2005.
• 159 new UPICs were issued by financial institutions, bringing the total number to 305.
• Organizations in 32 industry segments are now using UPICs.

UPICs are currently being used by public and private organizations including, Georgia Pacific Corp., Ameren Corp., University of Florida, the Oregon State Treasurer's Office, Dell Inc., Benefit Resource Inc., NACHA, Financial Medical Systems and Verizon.

"We're seeing a significant uptake of UPICs across the economy, as public and non-profit organizations realize just how effective UPICs are in reducing payments risk," said Rossana Salaris, Senior Vice President of The Clearing House, responsible for EPN. "Not only are we seeing more entities using UPICs, they are also convincing their trading partners to make both one-time and recurring payments with UPICs."

A UPIC is a unique account identifier issued by financial institutions that allows organizations to receive electronic payments without divulging confidential banking information. Developed by the Electronic Payments Network (EPN), UPICs are for credit payments only and minimize the possibility of unauthorized debits, checks and demand drafts.

Fifteen banks are now offering UPICs, including Citibank NA, Commerce Bank, HSBC Bank USA, JPMorgan Chase Bank, M&T Bank, Mellon Financial Corporation, PeoplesBank, PNC Bank, State Bank of Long Island, Sterling National Bank, SunTrust Bank, Union Bank of California, USBank and Wachovia Bank.

UPICs are helping remove two of the key barriers identified in research from the Association of Financial Professionals - the lack of accurate bank account data for vendors and the reluctance to give out bank account information. In addition, recent AFP research shows that organizations are increasingly under attack from fraudsters. Seventy-two percent of organizations surveyed said they experienced attempted or actual payments fraud. Thirty-six percent of organizations reporting payments fraud activity were victims of attempted or actual ACH payments fraud in 2006.

How A UPIC Works

No system changes are needed to accounts payable, accounts receivable or cash management systems to use a UPIC. A UPIC looks and acts like a standard bank account number, and 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 matching gift forms and displayed on the Internet. Account information is kept private.

A UPIC becomes an organization's permanent electronic payment address. The 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.

To find out if your financial institution offers UPIC or for more information, go to http://www.upic.com.