Electronic Clearing Services, the electronic check and check image exchange business of The Clearing House Payments Company L.L.C., today announced that M&T Bank (NYSE:MTB) is now exchanging and settling check images through the SVPCO Image Payments Network.
The Image Payments Network is a single, end-to-end system that provides unparalleled control, security and processing efficiency for transmitting and settling check images directly between industry participants. 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.
"The Image Payments Network is helping M&T Bank reduce costs and risk by providing a single, seamless connection to multiple institutions to exchange images," said Dennis Krezmien, Vice President of Item Processing Services of M&T Bank. "Image exchange is enabling M&T Bank to streamline its operations and take advantage of the significant benefits of exchanging electronic images instead of paper checks."
In November, the Image Payments Network set new volume records and reported $3.1 billion in daily average dollar value, an increase of 27 percent compared to October 2005; $61 billion in total monthly dollar value, an increase of 27 percent compared to October 2005; 438,000 in daily average items, an increase of 38 percent compared to October 2005; and 8.8 million in total monthly items, an increase of 38 percent compared to October 2005.
In addition to M&T Bank, participating institutions in the Image Payments Network are Bank of America, Comerica, Fifth Third, JPMorgan Chase & Co., KeyCorp, National City Corp., Union Bank of California, Wachovia Corp. and Wells Fargo. Through its relationship with the Federal Reserve, the Image Payments Network can reach more than 10,000 endpoints and help financial institutions of all sizes take advantage of image exchange. Comerica went into production in late November.
"The Image Payments Network is delivering immediate benefits to M&T Bank because of the system's unique relationship with the Federal Reserve and its multilateral settlement capabilities with other institutions using the network," said Susan Long, Senior Vice President and head of SVPCO-Electronic Clearing Services. "M&T is leveraging the full power of the Image Payments Network by exchanging images with multiple institutions on a routine basis."