News from the AFP Conference: Monday

Posted by Mark Brousseau

Garda Cash Logistics Offers “Virtual Vaults”

At the AFP Annual Conference in San Francisco today, Garda Cash Logistics announced it is partnering with Bluepoint Solutions to deliver image-based cash vault processing, including image capture and image exchange of deposits and payments.

“With the advent of Check 21, we realized we could offer our clients a cost-effective solution to help expand their footprints and reduce costs,” said Patricia Marr, Vice President of Product Management at Garda. “By expanding our existing vault services to include image-based cash logistic services, our clients can effectively capture and exchange images received through Garda’s vault network, significantly accelerating deposit capture, posting and presentment. Working with Bluepoint, vaults can now be accessed electronically.”

Working with Bluepoint, Garda’s virtual vaults have the capability to immediately scan, process and balance mixed deposits of both cash and check documents. In addition to check processing, Bluepoint supports the image capture of paper tickets used to issue credit for cash deposits or cash adjustments, giving Garda the ability to provide direct billing data to banks. Garda’s centralized deposit balancing process captures, truncates, balances and adjusts check deposits for each of its customers. Check images are then formatted as X9.37 files for posting or bank-to-bank image exchange. Managed in an ASP environment, Bluepoint manages and corrects any exceptions to immediately adjust and balance the received deposit. Within the vault checks are scanned and the images are sent to Bluepoint’s centralized server where items are repaired if needed and then immediately balanced. The consolidation of the check processing in an ASP environment enables highly trained personnel to manage this functionality – enabling the vaults to stay in balance.

“In today’s uncertain financial environment, a bank cannot afford to lose sight of its core competencies – growing its deposit base and improving customer service,” said Hal Tilbury, president and CEO of Bluepoint Solutions. “Garda’s image-based virtual vault solution enables financial institutions to increase funds availability, expand geographically and more accurately manage deposits – all without adding additional resources. Specifically, this service helps banks attract and better serve commercial customers.”

US Dataworks Showcases Enterprise Payments Platform

US Dataworks is showcasing its enterprise payments platform, Clearingworks, this week at the AFP Annual Conference.

By using Clearingworks to automate multi-channel transaction processing and clearing, US Dataworks says organizations can significantly improve operational efficiency, reduce cost and more effectively manage converging paper-based and electronic payments processes -- all key requirements in our challenging economy.

Visitors to the US Dataworks expo booth (No. 314) can meet company representatives and see an overview of Clearingworks, including its components for ACH, WEB, Tel and remittance processing, check processing, payments decisioning, and returns management.

"US Dataworks' enterprise payments platform is flexible, enables continuous change and provides financial institutions and service bureaus with the infrastructure to better manage their entire transaction environment," commented US Dataworks President and COO Mario Villarreal. "Banks and billers currently face tremendous pressures to upgrade their payments platforms to handle the ever-expanding variety of emerging payment channels, all under limited budgets. The good news is that Clearingworks is a proven solution to simplify complex payment collections processing and reduce costs."

"US Dataworks is uniquely positioned to help banks, billers and service providers reduce payments processing and clearing costs and improve operational efficiency," said Villarreal. "No other company has the full range of capabilities that banks and billers need to streamline the entire transaction lifecycle, including payments processing, check processing, payments, remote deposit capture, payments decisioning and routing, and returns management."

3i Infotech, Regulus and J&B Showcase Revenue Chain Solutions

3i Infotech, Regulus Group and J&B Software are demonstrating how to uncover total cost of ownership savings within the corporate revenue chain at the AFP Annual Conference in San Francisco this week. The companies are exhibiting their billing, remittance processing, imaging, remote capture, electronic deposit and other products and services at the show.

By taking a consultative approach to evaluating a company’s cash collection processes, 3i Infotech says its companies not only uncover areas of inefficiency and cost savings, but deliver solutions for all parts of the entire revenue chain, whether the need is for outsourced, in-house, hybrid or managed solutions. And since these solutions come from a single vendor, management is simplified and management expenses are greatly reduced, 3i Infotech says.

“Because of the importance of the revenue cycle process to an organization, many companies become so focused on their day-to-day treasury operations that they often miss the savings opportunities in front of them,” said Kathy Hamburger, CEO and president of 3i Infotech, North America. “3i Infotech delivers a full suite of revenue chain solutions, not just one or two pieces, so we understand that the impact of the end-to-end revenue chain extends well beyond the treasury department to include finance, marketing, customer service and more. We help companies find ways to improve processes and reduce total cost of ownership from the production floor to the executive suite.”