A Business Case for Branch Capture - What are the operational implications?

On March 16th 2007 NACHA's check electronification opportunities for point-of-sale (POS) check conversion rules will change to Back Office Conversion (BOC).

At a recent TAWPI Boston Chapter meeting held at the Boston office of the Federal Reserve, chapter members tackled topics like the impact of this rule change, along with remote deposit capture, a presentation given by the product manager from Citizens Bank, a member of the federal reserve bank discussed their take on RDC and the industry as a whole while the Chief Technology Officer of COCC (a service provider to banks in New England) discussed the potential successes and tribulations in rolling out a branch capture and a remote deposit capture solution for your organization.

As back office conversion is expected to be the next best thing since gelato hit the United States; It was refreshing to hear some reality at this meeting that there will in fact be some unforeseen problems for branch offices who are looking to roll out BOC. Clearly the ROI models are solid. But what are those operational issues that branches will need to look at and that the vendors out there may not be addressing:

1. Balancing and reconciliation; more batches equals more adjustments to reconcile. Many argue it is better when the branch balances the checks.

2. Adjustments- Branches will need to look out for piggy back checks run through the scanner, unimimageable checks or checks with a heavy background. How do you deal with checks with these type of problems once they have been captured at the branch? The solution becomes very teller dependent.

3. CAR- LAR rates are reported to be at 70%.

4. What do you do with miscellaneous documents?

5. Check Storage; what's the best way to store these checks ASP model vs. a Licensed Model

6. What is the actual numbers of checks that can be processed and what can these support systems actually handle? The answer may surprise you...

Need more answers regarding remote deposit capture and branch capture? Attend TAWPI's Payments in Transition Conference in Las Vegas this March 7th and 8th. The federal reserve will be our keynote along with a follow up presentation by Celent with many more actionable case studies and experiences. Visit http://www.tawpi.org/Payments07.html to register.

Needed by Congress:Content Management 101

By Dan Bolita ICP editor of TAWPI’s TODAY Magazine

First some background

Stuart W. Bowen has a demanding job. Mr. Bowen serves as
the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR).
Bowen’s mission includes the oversight of more than $22 billion that comprise the Iraq
Relief and Reconstruction Fund (IRRF). The IRRF was established by our U.S. Congress
to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure. (If TAWPI ever enjoys a budget exceeding $20 billion,
the members might reasonably expect to have someone in Mr. Bowen’s capacity making
sure the funds were being spent wisely).

Mr. Bowen, it seems, is more than a watchdog, he is a bulldog. As a result of the efforts
of his team, many instances of corruption have been exposed, and there have been
several convictions for fraud. Sadly, government contractors are apparently not all as
honest as we might hope. (Details of some of the more flagrant abuses can be found in
the audit reports available at (www.sigir.mil).

For his efforts, Bowen’s office was awarded the Better Government Award “for
demonstrating integrity, determination, and courage in providing independent oversight
and unbiased review of the U.S. reconstruction efforts in Iraq.” The award states that,
“SIGIR’s efforts greatly increased the public’s confidence in government by detecting
fraud, waste, and abuse…” (I didn’t know there was a “Better Government Award,”
maybe they don’t get a chance to bestow it very often).

Imagine their surprise...

Despite the fact that Mr. Bowen has proven to be more than diligent in discovering
misuses of taxpayer funds, his office faces premature termination. A provision was quietly
added to the defense bill Congress approved in September, (a week before the recent
election) which eliminates Bowen’s office on October 1, 2007. According to Senator Susan
Collins (R-Maine) the provision was, “slipped in without notice.” Published reports have
named staffers of Rep. Duncan Hunter, (R-California) as the source.

To her credit, Senator Collins has been actively working to file bills that would
reverse the now-pending termination. It seems quite probable that by the time this issue
goes to press, Mr. Bowen's office will have been restored. Such is the value of public
scrutiny.

