By Marc Rapport, originally published by Credit Union Times, December 20, 2010

As Check 21 wraps up its first decade, its impact has been considerable, to the point where the Federal Reserve has but one site left for processing [paper] checks…

The Check Clearing Act for the 21st Century “Check 21″ was passed by Congress in October 2003 and took effect a year later.

Then in 2010, remote-deposit capture went mobile, as vendors and financial institutions that saw a market for it hastened to get the service onto BlackBerry, Android and iPhone platforms, further extending to consumers the conveniences that had been reserved for the enterprise itself.

“The cost of handling paper checks is getting so much lower than it used to be that I think we may see a renaissance in their use and in checking accounts,” [Bluepoint CEO Hal] Tilbury said. “They’re also easier to secure against fraud than a debit card.”

“I see equal lines forming to get mobile and home capture solutions and I see teller capture taking over a lot of the back-office work associated with branch capture, but I don’t see checks going away anytime soon.”

Click here to read the full article.

–New case study projects savings of $10,000 per month, improved member service–

Vista, Calif. Dec. 15, 2010 Bluepoint Solutions, 2010 CUNA Tech Council Best of Show winner, and provider of remote deposit capture, image-based item processing and enterprise content management solutions for financial institutions, announced the release of a new client case study. The study offers an in-depth look at JSC Federal Credit Union’s implementation of Bluepoint Solutions’ ImagePoint item processing suite and Receipt Manager solution, moving the credit union’s item processing from a third party provider to an in-house environment. JSC Federal Credit Union, headquartered in Houston, Tex., operates 16 branches throughout greater Houston, and has more than 116,000 members and $1.5 billion in assets.

“JSC has had an excellent relationship with our corporate credit union for over 10 years, but the ongoing crisis in the corporate credit union system left us with little choice but to look for alternatives to the item processing services it provided,” said Paul Maslonka, chief operating officer at JSC Federal Credit Union. “We evaluated several alternatives, and determined bringing the process in-house was the best strategy for our institution and our members.”

The credit union cited streamlined workflow, ease of use and the projected savings as the primary reasons for selecting Bluepoint’s ImagePoint item processing platform. Based on the credit union’s current volume of 14,000 checks per day, Bluepoint estimated total cost savings of more than $10,000 per month, or $600,000 over 60 months. “We took the savings gained from moving our item processing in-house and invested it in ImagePoint Teller and Receipt Manager for all 16 of our branches including the cost of adding scanners at every teller workstation,” said Maslonka.

“The initial setup was painless and our daily work has changed very little. Now we simply download and upload files directly with the Fed,” Maslonka continued. “JSC has fully implemented ImagePoint Hub and ImagePoint Foundation for cash letter creation, forward presentment and in-clearing processing, and is currently deploying ImagePoint Teller plus Receipt Manager for front teller line check capture and enhanced transaction balancing and research.”

Bluepoint Founder and CEO, Hal Tilbury, said, “We have examined hundreds of credit unions’ check volumes and item processing costs. By taking control of its item processing with ImagePoint, JSC has made an investment in a solution that will afford it long-term cost savings and will remain viable until the last paper check comes across the teller line.”

Click here to download the full case study: JSC Federal Credit Union Launches Bluepoint’s In-House Item Processing System.

–Branch capture licenses purchased from WesCorp and Southwest Corporate can be upgraded for free–

Vista, Calif. Nov. 18, 2010  Bluepoint Solutions, winner of the 2010 CUNA Tech Council “Best of Show” award, and provider of Check 21, remote deposit capture, item processing and enterprise content management solutions for financial institutions, announced the immediate availability of a transition program for natural person credit unions that have branch capture software licenses purchased through Western Bridge Corporate Credit Union (WesCorp) and Southwest Corporate Federal Credit Union. The provider will honor existing licenses and is offering a complimentary upgrade to the most recent version of its ImagePoint Branch application when the credit union initiates a direct support contract with Bluepoint.

Bluepoint’s CEO and Founder, Hal Tilbury, said, “More than 1,000 credit unions are currently running Bluepoint’s branch capture solution through WesCorp and Southwest. The goal of the program is to allow these credit unions to continue using our solution that they know and trust without having to retrain their employees or make an additional financial investment. We are taking the lead from the NCUA Corporate System Resolution Plan and doing whatever we can to guarantee the continuity of payment services to credit unions and members. This is one way we can demonstrate our long-term commitment to the credit union movement.”

