First Tennessee Bank streamlines cheque conversion ops with CheckFree

The strategic software and services implementation is designed to enable the bank to support NACHA's new Back Office Conversion (BOC) Standard Entry Class Code, which went into effect on March 16, 2007. First Tennessee is one of the first financial services providers to deploy the CheckFree BOC solution.

By leveraging the BOC rules incorporated into CheckFree's PEP+ reACH/BOC solution, First Tennessee Bank can convert eligible checks presented at the point of purchase to ACH transactions for deposit. The bank expects to benefit from a streamlined approach that reduces costs associated with paper deposits, while increasing ACH origination.

In addition, First Tennessee Bank has selected the CheckFree PEP+ Risk Compliance package to assist in meeting the suggested regulatory guidelines for check fraud protection set forth by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in OCC Bulletin 2006-39. The CheckFree PEP+ Risk Compliance package will help ensure that First Tennessee Bank can monitor the high volumes of transactions flowing to and from the ACH network and continue to improve its risk management in accordance with the OCC guidelines. First Tennessee has been a CheckFree PEP+ customer for more than 30 years.

"CheckFree's extensive experience and comprehensive tools will help us provide complete end-to-end check conversion capabilities that will improve our customers' payment experience and help us comply with regulatory requirements," said Don Jackson, vice president and senior product manager for First Tennessee Bank. "We can ensure timely and accurate processing of eligible back office conversion transactions and offer our clients a broad layer of fraud protection through our enhanced CheckFree solution."

"The bank will have the potential to generate new revenues through Back Office Conversion, speed time to market and provide enhanced fraud protection for its corporate customers," said Esther Pigg, vice president of global product management for CheckFree Software. "As one of the first customers to implement the PEP+ reACH/BOC module, we are pleased to provide First Tennessee Bank some of the tools necessary to stay at the forefront of the evolving banking landscape. By leveraging PEP+ reACH and the PEP+ Risk Compliance package, together with CheckFree's Applied Operational Intelligence SM approach, First Tennessee Bank can seamlessly implement changes to assist in their compliance with NACHA requirements and OCC guidelines."

CheckFree's Applied Operational Intelligence approach helps clients drive profitability and performance through a combination of innovative software, industry expertise and a collaborative working relationship. This approach is built on CheckFree's core competencies of reconciliation, exception management, transaction process management, corporate actions processing, payments processing, risk management and compliance. The Applied Operational Intelligence approach is expressly designed to manage risk and efficiency, while leveraging valuable 'business intelligence' to achieve measurable return on investment.

CheckFree PEP+, together with its comprehensive range of add-on modules, provides a complete solution for quickly and efficiently originating and receiving payments through the Automated Clearing House (ACH), potentially improving operating effectiveness and decreasing costs. CheckFree PEP+ reACH also provides an end-to-end Accounts Receivable Conversion (ARC) solution that converts paper payments to electronic payments and enables them to be processed via the ACH payment network. PEP+ reACH helps enable organizations to implement an ARC solution with minimal organizational impact, while gaining great value and benefit. This system is designed to ensure the correct capture of routing information, maximum conversion of paper check items with decisioning impact, and an end-to-end solution built upon traditional remittance processes that leverage existing ACH operations.