INDIANAPOLIS - It may sound strange to techies who live in an all-electronic world, but there are people who won't join a financial institution unless that institution returns their canceled checks to them-which not all credit unions do. Can technology save the day? Virtual Financial Services, a provider of Internet solutions for financials, has released a new product that allows credit unions to provide members with images of canceled checks through VIFI's Internet banking product-Internet Banker. The product will be marketed as an offering through VIFI's image warehouse module, Document Manager. The product has been in beta testing for the past month. On Feb. 2, 2000 Digital Federal Credit Union, Maynard, Mass., was the first VIFI credit union client to make the product available to members. Since 1996, Digital Federal Credit Union has relied on Eastern Corporate Federal Credit Union (Eascorp), for check processing services. Check images are recorded by Eascorp and made available on a daily basis to VIFI for presentation through Document Manager. "While we've seen rapid growth in our checking accounts, we still have members that won't open checking accounts without getting their checks back," said Michael Moriarty, Vice President of Finance and Operations with Digital Federal Credit Union. "Even though we've been live for just one day, we've already received positive comments from our members," added Moriarty. To view the canceled check image, DCU members click on a hyperlink from their Internet banking account history screen. The user is presented with front and back images of their canceled check-all within a fully branded, browser-based site. For more information visit www.vifi.com. -
pgentile@cutimes.com