However, back to the “slipped in without notice” part … Whaaaaat? Don’t our lawmakers
have audit trails, version controls, or any of a number of other readily available
content management systems? Don’t they read the bills they sign into law? What else is
getting slipped in? And, come to think of it, who gets to slip these things in anyway? Are
our pending laws just lying around on desks at night where anyone with a pen can come
along and jot in a few changes?

Of course, these concerns need not only apply to the U.S. Congress. The problem
of document access, version control, and audit trails exist in any organization. Perhaps
we should view the follies of our elected officials as early warning systems for our own information shortcomings.

Premier Payments Event - Remote Deposit Capture, Check Image Exchange, Back Office Conversion and more

Attend this years TAWPI Payments in Transition Conference in Las Vegas this March 7th and 8th and maximize your organization's payments capture and clearing, regardless of the payment type. Whether it's paper checks, emerging electronic payment mechanisms, or Check 21…..Most attendees will be payments managers, treasurers, item processing professionals, and financial services operations and IT executives. This conference has it all. Register by visiting http://www.tawpi.org/Payments07.html

Check out the packed agenda:

Keynote Address: Insights into the Payments Future

Mark Kielman, Industry Relationship Manager, Federal Reserve Bank
This session will take high level look at emerging trends and provide insights into the vision of the payments future. You will hear industry changes and their potential impact payment and remittance processing. You will also get some insight into products and services that should be considered by organizations involved in originating or processing payments.

The Changing Payments Mix

Alenka Grealish, Manager, Celent, LLC
This high-level presentation provides a state-of-the-industry analysis of the changing payments mix and its impact on corporate billers. The session will provide a forecast of how key business operations and processes are expected to change to handle these changes. Finally, the speaker will explore how industry practitioners can play a strategic role in advancing their company’s transition to more efficient payment processing models.

State of the Lockbox Market: A Town Hall Meeting

Mark Haskelson, Vice President, Communications Data Services, Inc.
Kathi Plymouth, Director, Product & Marketing, First Data Corporation/REMITCO
Serena Smith, Senior Vice President, Fidelity National Information Services
Wondering what the future might hold for lockbox processing? Then join us for what promises to be a lively town hall meeting. We’re bringing together the top dogs from four of the largest third-party lockbox providers – REMITCO, Regulus, Fidelity and CDS – to share their opinions on the challenges and trends likely to impact the lockbox arena, and what your organization can do to prepare … and even cash in. Whether it’s new services, pricing trends, industry consolidation, Check 21, ACH or outsourced statement printing, our panel is sure to cover it all. And there will be plenty of time for your questions and comments.

Back Office Conversion Workflows: Evaluating the Models

NACHA’s Back-Office Conversion eliminates many of the operational barriers that have prevented retailers and billers with walk-in payments from taking full advantage of check conversion for over-the-counter transactions. Is BOC as simple as taking the checks and running them through a scanner in the backroom? It can be. But there are more deposit processing scenarios to be considered. This session will cover some of the workflows in play in the marketplace, examine benefits or each, and help you evaluate which model may make sense for your organization. Returned item considerations will also be addressed.

Electronic Check Clearing Made Easy - Case Studies on Check 21

Brian Egan, Product Manager, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago
Hear about the growth of electronic receipts and how it is taking costs out of the check clearing system and enabling institutions to maximize Check 21 benefits as well as share the financial institution's Check 21 value calculator and computations for their business. Finally, the session will explore current electronic presentment statistics, emerging trends and future projections for adoption.

Remote Deposit Capture: Delivering the ROI

Shawn B. Kruger, Director, Business Development, Open Solutions Inc.
There are many drivers for implementing remote deposit capture including maintaining a competitive offering with the top banks, reducing transportation costs, improving funds availability and expanding the processing window for your customers. But does remote deposit capture really deliver a return on your investment? Walk through all of the variables to consider in building your business case, selecting a vendor and defining your project plan. Gain an understanding of what the real impact to the bottom line will be and everyone in your organization that will be affected.

