Metropolitan National Bank (New York) and its wholly-owned subsidiary CashZone have announced the launch of the CashZone Prepaid Visa Card "Check2Card" Program in select PriceRite stores. CashZone Check2Card is a program that allows CashZone members to convert paychecks and most government-issued checks, for no charge, into instantly available funds (or "loads") on a CashZone Prepaid Visa Card.   » Continue Reading

Elavon has announced it has completed the rollout of its Electronic Check Service (ECS) solution, utilizing back-office conversion (BOC), at L’Occitane’s 166 luxury bath and body product boutiques across the United States. In addition, L’Occitane has also agreed to implement Elavon’s electronic gift card (EGC) solution just in time for the holidays for both in-boutique and online environments, offering customers the opportunity to purchase, redeem and reload cards in either environment.   » Continue Reading

Elavon, a wholly-owned subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp and formerly known as NOVA Information Systems, has announced that its Back Office Conversion (BOC) processing handled more than 4.6 million transactions in August, accounting for over $400 million in converted check volumes. BOC implementations of Elavon’s Electronic Check Service (ECS) solution are currently installed at more than 1,800 retail locations nationwide.   » Continue Reading

Heartland Payment Systems has announced it has "filed an antitrust action against MICROS Systems, Inc.; Merchant Link, LLC; and Chase Paymentech, owner of Merchant Link. The suit, filed in United States District Court in New Jersey, alleges the three companies have caused increased processing prices for table-service restaurants through an anti-competitive tying arrangement which violates the Sherman Antitrust Act and New Jersey's unfair competition laws." The text of Heartland's complaint is available online.

Heartland Payment Systems has launched Heartland Express Funds, a bank-neutral remote deposit capture system. "Express Funds allows businesses to electronically deposit checks into bank accounts without physically transporting them to the bank – regardless of which bank or banks the business uses. Eliminating floats and holds, funds are available within 24 hours, and, in many cases, by the next-business morning."   » Continue Reading

In an article titled 'Fewer Folks Getting Out Checkbooks', Michael Coit writes about the move away from the use of checks. "At Bank of the West, the fifth largest bank in California, check volumes have been cut in half since 1990 to 45 percent of all non-cash transactions today."

NetDeposit has announced "it has been awarded two new patents, Nos. 7,181,430 and 7,216,106, from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for the processes and technologies involved in remote electronic presentment of all types of checks. The patents cover NetDeposit's array of software products and services, which enable electronic check presentment and payment."   » Continue Reading

Unisys has announced it will design and help implement a new electronic check and image processing system in a consulting, software and hardware agreement with the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, acting on behalf of the 12 Federal Reserve Banks.   » Continue Reading

Péralte C. Paul writes for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about remote deposit capture. The article includes a nifty graphic explaining the process.

Bank of America says that its solution for NACHA's Back Office Conversion (BOC) rule has been "gaining market interest in the retail industry, fueled by its ease of use, flexibility and low implementation cost." BOC, which came into effect March 16, 2007, allows businesses to collect a check written at the checkout counter and convert it in the back office into an electronic form for deposit.   » Continue Reading

JPMorgan Chase has announced it has been ranked as the number-one financial institution in total automated clearing house (ACH) network transactions originated for 2006 by NACHA – The Electronic Payments Association. The Bank has ranked first in ACH originations for a record 32 years in a row, since the inception of the network. JPMorgan Chase saw its ACH transactions grow to nearly 3.6 billion in 2006, an increase of 16 percent over the previous year.   » Continue Reading

NetDeposit has announced a new offering designed to provide financial institutions with the ability to support their commercial customers in electronically processing checks under the new Back Office Conversion (BOC) rules. NetDeposit's support of BOC provides financial institutions the tools and technology necessary for them to quickly take advantage of BOC and extend the advantages of remote deposit capture (RDC) throughout their retail and commercial markets.   » Continue Reading

BITS has released an ACH Check Conversion Risk Management Toolkit (PDF) to "educate financial institutions’ fraud department personnel and investigators about the benefits and risks associated with ACH check conversion." Interestingly, the report includes this comment: "The ACH network, which historically has had minimal fraud, has seen a large uptick in fraudulent transactions, similar to the various types of fraud experienced in the check environment environment."   » Continue Reading

