By Mark Brousseau
Paper-weary check processing managers (and, aren’t they all?) undoubtedly cheered when they read the article this week in Digital Transactions stating that the total paper substitute-check (or image replacement document) volume cleared is now falling for the first time.
Of the total image-exchange volume in November, paying banks cleared 58.6 percent as images, Digital Transactions reported, with the remainder being handled as substitute checks –the paper printouts of check images provided for under the Check 21 legislation. Banks that aren’t equipped to receive images from banks of first deposit can clear the substitute checks.
As the pub noted, the dip in substitute-check volume may lend credence to arguments that conversion to end-to-end image clearing is moving more quickly than some bankers thought. And it’s ironic that Digital Transactions’ article came on the heels of news that NACHA was abandoning its Check-ACH Coalition, designed to goose the electronic clearing migration.
But while he was encouraged by the news from Digital Transactions, one long-time check processing solutions vendor I spoke with wasn’t ready to declare the battle against substitute-checks over just yet. “Until we see a trend established over a period of several months, I am hesitant to call this anything but an anomaly,” he said. Killjoy? Maybe. But he points out that, according to the same Digital Transactions article, 34 percent of banks are now capable of receiving image exchange files. “That means that we have twice that many banks to bring up to speed,” he explained. And the unanswered question is: what is the breakdown of large, mid-tier and community banks that still need to get onboard. Knowing this information would give us a clearer picture of where the industry truly stands in its move toward electronic clearing.
Still, one can hope.
Mark Brousseau is the facilitator of TAWPI’s Payments Capture & Clearing Council and Forms Processing Leadership Council. He also is president of Brousseau & Associates, a strategic marketing and PR firm specializing in the payments and document automation arenas. Brousseau can be reached at 717-767-2574 or via m_brousseau@msn.com.
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Paper-weary check processing managers (and, aren’t they all?) undoubtedly cheered when they read the article this week in Digital Transactions stating that the total paper substitute-check (or image replacement document) volume cleared is now falling for the first time.
Of the total image-exchange volume in November, paying banks cleared 58.6 percent as images, Digital Transactions reported, with the remainder being handled as substitute checks –the paper printouts of check images provided for under the Check 21 legislation. Banks that aren’t equipped to receive images from banks of first deposit can clear the substitute checks.
As the pub noted, the dip in substitute-check volume may lend credence to arguments that conversion to end-to-end image clearing is moving more quickly than some bankers thought. And it’s ironic that Digital Transactions’ article came on the heels of news that NACHA was abandoning its Check-ACH Coalition, designed to goose the electronic clearing migration.
But while he was encouraged by the news from Digital Transactions, one long-time check processing solutions vendor I spoke with wasn’t ready to declare the battle against substitute-checks over just yet. “Until we see a trend established over a period of several months, I am hesitant to call this anything but an anomaly,” he said. Killjoy? Maybe. But he points out that, according to the same Digital Transactions article, 34 percent of banks are now capable of receiving image exchange files. “That means that we have twice that many banks to bring up to speed,” he explained. And the unanswered question is: what is the breakdown of large, mid-tier and community banks that still need to get onboard. Knowing this information would give us a clearer picture of where the industry truly stands in its move toward electronic clearing.
Still, one can hope.
Mark Brousseau is the facilitator of TAWPI’s Payments Capture & Clearing Council and Forms Processing Leadership Council. He also is president of Brousseau & Associates, a strategic marketing and PR firm specializing in the payments and document automation arenas. Brousseau can be reached at 717-767-2574 or via m_brousseau@msn.com.
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