City of North Las Vegas – Cutting Edge Remittance Payment Technology for a Local Government Office

Steve Parnell, Product Marketing Manager, Remittance Solutions, Metavante Image Solutions
Will Riggs, Financial Analyst, City of North Las VegasRapid changes in technology, regulations, and customer payment preferences have made it challenging for local government offices to accelerate their collection of receivables while simultaneously containing payment processing costs. This session showcases the City of North Las Vegas and its journey to migrate to electronic payments for remittance processing. Speakers will discuss the advantages of implementing a fully integrated payment processing platform that handles any type of remittance transaction received as well as all the emerging payment mechanisms such as Accounts Receivable Conversion (ARC), truncation, check image exchange, and substitute checks.

The Convergence of Returns

John Black, First Vice President, Cash Management, Countrywide Home Loans
This session will explore the most effective ways to process and manage all of the different types of returns including; ACH (NSF), Image, Paper, IRD's, ACH (Administrative). Hear about how to overcome the processing hurdles while dealing with numerous check law issues and confusion among your customer base. Finally, you’ll learn what fees are involved, who can charge what for what type of return and what state laws intercede.

Emerging Payments: Trends, Opportunities and Threats

Scott Peterson, Senior Vice President, Wells Fargo
The session will overview the current payments landscape, highlight major trends in instruments, volumes and marketplaces and then will discuss how these trends offer both opportunities and challenges for the financial institutions and alliance partner. The speaker will also discuss how to develop a plan for matrix payment channel management and manage all the options for best funds availability.

For more information visit http://www.tawpi.org/Payments07.html.

Lockheed Martin Selects ImageTrac Scanners To Process More Than 90 Million Forms For 2010 Census

Imaging Business Machines, LLC (IBML) maker of the high-speed ImageTrac® Color Scanning Platform, announces that ImageTrac scanners have been selected by Lockheed Martin to scan millions of forms that will be processed by the 2010 US Census Decennial Response Integration System (DRIS). IBML was selected following a rigorous four-month evaluation of top scanning vendors. The ImageTrac excelled in operational processing and image quality.
The DRIS program, which is a core element of the 2010 US Census, will require color imaging for the first time. Lockheed Martin did an extensive evaluation for a scanning platform that would provide the highest image quality possible while easily integrating into the DRIS backend.
All 90 million census forms must be processed within 90 days of receiving the information. In addition, they must be handled very carefully to ensure no errors occur as a result of misfeeds, creasing and double feeds. An exhaustive selection process was required to find a scanning solution capable of meeting these challenges.
The ImageTrac system was evaluated against three other commercial scanners for throughput, accuracy, ease of use and back-end integration. The rigorous four-month lab testing used actual samples of the 11" x 25" census form. The ImageTrac met or exceeded all of our specifications, said Julie Dunlap, DRIS program director for Lockheed Martin. We were impressed with the scanner’s superior performance and image quality.
“We are honored to be working with Lockheed Martin to help with this important project, it extends our presence in very important federal agencies such as the State Department, FBI, Treasury and Defense, said Robert Sbrissa, IBML executive vice president for sales and marketing.
The ImageTrac systems will include DocNetics BarCode Recognition software. DocNetics is part of the SoftTrac application software that allows greater control, management and customization of scanning workflow. DocNetics adds dynamic intelligence to inline processing to accelerate the transformation of paper-based content to digital information.
DocNetics BarCode Recognition provides inline recognition of multiple barcode types in any orientation, including 1D and 2D formats. The census forms will carry six unique barcodes in different orientations on front and back pages. DocNetics BarCode Recognition will read these barcodes to match documents inline and catch double feeds -- two documents stacked one on top of another -- when barcodes don’t agree. Typically, operators must identify and pull double-fed documents and rescan them, a time-consuming process. With DocNetics BarCode Recognition catching double feeds inline, the extra time and labor to correct problems can be avoided.
Fewer ImageTrac systems will be required to handle the monumental processing job than the number of devices recommended by the other scanners evaluated. Because of their high throughput, 22 ImageTrac scanners will be the maximum number of units required for the DRIS program, less than half the number of the scanners that were used for the 2000 US Census.
About Imaging Business MachinesImaging Business Machines provides intelligent scanning technology for the most demanding document imaging applications, including mixed documents of different weights, sizes and compositions. The company's ImageTrac Scanning Platform consists of the ImageTrac scanners, SoftTrac user interface software with DocNetics and professional services. ImageTrac scanners offer front and rear color image capture, multiple image outputs, barcode, 2D barcode, ICR, MICR and multiple sort pockets. Every day, hundreds of ImageTracs capture millions of color and bi-tonal images for our customers in 34 countries.

