An Update on UPIC Payments

Additionally, since the beginning of 2008, five more banks began issuing UPICs, including BB&T, CoBiz Bank, Comerica Bank, Hancock Bank and KeyBank. A total of 20 institutions are now offering UPICs, which are unique account identifiers issued by financial institutions to allow organizations to receive electronic payments without divulging confidential banking information.

"UPIC adoption and volume continue to progress strongly as more public and private sector organizations seek to combat the growing problem of fraudulent payments," said Rossana Salaris, Senior Vice President of The Clearing House, responsible for EPN. "UPICs help companies and other entities solve the problems associated with receiving electronic payments from their trading partners. UPICs are one of the most effective ways to minimize risk and facilitate safe, secure B-to-B electronic payments."

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

Through the third quarter of 2008, banks offering UPICs include BB&T, Citibank, Comerica Bank, CoBiz Bank, Commerce Bank, Hancock Bank, HSBC Bank, JPMorgan Chase Bank, M&T Bank, The Bank of New York Mellon, PeoplesBank, PNC Bank, State Bank of Long Island, Sterling National Bank, SunTrust Bank, Union Bank of California, U.S. Bank and Wachovia Bank.

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.