Bank of America has announced that its suite of check transformation tools will allow retailers and other business clients to take full advantage of the new Back Office Conversion rule that took effect on March 16, 2007. The Back Office Conversion (BOC) rule was issued by NACHA to allow businesses to collect a check written at the checkout counter and convert it in the back office into an electronic form.   » Continue Reading

Back Office Conversion (BOC), the newest form of check conversion, becomes available in the marketplace on Friday, March 16, 2007 with the effective date of NACHA's rules. BOC will allow retailers and billers that accept checks at the point-of-sale or at manned bill payment locations to convert eligible checks to ACH debits in the back-office.   » Continue Reading

Wells Fargo said today that it will become "the first financial institution in the U.S. to provide Back Office Conversion (BOC) to its business customers through multiple depository channels when new electronic check processing rules take effect March 16."   » Continue Reading

Mercator Advisory Group has published a new report titled "Commercial Capture Solutions" that examines the rapid growth in check image deposits last year and the increasing use of check images for inter-bank transfers.   » Continue Reading

Panini, a provider of check capture solutions for the financial services industry, has announced it will be holding a webinar next Monday, January 22, 2007 at 1:30 pm EST. Debbie Howell, Senior Account Executive, Federal Reserve Bank, will present a current industry update on Check 21, including the most recent electronic check clearing data. “The growth of Check 21 is now steady and healthy,” states Howell. “The Fed has very aggressive goals for the continued electronification of paper checks during 2007.” Doug Roberts, president of Panini North America, will provide a company and product update. Registration information can be obtained by visiting Panini’s website at www.panini.com.

Terence Roche of Cornerstone Advisors writes about check conversion and the prospects for increased usage in 2006. In particular, Roche explores all of the places that capture could be used by a bank and its customers.

U.S. Bank has announced that it "is prepared to meet the needs of retailers and other customers who wish to take advantage of check electronification opportunities for point-of-sale (POS) payments when NACHA’s check conversion rules change for Back Office Conversion (BOC) on March 16, 2007." The bank has launched a new enhancement to U.S. Bank Electronic Check Service designed to meet the needs of multi-lane retailers by eliminating the investment in check imaging technology at the point of sale.   » Continue Reading

In an article titled 'The U.S. Payments System: Needing Consolidation, or Fine As Is?" by Christopher Westfall, Managing Editor of the KPMG Banking Insider, one senior banker is quoted as saying "right now there are too many ways to pay into too many systems." Westfall's article looks at efforts underway examining potential consolidation of US payments - in particular, convergence of the ACH and check image exchanges.

NOVA Information Systems has announced that it has enhanced its Electronic Check Service (ECS) product to meet the needs of multi-lane retailers by eliminating the investment in check imaging technology at the point of sale (POS). ECS now combines the benefits of real-time check authorization and risk mitigation services with back-office image uploads, resulting in improved cash flow and reduced risk.   » Continue Reading

NACHA has released resource materials that businesses and financial institutions can use to begin for training customer service staff about the new ACH check conversion application. Enabled by new NACHA rules that become effective March 16, 2007, back office conversion (BOC) allows businesses and billers that accept checks at the point-of-sale or at manned bill payment locations to convert eligible checks to ACH debits in a centralized location.   » Continue Reading

Paul Lufkin, CEO of ePayments Corp. of Denver, says "we're on the verge of a major boom in check conversion. Individual and chain retail operations along with major industry sectors such as utility and telecom companies are finally starting to grasp the benefits of electronic check conversion."   » Continue Reading

Solutran has announced SPIN: Solutran's POS and Imaging Network, a back office conversion solution for check acceptors. Solutran says "SPIN has the ability to reduce fees significantly, accelerate funds availability and improve return check savings."   » Continue Reading

CheckFree has introduced a new module, CheckFree PEP+ reACH/BOC, that will enable banks to streamline the process of check conversion for their corporate customers. The new module will enable organizations to support NACHA's new Back Office Conversion (BOC) Standard Entry Class Code, which goes into effect on March 16, 2007. Back Office Conversion aligns Check 21 and Automated Clearing House (ACH) processing to facilitate best-path routing decisions on many checks presented at the point of sale.   » Continue Reading