U.S. Bank Ready to Help Businesses Address New Back Office Check Conversion Rule Changes

MINNEAPOLIS -- U.S. Bank is prepared to meet the needs of retailers and other customers who wish to take advantage of check electronification opportunities for point-of-sale (POS) payments when NACHA’s check conversion rules change for Back Office Conversion (BOC) on March 16, 2007. U.S. Bank is showcasing its portfolio of advanced check processing products at the National Retail Federation’s 96th Annual Convention and Expo in New York City, Jan. 14-17.
The bank has launched a new enhancement to U.S. Bank Electronic Check Service designed to meet the needs of multi-lane retailers by eliminating the investment in check imaging technology at the point of sale.
“Our Electronic Check Service for multi-lane retailers is just one example of U.S. Bank’s overall strategy to support electronic processing of point-of-sale payments,” said Stephanie Schmitt, vice president, treasury management product management at U.S. Bank. “Previous point-of-purchase check conversion rules posed significant cost and operational hurdles for retailers. With the upcoming rule change regarding back office conversion, many of those obstacles will be eliminated, giving retailers access to exciting new opportunities for payment processing efficiency.”
The new enhancements to Electronic Check Service allow multi-lane retailers to use existing MICR technology to perform real-time financial authorizations at the point of sale, which lowers the risk associated with accepting checks and improves cash flow. A high-speed imaging device in the retailer’s back office uploads batches of check images at the end of the day, joining the image data with the original transaction detail and eliminating the need to manually reconcile point-of-sale activity with transaction data in the back office. Funds are deposited in as little as 24 hours and all exception handling is automated, eliminating the associated labor and fees for retailers.
Electronic Check Service is the only product in the marketplace that automatically leverages three processing methods: direct DDA access, ACH processing, and the banking network adhering to Check 21 regulations. It automatically determines the appropriate processing method without clerk manipulation at the point of sale.
Developed in partnership with NOVA Information Systems, a U.S. Bancorp subsidiary, U.S. Bank Electronic Check Service allows merchants to choose the level of service that is most appropriate for their business – from guaranteeing payments to verifying and collecting funds to strictly converting checks to electronic payments. Retailers using U.S. Bank for credit and debit card processing further benefit by having one point of contact for all their payment processing needs.
To further support BOC, U.S. Bank is piloting a new Web-based version of its popular On-Site Electronic Deposit remote deposit product, which allows customers to scan and process all incoming checks in a back-office environment. It includes automated data-capture capabilities that minimize the data entry tasks associated with keying in check dollar amounts. On-Site Electronic Deposit gives businesses with multiple stores or branches a way to quickly prepare, approve and electronically send deposits to the bank, without making a trip to a branch. This can be either done from each store or branch location, or from one central location.
For customers using in-house technologies for image and check data capture, the U.S. Bank Electronic Cash Letter Deposit service will be upgraded to process BOC transactions. Electronic Cash Letter Deposit allows customers to send a file of MICR data with or without check images for clearing through ACH and/or check processing systems.
“We are currently planning pilot projects with customers interested in implementing electronic check processing products before the new rules go into effect on March 16, 2007,” said Schmitt. “We are already seeing a high degree of interest in the industry, with customers eager to select a BOC solution, establish their operational processes and get comfortable with the technology. On March 16, they want to be ready to process eligible checks through Back Office Conversion.”
U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB), with $217 billion in assets, is the 6th largest financial holding company in the United States. The company operates 2,467 banking offices and 4,943 ATMs, and provides a comprehensive line of banking, brokerage, insurance, investment, mortgage, trust and payment services products to consumers, businesses and institutions. U.S. Bancorp is the parent company of U.S. Bank. Visit U.S. Bancorp on the web at usbank.com.

