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.”

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• Credit unions may find themselves choosing between back-office and teller check capture.
• Some industry participants say the shift is to the teller option, others say they haven’t seen it.
• Each option has its own characteristics, and the choice involves member service questions as much as technology options.

Institutions can find themselves facing two options: capture the images and truncate them by the batch in the back shop at the branch or a centralized location, or capture them at the teller line as the transaction is occurring.

Those who are worried about slowing down the action at the window, where tellers might better spend their time providing personal service rather than scanning checks, prefer the back shop option, and that’s where most credit unions are now in the Check 21 process.

He [Randy Glassburn, CEO of Ball State FCU] also said that he had heard concerns about teller capture slowing down teller lines but that that had not been his credit union’s experience.

“If you are doing it properly, it really is a matter of seconds in terms of the time difference,” he said.  “Compared to the time it takes to scan checks at the end of the day, and the time associated with tracking down fraudulent items or correcting errors after the member has left the credit union, those few extra seconds are really a non-issue.”

The article continues to examine the various options through interviews with ProfitStars, Aite, Bluepoint Solutions client Ball State FCU, Wescom Resources Group, VSoft and Open Solutions. Randy Glassburn, CEO of Ball State is cited:

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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.”

VISTA, Calif. May 05, 2010. Bluepoint Solutions, 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, has certified the Canon imageFORMULA P-150 Scan-tini Personal Document Scanner as FASTdocs ready. FASTdocs is Bluepoint’s premiere client-centric, electronic document management (EDM) solution.

Bluepoint’s FASTdocs solution enables scanning and electronic sharing of items at multiple workstations within a financial institution, even between branches. The imageFORMULA P-150 scanner measures only 11-inches long, 3.7-inches wide and 1.6-inches high and weighs approximately two pounds. The device’s compact size makes it ideal to deploy at individual workstations throughout a financial institution. When combined with FASTdocs, the P-150 scanner supports Bluepoint’s best practices approach, including capturing documents at the point of presentment and making document images immediately available to all end-users throughout the organization. This approach improves data integrity by eliminating the need to physically transfer documents and minimizes the number of employees required to handle the document.

“We have always encouraged our clients to capture documents at the point-of-presentment,” said Hal Tilbury, founder and CEO of Bluepoint Solutions. “This is critical if financial institutions want to fully take advantage of the cost-savings, work-flow efficiencies and improved accuracy of data afforded by an electronic document management. The economical price point combined with the compact size of the Canon imageFORMULA P-150 scanner makes this a logical scanner to pair with our FASTdocs solution.”

Bluepoint’s approach to document management is rooted in proven best practices. According to this approach, capturing documents should take place at the point-of-presentment. Bluepoint has helped hundreds of financial institutions improve their electronic document management strategies by implementing best practices including member-centric filing systems, intuitive file structures, the ability to capture all document types regardless of the presentment point and finally, the institution of a universal document repository.

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.

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.”

Vista, Calif. Feb. 18, 2010. Bluepoint Solutions, 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, today announced the results of its 2009 Remote Deposit Capture for Credit Union’s survey. Bluepoint surveyed a random sampling of credit unions with assets ranging from $100 million to $1 billion to evaluate which remote capture point(s) they were currently using and/or future plans for leveraging the technology. More than 200 credit unions participated in the survey.

According to responses, 52 percent of participants indicated their credit union currently has at least one type of remote capture solution implemented. Out of those respondents, 63 percent have instituted a branch capture platform, 20 percent rely on teller capture solutions, nine percent have an ATM capture solution, four percent offer merchant capture and another four percent offer home or member capture.

Remote Deposit Capture Deployment

CEO and Founder, Hal Tilbury, said, “Credit unions are only now beginning to seriously embrace remote deposit capture.  As credit union executives become more aware of the cost, time and resource savings this technology can produce, adoption rates will accelerate dramatically until remote deposit capture is as common as online banking or debit cards.”

Respondents indicated a high interest in home capture as a valuable service for their members. When asked about future plans for implementing home capture, 42 percent of respondents indicated they currently had initiatives in place and another 46 percent responded they were currently exploring the service.

Senior Analyst for Celent, Bob Meara, said, “Branch capture’s swift adoption was driven by a compelling and urgent need to address the rising cost of processing paper. That same sense of urgency does not surround home capture. Member demand will eventually lead to widespread adoption, however, as awareness of home capture grows.”
“I’m not surprised to see this trend,” continued Tilbury. “In our society, consumers are used to banking anytime, anywhere. The convenience of making deposits from home creates loyalty from existing members and will attract new members.”

Hampden Bank Chooses Teller Capture from Andrew Tilbury on Vimeo.

This video shows Hampden Bank’s success with using tMagic, the joint Teller Capture solution created by Open Solutions and Bluepoint Solutions.

Jointly developed with Bluepoint Solutions, Open Solutions’ tMagic Teller Capture system received Bank News’ Innovative Solutions Award. The Innovative Solutions Awards recognize companies that have introduced products that demonstrate qualities to help community banks work more efficiently and more effectively. Fully integrated with the core platform, tMagic allows tellers to capture checks in real time at the point-of-presentment.