Wells Fargo has announced that, in anticipation of an upcoming rule change by NACHA, it will integrate its automated clearinghouse (ACH) and account reconciliation plan (ARP) systems to better identify and post converted business checks accurately to clients' accounts.   » Continue Reading

Donald L. Kohn, vice chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, is speaking today at the Western Payments Alliance 2006 Payments Symposium being held in Las Vegas, Nevada. A copy of his speech titled "Evolution of Retail Payments and the Role of the Federal Reserve" is available online.   » Continue Reading

Steve Mott writes for Payments Strategies on the efforts by some in the banking industry to "smash together" check imaging at the point of acceptance with ACH for delivery to the check writer's financial institution. According to Mott, "the stakes are enormous as "checking" goes to the very core of every financial institution's primary customer relationships."

Mike Reagan, Managing Principal of Carreker’s Global Payments Consulting, has published an opinion piece (PDF) about what he calls "All-Consumer Check Conversion (ACC): the automatic conversion of any consumer-written check to ACH at the earliest point possible." Reagan says "The key variable is the willingness of the banking industry to move in a direction that looks at checks not by the way they are processed but by the value they deliver. It is not a question of championing one payments silo over the other, but advancing the electronification agenda in the manner that delivers to customers and derives for banks the best "win-win" value scenario."

CUBUS Solutions has announced CUDeposits, a new software application that will help credit unions manage deposits more cost-effectively by providing members the ability to deposit checks into their accounts over the Web.   » Continue Reading

In the article "Paper checks convert to digital - E-checks become popular transaction tool", The Coloradoan's reporter Deon Hampton writes about the increasing use of check conversion at merchant point-of-sale locations and says that "many people ... are intrigued, confused and mystified by the new form of check payment that is popping up not only at shopping centers but also at locally owned establishments."

CrossCheck has announced CrossCheck Business Office Conversion Plus, a check conversion and guarantee service for consumer and business checks including accounts receivable checks.   » Continue Reading

NACHA has announced that its voting members have approved an amendment to the NACHA Operating Rules that will allow retailers and billers that accept checks at the point-of-sale or at manned bill payment locations to convert eligible checks to ACH debits in the back-office. Known as back-office conversion, or BOC, the rules become effective March 16, 2007.   » Continue Reading

NACHA has announced the results of a survey of consumer awareness of accounts receivable check conversion (ARC).

ARC allows companies that receive consumers' checks at remittance and lockbox locations to convert them into electronic ACH payments, the same, safe electronic payments system used for Direct Deposit. ARC is used for consumer bill payments such as credit cards, mortgages, insurance premiums, and telecommunications and utility bills. NACHA estimates that in 2004 there were 1.25 billion consumer checks converted into ARC payments, and that at its current growth rate may reach 2 billion payments in 2005.

When read a description of the ARC check conversion process, 69 percent of the consumers surveyed said that they are familiar with the process. When provided with an open-ended opportunity to express any objections or concerns about check conversion, 55 percent said they had none.

Susan Tompor writes about electronic check conversion in the the Detroit Free Press.   » Continue Reading

Michele Singletary writes in the Washington Post about electronic check conversion -- actually the conversion of paper checks to electronic ACH items at various points in the process.

NACHA estimates that about 225 million (2 to 3 percent) of checks written in retail stores are converted to e-checks. And approximately 10 percent of all consumer bill payments made by check are now converted into electronic payments, the group says.

Kathy Uek writes in the MetroWest Daily News about electronic check conversions at the point of sale -- and the declining number of paper checks being written.   » Continue Reading

Visa USA and SafeCHECK announced this morning that they've agreed to combine their check electronification efforts.

The combined service, to be run by Visa, will form a bank-owned, integrated electronic check processing solution that can significantly reduce the billions of dollars of paper check handling costs incurred by merchants and financial institutions annually.

Although there are signs that the complex alchemy of turning a check into an electronic payment will become mainstream at the lockbox, it is unlikely to happen in the next two to three years at the point-of-sale. This should encourage the industry to think beyond the "conversion" box, and consider other alternatives, such as financial incentives and disincentives.