According to the NCUA, the first goal of its stabilization strategy is to prevent interruption of payment services to credit unions and the 90 million credit union consumers. Credit unions currently using branch capture solutions purchased from a corporate credit union can immediately transfer those licenses to Bluepoint with no service interruption or additional cost incurred.

Tilbury continued, “Credit unions have a lot of choices for their check capture technology and processing solutions.  We want them to know that Bluepoint will continue to work with them as they explore the best choices for their members.”

More information on the transition program can be found by visiting http://www.bluepointsolutions.com/transition.

–Bluepoint Solutions reports increased demand for ImagePoint; Adds 17 credit unions–

Vista, Calif.  Nov. 12, 2010 Bluepoint Solutions, winner of the 2010 CUNA Tech Council “Best of Show” award, and provider of Check 21, remote deposit capture, item processing and enterprise content management solutions for financial institutions, announced 17 credit unions selected ImagePoint as their in-house item processing solution.

All 17 credit unions share a common desire to gain greater control over a vital operation,  eliminate third-party costs, and clear checks directly with the Federal Reserve Bank.  They range in asset size from $2.2 million to $2.8 billion, and are located nationwide including California, Texas, Minnesota, Utah, New York, New Jersey, Louisiana, Florida and Delaware.

Bluepoint’s CEO and Founder, Hal Tilbury, said, “Credit unions of all asset sizes, across all geographic regions, and with all types of memberships are demonstrating the value of moving their item processing in-house and taking control of this crucial operation. The benefits are both scalable and universal.”

City and County Credit Union, headquartered in St. Paul, Minn. with $339 million in assets, made the decision earlier this year to move its item processing in-house. CEO, Pat Pierce, said, “Moving item processing in-house effectively stabilizes the cost of our check processing.  We will no longer be subject to pricing fluctuations or service interruptions from third-party outsource providers. ImagePoint is sophisticated enough to manage both transit items and in-clearings, yet simple and intuitive for the end-user to operate. Our staff was up and running on ImagePoint in a matter of hours, with minimum training required. We were also able to bring additional value to our members by keeping costs low and giving them access to images of their deposited checks and receipts online through their internet banking.”

Bluepoint’s ImagePoint check processing solution aggregates check images from all capture points, including branch, teller, ATM, merchant, home and mobile. The application then creates electronic cash-letters for transmission to any endpoint, automating many of the traditionally labor intensive check processing procedures that were required when paper checks were a part of the process. With ImagePoint, financial institutions have the ability to automatically perform courtesy and legal amount recognition (CAR/LAR), enterprise-wide duplicate detection and MICR line correction and repair.  ImagePoint enables automated processing of on-us items, transit items, in-clearings and returns, as well as providing a feature-rich check archive that can be integrated with online banking for account-holders to view deposited items and receipts.

Tilbury added, “With the adoption of image-based processing, the costs and labor required to manage item processing in-house are negligible.  This innovative technology has significantly modified the item-processing environment because the value previously inherent to outsourcing the process is now non-existent.  In this new world, there simply is no need to outsource an important operation that can now be almost entirely automated by software such as ImagePoint.”

“ Mobile deposit capabilities allow quick, convenient, secure transfer of funds”

VISTA, Calif. July 8, 2010 Bluepoint Solutions, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and innovator in remote deposit capture (RDC), image-based item processing and enterprise content management software technology for financial institutions, announced the release of QwikDeposit To Go, a sophisticated mobile remote deposit capture application. Powered by Mitek Systems patented IMagePROVE technology, Bluepoint Solutions QwikDeposit Mobile Capture application completes Bluepoint’s existing suite of Check 21 capture points.