post by http://minneapolis.dbusinessnews.com/shownews.php?newsid=103391&type_news=latest

TowerGroup say '07 will be year of Check 21

TowerGroup
• 15 Jan 2007

NEEDHAM, Mass. — According to new research that charts the adoption of the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act, 2007 is expected to be another significant year in the ongoing "electronification" of paper checks.

Boston-based TowerGroup say it expects monthly check-image-exchange volume to surpass paper-check-presentment volume by the end of 2007, making it the dominant method of check presentment by 2008

Check 21, which took effect in late 2004, allows banks to use substitute checks or image replacement documents. Substitute checks are printed documents containing images of original checks with data added for identification. Depository banks capture an image of a check, transmit the image to a site near the paying bank and then have the image printed and delivered for presentment to the paying bank — offering faster funds collection from non-local checks, reducing transportation costs, and improving reliability.


"Most U.S. banks have now implemented the software and processes to participate in check-image exchange," said Robert Hunt, a research director for TowerGroup’s Retail Banking practice and author of the research. "The largest banks have completed limited-volume processing and are now ramping up their image exchange-transaction volume. Although factors such as ACH check conversion and electronic-bill-payment growth will impact the number of checks presented in 2008-09, it is clear that by 2009 paper-check presentment volume will be minimal."

Research highlights

Following the introduction of Check 21, U.S. banks concentrated their efforts on reducing check float by using substitute checks and introducing remote-deposit products. The use of substitute checks for presentment grew throughout 2005 as financial institutions added check-image capture and image cash-letter capabilities.

Although image exchange networks were available to facilitate image-based electronic presentments, a number of factors resulted in the bulk of image cash-letters being converted to substitute checks, including the need within many FIs for new image-based exception item-processing software to support image presentments; a difference in needs and expectations between consumer and commercial accounts; and a lack of definition around the legal liabilities and standards for check image exchange — a task overseen by the Electronic Check Clearing Association, which developed the rules and check-image standards for member banks.

During 2006, large and mid-tier FIs put the software and processes needed to receive image cash letters in place. Those FIs have generally increased the volume of incoming electronic cash-letters.

"We see 2007 as the year of image exchange," Hunt said. "The growth of image-exchange volume will accelerate throughout 2007 as more banks agree to receive image cash-letters and those already receiving electronic presentments further increase their volume of incoming images. Exchange volume should exceed conventional check-presentation volume in the fourth quarter of the year."

Imaging Forms Processing Presentation- View Now

Did you miss the TAWPI 2006 Capture Conference. View a sample of one of the highest attendee rated presentations on Best Practices in Forms Processing and Data Capture: Analysis of Survey Results

John Mancini, AIIM & Harvey Spencer, Harvey Spencer Associates

Forms processing software innovation has become the driving force behind document capture and, in the process, it is spreading way beyond the traditional forms processing applications. This session will review responses received from imaging and capture operations managers to recent surveys conducted by AIIM and TAWPI. This significant research provides a comprehensive assessment of forms processing, data capture and document capture systems, operations and trends. The results will help organizations understand emerging capture issues and identify ‘best practices’ to help industry practitioners prioritize improvement efforts for their own operations.

http://stats.r8g.us/sendlink.asp?HitID=0&StID=9885&SID=0&EmID=17948947&Link=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.seminarsales.com%2Fvideo%2FJohnMancinihighquality.wmv

Would you like every presentation? Digital Seminar Solutions, in collaboration with TAWPI and IMERGE Consulting, recorded the educational sessions which are now available on CD-ROM for immediate shipment. Each recorded session's audio is synchronized with the PowerPoint presentations exactly as the session was presented live. To order your CD http://www.imergeconsult.com/captureconference.html


