New software application guarantees nearly 100 percent check image clearing
NORTHBROOK, Ill. (October 28, 2014) – Digital Check Corp., a leading innovator in check scanning technology, is introducing a new software solution to address the skyrocketing costs to banks of exceptions in check image quality. Clear by Digital CheckTM offers banks a simple, cost-effective tool that quickly repairs poor quality items.
Using patent-pending technology, Clear can improve both overall image quality and the clarity of a specific zone of a check, such as the courtesy and legal amount fields. This ability to enhance check images by zone and contrast is what provides nearly 100 percent check image clearing and is unmatched in the industry.
With Clear, banks can expect a reduction in the labor required to process image exceptions, fewer overnight shipping fees to transport original source items, reduced cash letter and per-item fees, and shorter delays in the clearing process, which also reduces the risk of there being insufficient funds once the check is exchanged with the clearing institution.
While the use of paper checks is declining, there are still 18.3 billion checks paid annually according to the 2013 Federal Reserve Payments Study. Even if only a very small percentage of these checks (less than one check in 1,000 according to a Digital Check estimate*) has critical image errors, the high per-item expense of correcting them costs banks up to a half a billion dollars a year. A survey of banks and others in the industry revealed that labor for second-day research, fees, adjustments, and the cost of possibly transporting the original paper document to be physically cleared, added up to between $15 and $25 per rejected check.
Clear can be used to improve image quality in any check truncation environment – a central workstation, branches, a regional operations center, or a third-party vendor’s system. It can even improve the image of a check retrieved from a bank’s archives to meet the Federal Reserve’s Image Quality Assurance standards. The repair process is both fast and simple for operators.
With smartphones and other technology such as remote deposit check scanners at businesses, image capture of checks is moving further and further away from banks, which only increases the likelihood of exceptions,” noted Thomas P. Anderson Jr., president and CEO of Digital Check. “At the same time the per-item cost of processing exceptions is increasing. Digital Check’s focus has always been to create technology that produced the best image quality possible. Developing the Clear software solution is a natural extension of our commitment.”
In addition to its other advantages, Clear can store templates in its memory for repeat image “offenders” such as money orders and government checks, and recall those templates for instant optimization the next time the same type of item is presented. Clear also produces an industry-standard X9.37 file output that can be customized for any bank’s image processing system.
Digital Check has beta tested Clear with several customers during 2014, including banks both large and small. A spokesman for one top-five bank said that while the bank’s number of image exceptions was small, the volume of checks it processed made Clear a worthwhile investment.
For more information about Clear by Digital Check, please visit our website: www.digitalcheck.com
About Digital Check
Digital Check provides superior check and document scanner products for teller, branch automation, remote deposit capture, and remote lockbox applications. The Northbrook, Ill.-based company was named one of Bank Technology News’ “Ten Technology Companies to Watch” in 2008 for its innovative products, and received a Bank Technology News’ Innovators Award for its affordably-priced CheXpress CX30 scanner. Digital Check’s SB, BranchXpress®, TellerScan® and award-winning CheXpress® series of electronic scanners are cost-effective and provide high quality images, MICR accuracy, and reliability.
