MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Beginning Sept. 1, Memphis Area Teachers'Credit Union has taken another key step toward its bid to be thefinancial institution of choice for the community and 400 SEGs itserves.

The $536 million credit union launched its first remote checkcapture and deposit service, allowing members to deposit checksover the Web without coming in to a branch.

"As the largest credit union in our area, we really need to setthe bar for what credit unions in Memphis can do," said MariaMcLendon, MATCU's assistant vice president of marketing.

"The majority of national and regional financial institutionshere have implemented commercial capture for their customers. Weneed to be able to do the same as large institutions, if we'regoing to meet our goal to be the most viable institution availableto the people in the community we serve," she said.

The 54,000-member MATCU is using the Commercial Capture Xpresssystem from Fidelity National Information Services, the samecompany that's providing the MISER core processing system thatMATCU also is in the process of converting to, McLendon said.

By allowing businesses to electronically deposit checks all day,the Commercial Capture Xpress system eliminates the need fortransporting checks to the branch and allows the credit union theoption of extending the same-day processing window.

Each business is equipped with a front-and-back-image camera,endorser and MICR reader and the software to run them, and thechecks are then scanned and submitted through the financialinstitution's Web site, the company said.

Deposits are balanced and approved and then an electric depositslip is created and the deposit is transmitted to FIS forpresentment and payment via ACH, image exchange or substitutecheck, the company said.

Daily deposit limits can be set and MICR line information iskept for a year to flag duplicate captured checks, among otherfeatures.

Randy Fluitt, FIS executive vice president, said moving intoremote deposit services was a natural extension of theitem-processing services the Jacksonville, Fla., company said italready provides to about 1,750 financial institutions.

Last year, FIS processed 1.8 billion items through its 44processing service centers nationwide, and electronically exchanged215 million images, the company said.

"Payment services are very important to us strategically, andwe've always been very committed to this whole industry, fromcredit and debit card services and ATM deposits to becoming earlyadopters of remote deposit technology," Fluitt said.

"We certainly see this as a way that can transform the way we dobusiness with credit unions and banks," he said.

FIS currently has about 450 banks and credit unions using itscommercial capture product, the vast majority of them banks. Lessthan 10 credit unions have signed up so far, mostly larger, moresophisticated institutions such as MATCU, Fluitt said.

FIS is offering a similar service for individual consumers,called consumer remote deposit services. Like others in the growingmarketplace for such solutions, it allows members to scan their ownchecks and send them in for processing.

In addition to personal business, FIS said, its solution also is"especially appealing to small, service-oriented companies such aslandscape management, construction and property management firms.This technology offers a convenient and time-saving solution todeposit checks without visiting a branch office."

Matt Bowen, senior vice president of remote services at FIS,said, "We know of a lot of demand among sole proprietors who take alot of checks. This is a perfect way for them to make depositswithout worrying about having to get to the credit union duringregular business hours."

That appeals to MATCU.

"Our reason for wanting to take advantage of commercial depositis to serve small to mid-sized businesses," said McLendon, theMATCU marketing vice president. "We're talking about doctors'offices, automotive services, service providers who don't have theopportunity to run to the bank. Serving the needs of those membersof our community is the reason we're taking part in thisprogram."

MATCU is still working out details such as pricing for equipmentand the service itself, and Bowen at FIS said he sees a variety ofapproaches among his client base.

"Some are giving scanners to customers to use and retainingownership of them and then not charging at all or charging somekind of compensating balance so it comes down to no charge on amonthly basis as long as they maintain a certain minimum balance,"he said.

"Others, meanwhile, are charging more than $100 a month for theservice, and they're often our most successful users of theservice, interestingly enough," Bowen said.

The adoption rate has been strong, FIS said, and in June, thecompany processed about $6 million in remote deposits thatotherwise would have gone through tellers.

And while electronic payments continue to grow, neither thecredit union nor its vendor see traditional checks vanishingcompletely anytime soon.

"We think that paper is a great medium," said Bowen, the FISsenior vice president. "That's why it has lasted for thousands ofyears.

"We also acknowledge that while fewer checks are being writtenthis year than last, check writing remains a pivotal part ofpayment mechanisms in the United States. And it costs credit unionsso much money to process paper checks that we want to offer them away to operate much more efficiently for member businesses orindividual consumers," he said.

"I don't think check writing is going away, and I really don'tforesee it becoming obsolete," added McLendon at MATCU. "But fromboth the commercial and consumer perspective, writing and mailingand receiving and handling checks is an inconvenience, so anythingwe as a credit union can do to make that process easier for memberswill be a beneficial thing."

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