The 2006 Capture Conference explored best practices for managing capture and imaging operations. Two days of informative panels, case studies and interactive discussion provided attendees with a comprehensive perspective of data and documents.
Want a sample of a part of one presentation? Any questions or comments contact IMERGE Consulting at 815-398-0492 or training@imergeconsult.com

Federal Reserve Executive to Keynote Conference

Mark Kielman, industry relationship manager at the Federal Reserve Bank, will present the keynote address at TAWPI’s Payments in Transition Conference in Las Vegas on March 7. Kielman will provide a high level look at emerging trends and provide insights into the vision of the payments future. This session will take high level look at emerging trends and provide insights into the vision of the payments future. You will hear industry changes and their potential impact payment and remittance processing. You will also get some insight into products and services that should be considered by organizations involved in originating or processing payments. To register visit http://www.tawpi.org/Payments07.html.

TAWPI predictions for 2007- Drums please…

We’ve dusted off the crystal ball and here are my predictions for 2007 in the Document Capture and Payments Industries (in no particular order);

1. Continuing on 2006’s momentum; expect further company mergers (vendors) and acquisitions including one very large merger on the document management side of the house.

2. Expect some new technology applications to finally take hold and users becoming more educated in the forms processing industry. In particular looking at technology as a solution to decrease labor costs including auto-classification and new robust recognition technology. This should result in lowering the need for verification off-shore and further decreasing labor costs.

3. The crystal ball sees a rapid growth in remote check capture implementation at the merchant level although reaching close to a saturation point by the end of the year losing steam in 2008. Expect the same trend at the branch level reaching a similar saturation point with some operational roll out bumps and bruises along the way.

4. Digital Mailroom gaining major traction with some compelling case studies coming out in 2007 from corporate customers on implementation, experiences, and ROI.

5. Another very large bank merger similar to BofNY and Mellon....................

You heard it here first folks. Let’s see how things shake out for 2007.

Checkfree-Carreker Corp. Acquisition- $206M

CheckFree plans $206M acquisition

Electronic commerce provider CheckFree Corp. said it will buy Carreker Corp. of Dallas in a $206 million deal to broaden CheckFree's payment services business.Carreker (NASDAQ: CANI - News) provides payments technology and consulting services for the financial services industry. The company has more than 250 clients in the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Continental Europe, South America, and Australia. It reported revenues of $116.6 million in fiscal 2005, which ended Jan. 31, 2006.The company had been reviewing its strategic alternatives for the past year.Atlanta-based CheckFree (Nasdaq: CKFR - News) said the deal will expand its presence in payments processing. It will also become a leading provider of services and expert consultancy for the convergence of check and electronic payments.The proposed acquisition combines CheckFree's abilities in payments processing with Carreker's abilities in check conversion -- the ability to capture and process a digital image of a paper check. As a result, the companies said, the combined organization will be able to convert paper checks into electronic items at the earliest possible points in the payments process -- whether at the bank branch, corporate back office or lockbox."This combination will enable financial institutions and corporations to address a range of challenges, from payments convergence and more complex client requirements, to the need for operational efficiency gains and regulatory compliance," said Pete Kight, CheckFree's chairman and CEO. "In addition, the newly expanded Software unit will have the necessary economies of scale to innovate and support the dramatic transformations underway in financial services."CheckFree will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Carreker common stock for $8.05 per share. The shares closed Dec. 29 at $7.64.source and published by Atlanta Business Chronicle

Trends in Capture 2006 - A Year in Review

2006 was a momentous year for TAWPI as an association and the forms processing and payment industry here in the United States. 2006 seemed to be the year of company mergers and acquisitions. While technological advancements (although somewhat apparent) seem to have taken a back seat to the aforementioned colossal mergers.

