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.