Check Truncation Boosted By BofA Initiative
By 2005, the largest financial firms in the US expect over 90 per cent of all checks they process, to be imaged and stored in archives, according to Global Concepts, which Bank of America is now betting on. As of Wednesday last week, BofA customers in Georgia and Tennessee can view and print images of canceled checks and deposit slips online, News.com reports. BanksÆ moves to digitize checks and cut the amount of paper used, are promoting check truncation, which BofA, one of the largest check processors in the US, argues helps to reduce fraud in that tellers can more quickly verify the authenticity of a check.Analysts see the first phase of BofAÆs move to enable its 4.3 million active online customers to access check images online by March 2003, increasing the chances of other US banks offering similar services. In September, BofA and Morgan Chase joined 18 banks in the Small Value Payments Co, to promote e-checks, and are now piloting an image exchange service in which they can swap images of each otherÆs customers, according to American Banker. The SVPCo, which is also backed by Citibank and the Bank of New York, under the auspices of the New York Clearing House, is expected to be live by early 2004.
Smaller US banks such as Intrust Bank of Wichita, and Oklahoma-based BancFirst Corp, are also using digital imaging technology to settle checks, similar to that of BofA and Chase. The Central Oklahoma Clearing House Association reports a third bank to be about to join the program, while, in a separate venture, the Western Payments Alliance is working with 7 banks and several vendors, to provide full check truncation or image replacement. The SVPCo emphasizes that in January, 8 big US banks will start an image pilot, claiming that ôsome small and mid-tier banks are pretty far ahead in their image implementationö. Related Links
Major US Banks Form E-Check Consortium
Visa Sees Strong Uptake Of POS Checks
Check Truncation 'A Step Toward Debit Use'