Click Here for Detailed Product Information

“When implemented alongside our existing branch, teller, ATM, merchant and home capture applications, QwikDeposit To Go is an opportunity for institutions to provide a valuable service for account holders, while at the same time drive out operational and processing costs, as well as add efficiencies in the check processing timeline,” said Hal Tilbury, chief executive officer and founder of Bluepoint Solutions. “The fusion of Mitek’s advanced image quality technology with Bluepoint’s proven remote deposit capture and item processing aggregation engine provides institutions with a sophisticated and reliable mobile capture application. Having the ability to deposit checks at any time of day, regardless of location is a service that is extremely valuable to consumers.”

“The dramatic increase in the use of smart phones, combined with consumer demand for mobile banking applications has created a perfect storm for mobile capture,” adds Tilbury. “The emergence of mobile capture  is a direct reflection of a larger shift in how people interact with their financial institutions remotely, 24 hours a day, on their schedule, and on the go.  Financial institutions of any size must react to these trends to remain competitive.  QwikDeposit To Go is a tool designed to help institutions do just that and as a result grow existing accounts and attract new customers or members.”

In a recent Mercatus Mobile RDC Adoption Research Study, Managing Partner, Bob Hedges, stated, “We expect consumers to significantly embrace mobile remote deposit capture and it will be the ‘killer app.’ With consumers placing a premium on convenience, mobile RDC has the potential to significantly change retail banking’s business model by providing a way for people to do basic banking without branches.”

Bluepoint’s QwikDeposit To Go enables consumers to securely deposit checks with a camera-equipped smart phone, providing quicker availability of funds and added convenience. Account holders initiate mobile-banking sessions, key in their deposit amount and simply snap photos of both the front and back of the check with their smart phone cameras. The software captures the check, formats the image, automatically corrects any image distortions or skewing and confirms the images meet Check 21 and mobile image-quality standards. All transactions are transmitted with multiple layers of security and, if necessary, can be traced back to registered smart phones, marked with time and location, in order to combat fraud.

QwikDeposit To Go relies on a patent-pending software application from Mitek Systems Inc. (OTC: MITK.OB; www.miteksystems.com), called Mobile Deposit®, which is being embraced widely by technology applications providers like Bluepoint Solutions and financial services institutions of all sizes for its ease of use, security and the industry leading quality and accuracy of its image processing.

Mobile Deposit complies with all industry standards ”including Check 21″and was developed specifically to help banking institutions take advantage of the growing consumer acceptance of smart phone applications for the mobile Web, including mobile RDC, with the utmost security for every transaction.

“We think of Mobile Deposit as the ‘Gold Standard’in mobile RDC because of the acceptance of our application by all the major integrators and ASPs that cater to financial institutions,” said Mitek CEO James DeBello. “We’re very pleased that our partnership with Bluepoint Solutions further validates that trend.”

Bluepoint Solutions gives institutions the option of selecting a full licensed version of QwikDeposit To Go or they can take advantage of Bluepoint’s unique monthly use-fee delivery model. Additionally, institutions have the option to operate QwikDeposit To Go within Bluepoint’s SAS70-certified data center, enabling small to mid-size institutions to compete with much larger, nation-wide banks without making a large financial investment. Also included with the solution from Bluepoint is a proprietary online Marketing Center that provides institutions immediate access to a repository of professional-quality marketing collateral including statement stuffers, email campaigns and a variety of signage to build awareness and promote the new mobile deposit offering to the community.

“Mobile RDC allows smaller institutions to compete with larger, nationwide banks,” said Tilbury. “By bringing down the cost of mobile capture technology and making it easy for our customers to deploy, we are empowering the small-to-medium banks and credit unions we work with to better retain account holders and attract new ones. There is a lot of demand for this technology among the small to mid-size institutions and we look forward to making it available to our customers.”

–Credit union cites efficiency, service, fraud prevention as reasons for choice–

Vista, Calif. July 1, 2010  NET Federal Credit Union, headquartered in Scranton, Penn., today announced its selection of Bluepoint Solutions’ ImagePoint Teller Capture and Receipt Manager solutions. Bluepoint Solutions is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and leading innovator in remote deposit capture (RDC), image-based item processing and enterprise content management software technology for financial institutions.

