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Feature
action hits, it's entirely possible that it could take almost
90 days for an account holder to dispute a check payment
that has been converted to an automated clearing house
(ACH) transaction.
Ficarra, like many other check folks I've interviewed
lately, believes ACH check conversion has likely peaked.
The benefits of clearing checks as electronic replicas of the
paper generally outweigh the ACH option.
According to NACHA – The Electronic Payments
Association, the most popular ACH check conversion
application today is accounts receivable entry (ARC),
which was used to clear 2.66 billion remittances that
started out as checks last year. Just fewer than 4.2 million
checks were back office conversion (BOC) items. BOC is
the most recently introduced ACH format.
The Fed reported last year that banks settled 30.6 billion
checks in 2006. About 40 percent of all interbank
checks were digitized and cleared electronically. And
electronic check networks (like SVPCO) are charting
triple-digit growth in dollars cleared so far this year, compared
to 2007.
While attending the 2008 ETA Annual Meeting &
Expo last month, I ran into a vendor I hadn't seen in
years, someone I was more accustomed to seeing at
shows that attracted corporate treasury professionals
and their banks.
He was there to tap into the opportunities he saw for his
firm, Digital Check Corp. Based in Northfield, Ill., Digital
Check was at the convention to introduce a new desktop
check scanner, CheXpress, designed with a small footprint
to support small businesses.
Paul Rupple, Digital's Director of Marketing and
Product Development, said he's seeing huge demand
for the devices, which can be installed for free, with a
monthly fee. Digital Check is competing with companies
like MagTek Inc., Panini and RDM Corp.
I also spent time during ETA visiting with NetDeposit
Inc., a unit of Zions Bancorp. in Salt Lake City and an
early pioneer of check "electronification." NetDeposit was
showcasing its Check360 RDC solution developed for
what it calls "today's progressive ISOs."
So, it looks to me like all signs point to ISO opportunities
selling electronic check products.
Patti Murphy is Senior Editor of The Green Sheet and President of
The Takoma Group. E-mail her at patti@greensheet.com.