Source: The Clearing House
Electronic Clearing Services, the electronic check and check image exchange business of The Clearing House Payments Company L.L.C., today announced that U.S. Bank, a subsidiary of US Bancorp (NYSE: USB) and one of the largest financial institutions in the country, is now exchanging check images via the SVPCO Image Payments Network.
U.S. Bank is the 17th institution to participate in the network and joins existing exchange participants Bank of America, BB&T, Comerica Bank, Fifth Third Bank, HSBC Bank, Huntington National Bank, JPMorgan Chase Bank, KeyBank, LaSalle Bank, M&T Bank, National City Bank, PNC Bank, Union Bank of California, Wachovia Bank, and Wells Fargo Bank. The Federal Reserve also sends and receives check images via the SVPCO Image Payments Network.
"U.S. Bank's participation in the Image Payments Network is another milestone in advancing the Bank's strategic objective of migrating paper checks to electronic payments," said Tom Rea, executive vice president, Transaction Processing Services at U.S. Bank. "The SVPCO Image Payments Network enables U.S. Bank to safely and securely exchange large volumes of check images with other banks, as well as the Federal Reserve."
"As one of the largest check processors in the country, U.S. Bank will add significant new volume to the SVPCO Image Payments Network, and the bank's participation represents another major step forward for image exchange," said Susan Long, senior vice president of The Clearing House, responsible for SVPCO-Electronic Clearing Services. "The SVPCO Image Payments Network provides U.S. Bank with the infrastructure and capabilities to realize its long-term goal of reducing paper checks and increasing electronic payments."
U.S. Bank is linked to the SVPCO Image Payments Network via a direct connection through a dedicated Distributed Traffic Agent (DTA), one of several connectivity options to the network. In addition to a direct connection, the SVPCO Gateway DTA offers a cost-effective solution for institutions with smaller volumes or who are gradually ramping up their image processing capabilities. The SVPCO Image Payments Network can also be accessed through an institution's correspondent banking relationship or through a third-party processor. SVPCO provides connectivity options to meet the specific needs of all institutions - from money-center institutions to community banks.
How the Image Payments Network Works
The SVPCO Image Payments Network is a single, end-to-end system that provides unparalleled control, security and processing efficiency for transmitting check images directly between participants and settling the participants' net positions. The network enables financial institutions to exchange and settle check images peer-to-peer without a cumbersome central processing system, thus eliminating the expense of transporting physical checks.
All financial institutions that exchange images directly with each other via the SVPCO Image Payments Network utilize the automated settlement function. Automated settlement provides online net and bilateral settlement position reporting and eliminates the manual intervention required with other settlement arrangements. Financial institutions can see online their net debit or credit position and their position with all of the financial institutions participating in the SVPCO Image Payments Network.