“Our tagline is ‘Banks have customers; here you’re family. Welcome home!’ We are truly here for the members’ benefit, and ImagePoint Teller with Receipt Manager will help us to serve them even better,” said John Errico, vice president of finance at NET. “We looked at other remote deposit capture solutions in the past, but they lacked the research capabilities that really make ImagePoint Teller Capture and Receipt Manager stand out.  Our current research and balance process is highly manual and paper-based, which results in increased overtime and unmanageable workloads. Following the implementation of the modern teller capture platform, the workloads will be streamlined, the overtime eliminated, resulting in significant cost and time savings for the credit union.”

NET Federal Credit Union operates two branches, has more than 21,000 members and $157 million in assets. In addition to the efficiencies gained on the teller line, the credit union anticipates faster and more accurate balancing, as well as a reduction in fraud by catching questionable items before they ever enter the institution.
Errico continued, “The recent changes to Reg CC, the Expedited Funds Availability Act, means all checks are now local. With our current process, the time it takes to clear a check gives sophisticated fraudsters ample opportunity visit several other branches and make the same fraudulent deposit. Having Bluepoint’s teller capture will enable us to capture documents at the point-of-presentment and immediately verify them, making fraud more difficult – protecting the credit union and our members.”

ImagePoint Teller Capture enables the capture of items at the teller line, increasing efficiency and accuracy by reducing time spent on manual data entry and preventing human error. It verifies, processes and balances checks in real time, making information available more quickly than traditional options. Receipt Manager integrates with the existing teller transaction flow, storing the receipt data with the check image electronically and making them searchable and available to authorized users throughout the entire credit union.

“More and more credit unions, like NET, are realizing the significant advantages to be gained by implementing teller capture solutions,” said CEO and founder, Hal Tilbury. “We understand the challenges facing credit union executives and as a result, our ImagePoint teller capture platform is uniquely designed to lower costs and streamline workflow, all while improving member-service.  As a member-centered organization, NET will benefit from the increased efficiency that ImagePoint Teller Capture and Receipt Manager provide, because it means that their time will be spent with members rather than paperwork. We look forward to working with them in the coming years.”

Credit union adds teller, home, merchant and ATM capture options

VISTA, Calif. and Charleston, S.C. March 16, 2010. South Carolina Federal Credit Union announced that it has selected Bluepoint Solutions’ ImagePointTM Capture and Hub modules to electronically capture and aggregate check images. Bluepoint Solutions is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and innovator in remote deposit capture (RDC), image-based item processing and enterprise content management software technology for financial institutions.

Headquartered in Charleston, S.C., South Carolina Federal has approximately $1.3 billion in assets. The credit union operates 19 branches plus a lending center and offers 75 ATMs to serve its growing member base. Currently the credit union serves more than 150,000 members. South Carolina Federal plans to implement teller capture, merchant/business member capture, home/member capture and ATM capture, as well as ImagePoint Hub for aggregation and forward presentment of items. The credit union also selected Bluepoint’s Receipt Manager with Transaction Manager for advanced research.

“The implementation of Bluepoint’s suite of products will allow South Carolina Federal Credit Union to continue delivering on our brand promise ‘providing convenience to members,” said Joe Grech, chief financial officer, South Carolina Federal. “Allowing members to deposit checks from their home or business offers another LifeSimplified tool for members to connect with us. Additionally, we estimate a $500,000 savings annually in operating expenses from the implementation of Bluepoint solutions. This in turn can be used to develop new products and services that give members more convenient access to the credit union and their money.”

Additionally, the credit union cited the ease of integration with its existing core platform and the ability to purchase all points of capture from one provider as key factors in the decision. South Carolina Federal will be able to capture checks in real-time and at the point of presentment (teller, home/business, ATM) improving operational efficiencies, cost savings, fraud prevention and the overall member experience. Receipt Manager integrates with the existing teller transaction flow, by storing the receipt data and check image together electronically, while all captured images, regardless of point of presentment, are aggregated in ImagePoint Hub. Storing every image electronically at the point of presentment makes them available to authorized users throughout the entire credit union, reducing the research time needed to answer member inquiries.

“Bluepoint remains committed to helping credit unions leverage proven best practices, like capturing documents at the point of presentment, to not only save money, time and resources, but also improve the overall member experience,” said Hal Tilbury, founder and CEO of Bluepoint Solutions. “Given the current climate in the financial industry, we believe more and more credit unions will follow South Carolina’s lead and replace existing legacy capture solutions with sophisticated remote deposit capture strategies that leverage capturing items at the initial point of presentment. We look forward to working with the team at South Carolina Federal Credit Union.”