December-January- February: On December 9th 2005 TAWPI announced their newest executive board members including; Chair, Oscar Squire PPL Services, Vice Chair, Michael Bichler Mellon Financial Corp., Treasurer, James Everett Fairfax Imaging, Inc. & Secretary, Nancy Darst, eRemit.

Federal Reserve Board approved amendments to its “Regulation CC” to take effect July 1st 2006. The rules define, “remotely created checks” and create a transfer and presentment warranties to shift liability for an unauthorized remotely created check to the institution where it is first deposited. This federal regulation opens the door to an estimated 350% growth rate in adoption of merchant capture from the end of 2004 to the end of 2006.

OPEX Incoming and Scanning, a division of OPEX Corporation, released the next version of its document imaging system, the AS3690. The successor to the popular AS3600 high-speed color scanner, the AS3690 is available as either a stand-alone device (AS3690t), or integrated with an OPEX Rapid Extraction Desk (AS3690i). Coupled with an Extraction Desk, the OPEX AS3690i can open, capture, process, and sort mail with one operator in a single pass.

March April: WAUSAU Financial Systems inked Deal with Kodak- capitalizing on the economics of Check 21. Interwoven and Kofax deepen partnership as Interwoven will resell the Kofax Ascent Capture Product offering an end to end ECM solution. Metavante forms image solutions business by creating Metavante Image Solutions creating an end to end check image and document technology solution. The new Metavante division includes the operations of its affiliates; (AFS- Advanced Financial Solutions, the Endpoint Exchange Network, TREEV, and VECTORsgi.) Federal Reserve Board made final amendments to Regulation E (Electronic Fund Transfer Act) clarifying the responsibilities of parties involved electronic check conversion transactions and require that consumers receive written notification in advance of these transactions.

May/June: ABBYY USA and Panasonic share technology. ABBYY’s OCR bundles with Panasonic Scanners. NACHA voices concern regarding check conversion practices questioning the practice of debiting accounts electronically. “While the practice of check conversion becomes more widely accepted, there are still technical details to be addressed.” TAWPI’s Payment Processing Council releases Check Clearing Options white paper looking specifically from the biller’s point of view. OPEX Corporation wins the 2006 TAWPI Hall of Fame Award while Bob Young Verizon Communications wins the Herbert F. Schantz Distinguished Service Award. EMC

July/August: WAUSAU expands its payment processing offerings, adding ECM capabilities and spearheaded a migration to remote check capture maintaining their commitment to their legacy lockbox and remittance products.

September/October: TAWPI looses a truly dedicated valued member Gayle Myers (Data Entry Services) who passed away unexpectedly on September 30th 2006. Her void will be greatly missed by TAWPI members and TAWPI staff alike.

TAWPI launches Forms Processing & Data Capture Survey with Adobe Systems, AnyDoc Software, Eastman Kodak, EMC Captiva, Kofax, and Readsoft as major sponsors. Open Text acquires Hummingbird. IBM acquires Filenet. Metavante completes VICOR acquisition.

November/December: Oracle buys Stellant. Bank of New York acquires Mellon Financial in a $16.5 billion stock transaction that would create the world’s largest securities-servicing firm. The combined entity will be called Bank of New York Mellon and have annual revenue of more than $12 billion. TAWPI announced their newest executive 2007 board members including; Chair, Bob Young Verizon Communications, Vice Chair,Nancy Darst, eRemit, Treasurer, Paul Engel Vebridge, Secretary, Donald Post, IMERGE Consulting.

TAWPI announces a dramatic format change that effectively triples the content and education opportunities at its flagship Forum. Scheduled for August 12 -15th in Boston Moving to provide specific operational content in key subject areas, the Forum has been expanded to three simultaneous, co-located events.

Three Industry Forums Converging at One Expo. The Remote Check Capture Forum providing the latest best practices in image exchange and remote deposit capture deployment. The Payments/Remittance Forum focused on leading edge solutions for improving payment processing and transaction clearing operations. The Imaging, Forms Processing and Capture Forum offering a comprehensive perspective of data and document capture–from mail extraction to imaging to final archiving.