Have you ever felt frustrated by how long it takes to conduct paid-check research? Or concerned that by waiting until month end to receive paid checks or check images that you leave your company vulnerable to fraud?

The check imaging services that many banks now offer make researching paid checks much faster and more efficient while reducing fraud risk.

Researching Checks the Old Way
The most common reasons you might search for paid checks include:

• Finding proof of payment.
• Investigating suspicious activity.
• Managing cash flows.

In the old days, you had no choice but to wait for cancelled checks to arrive in the mail or contact your bank for a copy, both requiring an extensive waiting period. Research often involved the laborious process of sorting through the paper checks. Or, in a pinch, you might have obtained a photocopy from your bank's microfilm, with the image degraded by its reproduction. In the meantime, the delay may have angered your valued vendors or resulted in money lost to fraud or inefficient cash management.

Research has gotten easier with the arrival of check imaging, which has been mainstream for a few years but is expected to be more prevalent following implementation of the Check 21 law in 2004. Now you don't have to haul out the paper checks. You can search electronic images.

Today's Efficient Online Research
When there's suspicious activity or check fraud, you definitely shouldn't wait until month end to investigate. By then you may have incurred a financial loss that might prove to be difficult to recover.

Today there are bank services that allow you to view detailed images of your paid checks, as well as the associated transaction reports, within hours of end-of-day processing. You get timely, secure access to high-resolution images of paid checks anytime and anywhere via an industry standard Internet browser. Services like this provide sophisticated search tools and viewing options that improve your operational efficiency.

With some of these services, you can ask your bank to archive images of paid checks for up to seven years. This enables archiving for long- and short-term storage and retention to meet statute of limitation requirements or for easy access. It also facilitates low-cost business continuity and addresses back-up requirements.

Another option is to use archive services for checking images that are offered by various industry consortiums. These consortiums often rely on the company first receiving data from its bank and ultimately forwarding that data to the consortiums for storage. If you use a consortium imaging service, make sure that the system is secure and provides adequate encryption.

With both options, you don't need to invest in costly hardware or software. That falls to your bank or other vendor, which is able to take advantage of economies of scale from serving many clients. An Internet connection may be your only requirement.

Is It Right for You?
How do you know if online paid-check research will benefit your company's bottom line? Sure, you will gain operational efficiency, but will you save enough money to justify the cost? Here are some questions to ask:

• How many checks does your company issue per month and how much time and money do you spend researching and retrieving checks?
• What are the potential cost savings from decreased dependence on (or possible elimination of) storage facilities and the associated real estate costs?
• Will this enhance customer service and lead to new business opportunities?
• What is the value proposition of access to critical information real-time via the Internet?

Visit www.db.com/gcm or contact your Client Manager or Customer Service Officer to learn more about imaging services and how our product, db-image solutions, will add value and benefit to all of your treasury operation and cash management services, including lockbox, disbursements and liquidity management.

View other articles in this edition

  Banks Develop ‘Decision Gateways’
    to Expedite Check Clearing

  Want to Minimize Fraud Losses?
    Focus on Curbing Employee Crime

  Positive Pay Enhancements, New Technologies
    Help Treasury Manage Check Fraud Risk