About South Carolina Federal
South Carolina Federal Credit Union is headquartered in North Charleston and serves more than 150,000 members that own and belong to the not-for-profit financial cooperative, which has over $1.3 billion in assets. South Carolina Federal is a community-chartered credit union. Anyone who lives, works, worships or attends school in Dorchester, Berkeley, Charleston, Orangeburg, Clarendon, Calhoun or Georgetown counties, and most of the Columbia area, is eligible to join. South Carolina Federal has 19 branches, a lending center and more than 75 ATMs throughout Charleston, Columbia, Georgetown, Orangeburg, St.Matthews and Manning. In 2008, South Carolina Federal for the second consecutive year was voted one of the Best Places to Work in the state. More information about South Carolina Federal can be found at scfederal.org or on the SiMPLE CENTS blog at simplecentsblog.org.

Credit union cites best-practices approach as determining factor in decision

City & County Credit Union, headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., today announced its selection of Bluepoint Solutions’ ImagePoint, its complete point-to-point item processing suite, enterprise content management platform, receipt and transaction management tools and disaster recovery. Bluepoint Solutions is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and leading innovator in remote deposit capture (RDC), image-based item processing and enterprise content management software technology for financial institutions.

“What began as a search for a home capture solution to better serve our members evolved into a full-blown campaign to evaluate and address all of our enterprise content management needs,” said Pat Pierce, CEO of City & County Credit Union. “As we got deeper into the evaluation phase, we uncovered several areas in the credit union that would benefit from a more sophisticated document management solution. After a systematic search, we determined that Bluepoint was the only provider that could satisfy all of our operational requirements, while adding the desired workflow efficiencies and functionality.”

City & County Credit Union operates four branches, has more than 41,000 members and $339 million in assets. The credit union cited Bluepoint’s unique best practices approach as the primary factor in its selection. Based on proven industry best practices, Bluepoint’s solutions are designed to improve client service, enhance business continuity, improve productivity and increase operational efficiencies. Additionally, its technology is member-centric, allowing it to align with the systems and procedures commonly found within a credit union environment.

Pierce continued, “After evaluating and meeting with several providers in the market, we were very impressed with Bluepoint’s best practices approach and their knowledge of how credit unions operate. It was clear their team held years of experience and had proven solutions to each challenge we presented. We determined Bluepoint’s best-practices approach would satisfy all of our requirements and significantly improve our processes. Additionally, the member-centric approach allows us to better serve our members. Other systems we examined were siloed according to department or document type; having all of the information organized by member is much more productive in a credit union.”

City & County will be implementing Bluepoint’s teller capture platform (vs. the alternative,  branch capture), which follows Bluepoint’s best practice recommendation of capturing documents at the point-of-presentment.

“We are looking forward to moving the entire credit union to an image-based environment and shifting away from paper-based operations,” said Pierce. “We made the decision to capture items at the teller station to not only improve our internal workflow, but also the overall member experience. If there are any questions about a document, our tellers will have the information at their fingertips to respond immediately. This will also eliminate the end of day rush to balance and get items processed.”

Pierce continued, “Once the entire suite is implemented, we’ve estimated the initial hard cost savings alone will amount to more than $250,000 over the next seven years. This does not include the soft savings in reduced time spent on research, reduction of errors due to keystrokes and the improved member service.”

City & County Credit Union has invested in a sophisticated content management and remote deposit capture strategy leveraging the following Bluepoint products: ImagePoint Teller Capture, Receipt Manager with Transaction Manager, ImagePoint Remote (QwikDeposit Home), ImagePoint Hub, ImagePoint Foundation, member-centric Enterprise Content Management platform and disaster recovery.

ImagePoint Capture enables the capture of items remotely or at the teller line, ImagePoint Hub aggregates and forwards presentment of items and ImagePoint Foundation provides central item processing functions and image exchange. When used together, the ImagePoint Platform provides a complete end-to-end solution from the earliest point of presentment to full “Day Two” processing for inclearings, returns and a full, feature-rich permanent archive for storage and research.

