HARRISBURG, Pa. – About two and a half years ago PennsylvaniaState Employees CU sent potential fraud shockwaves through theindustry when it announced that it was going to allow members toenter in deposits online via home banking before the credit unioneven had the check. The concept was it would give members immediateaccess to their money. PSECU President/CEO Greg Smith likens it todeposit-taking ATMs except instead of the checks being delivered byarmored cars, they come in the mail. The concern among many in theindustry was that the CU would be hit with fraud. The potential isthere for members to enter deposits and get access to the money,but never send a check. So far that has not been the case. Almost500,000 transactions later worth nearly $200 million, the CU hashas less than $10,000 in losses. The concept is now picking upsteam with other CUs. PSECU's eCU Technologies sells the Upost@Homemodule and recently added two CU clients – Deere and Company CU,Moline, Ill. and Southland Credit Union, Downey, Calif. In additionPentagon FCU spent a lot of time with PSECU learning aboutUpost@Home and launched its own product that allows members toenter deposits online. Fraud is stymied in a few ways. First thereis some underwriting. The member has to have been a member for atleast six months, the account must be in good standing and theymust carry a PSECU debit or credit card. Also the default limit is$1,500, though higher limits are granted on a case-by-case basis.The third prong is – if a member did defraud the CU, obviously theyno longer would be able to use the service. PSECU does providemembers with self-addressed envelopes where members must record the“session” number on the face of it that identifies their onlinedeposit session. There is also a special bar code that ensuresproper delivery. The CU does not provide members with postage.PSECU has calculated that a transaction through Upost@Home costsabout $1.20, much cheaper than a teller transaction. The averagedeposit through Upost@Home is $484. [email protected]