Receipt Manager integrates with the existing teller transaction flow, storing the receipt data electronically and making it available to authorized users throughout the entire credit union. Bluepoint’s Enterprise Content Management platform integrates with ImagePoint and Receipt Manager to provide a flexible, member-centric file system to manage all scanned and imported documents electronically, and create valuable reporting tools to analyze and review member data.

“Bluepoint is celebrating its 10th year in business this year,” said CEO and Founder, Hal Tilbury. “For the past decade, we have established best practices that when implemented, can save credit unions hundreds of thousands of dollars, uncover hours of lost productivity and significantly help their front and back offices better serve their members. City & County’s executive team is making an investment in their future and we are very proud to be the partner selected. Our team will start with a comprehensive evaluation of the credit union’s current processes and then implement our solutions to drive efficiencies throughout the organization. We look forward to working with City & County on this endeavor.”

Institutions purchase various ImagePoint modules for item processing and remote deposit capture

Bluepoint Solutions, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and innovator in remote deposit capture (RDC), image-based item processing and enterprise content management software technology for financial institutions, announced a strong end to 2009, signing four new financial institutions to its growing roster of clients during the month of December. The financial institutions include: Kennebec Savings Bank, City and County Credit Union, South Carolina Federal Credit Union and Honda Federal Credit Union.

All four institutions selected at least one module from Bluepoint’s ImagePoint solution suite, an end-to-end image-based check clearing solution designed to help financial institutions of all sizes better manage item processing. The ImagePoint platform is composed of three integrated product families: ImagePoint Capture for remote capture of items; ImagePoint Hub for aggregation and forward presentment of items; and ImagePoint Foundation for central item processing functions and image exchange. ImagePoint products may be used separately or together providing a complete end-to-end solution from the earliest point of presentment, to full “Day Two” processing for inclearings, returns and a full, feature-rich permanent archive for storage and research.

“We celebrated many company milestones in 2009 including officially launching our end-to-end ImagePoint item processing solution suite,” said Hal Tilbury, CEO and founder of Bluepoint Solutions. “We are very pleased to see how many financial institutions have embraced our philosophy to provide a modern, sophisticated alternative to legacy systems.  In what is typically characterized as a slow, holiday month, we saw continued activity and interest in our products thus closing the year on a very strong note. We credit this success to our dedicated team of professionals that not only understand the challenges facing the financial industry, but know what solutions are needed to meet the individual needs and business goals of each institution.”

Based in Augusta, Maine, Kennebec Savings Bank ($717 million in assets) selected various modules of Bluepoint’s ImagePoint item processing solution suite including the branch, ATM and merchant capture modules, as well as ImagePoint Hub, which aggregates the captured images and data in a sophisticated, centralized, intuitive filing structure, regardless of the initial capture point, and presents the items to payment processing systems.

City and County Credit Union ($344 million in assets) is based in St. Paul, Minn. and operates four branches in the surrounding area. The credit union selected a full end-to-end item processing suite from Bluepoint including, ImagePoint’s teller capture and member/home capture modules, ImagePoint Hub and ImagePoint Foundation for sending, receiving, returning and archiving items. The credit union also purchased Bluepoint’s Receipt Manager with Transaction Manager to gather, store, index and report on all transaction information presented or captured at the teller window; as well as Bluepoint’s Enterprise Content Management platform and its Virtual Back Up Disaster Recovery solution.

Headquartered in Charleston, S.C., South Carolina Federal Credit Union ($1.46 billion in assets) operates 20 branches and serves more than 164,286 members. The credit union selected ImagePoint modules including teller capture, merchant/business member capture, home/member capture and ATM capture, as well as ImagePoint Hub. The credit union also selected Bluepoint’s Receipt Manager with Transaction Manager for advanced research.

Finally, Honda Federal Credit Union ($534 million in assets), located in Torrance, Calif., selected Bluepoint’s ImagePoint Remote, home/member capture solution, to better serve its dispersed member base. With a large global membership, offering home/member capture will prove to be an invaluable service for the credit union. A long-time user of Bluepoint’s branch capture solution, the credit union cited its success with this platform, as well as the ease of integration of the consumer capture product as key reasons for selecting Bluepoint.